Canadian Bill of Rights

The Canadian Bill of Rights (French: Déclaration canadienne des droits) is a federal statute and bill of rights enacted by the Parliament of Canada on August 10, 1960. It provides Canadians with certain rights in Canadian federal law in relation to other federal statutes. It was the earliest expression of human rights law at the federal level in Canada, though an implied Bill of Rights had already been recognized in the Canadian common law.

The Canadian Bill of Rights remains in force but is widely acknowledged to be limited in its effectiveness because it is a federal statute only, and so not directly applicable to provincial laws. These legal and constitutional limitations were a significant reason that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was entrenched as an unambiguously constitutional-level bill of rights for all Canadians, governing the application of both federal and provincial law in Canada, with the patriation of the Constitution of Canada in 1982. Since patriation, the statute's usefulness in federal law in Canada is mostly limited to issues pertaining to the "enjoyment of property," as set forth in its section 1(a)—a slightly-broader right than is recognized in section seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In 1947, Saskatchewan enacted a bill of rights which covered fundamental freedoms and equality rights. It was influenced by proposals for a federal bill of rights made by John Diefenbaker, then an opposition member in the House of Commons from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. In turn, the Saskatchewan Bill of Rights is considered to have had a formative influence on Prime Minister Diefenbaker, who thirteen years later in 1960, successfully introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights.

In 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Civil rights activists in Canada had for some time been advocating for the elimination of discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, race and religion from Canadian laws; the new declaration led to an increasing call for protection of human rights in Canada.

In 1936, four years before being elected to Parliament, John Diefenbaker began drafting his bill of rights. As a young boy, he saw injustice first-hand in the form of discrimination against French-Canadians, natives, Métis and European immigrants.

On March 16, 1950, a decade before the Canadian Bill of Rights became law, Diefenbaker, then a Saskatchewan MP, told a public forum why such a law was needed. Individuals' freedoms of religion, press, speech and association are threatened by the state, he said. A bill of rights was needed to take a "forthright stand against discrimination based on colour, creed or racial origin".

Diefenbaker advocated for the adoption of a bill of rights during the federal election campaign of 1957. In 1960, as Prime Minister, Diefenbaker introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights, which was enacted by Parliament.

The Canadian Bill of Rights protects numerous rights, most of which were later included in the Charter. Examples include: