The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can be seen as all-encompassing, and yet, it does not dictate the rules to follow regarding a major component of each person’s life: employment. Or does it? A vast portion of our lives in Canada is spent working, and regardless of the work environment, we interact with other people who may or may not come from the same backgrounds and ideologies as we do. With no specific terminology in the Charter that includes employment law, we must look between the lines and find the connections that lay within.
The Charter provides the roadmap for Canadian principles and social values; it lays out the rights and freedoms we have as a people, and promotes the protection of those human rights through its laws. Employment law is not addressed directly in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, however, our constitutional rights and freedoms affect all aspects of our lives as Canadians. As well, other statutes - such as the Ontario Human Rights Code - must abide by the Charter and therefore conform to the equal rights of all peoples in the law and equal protection and benefit of the law. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms section 15 stipulates these equality rights that we, as Canadians, are entitled to. Specifically,
Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race,