News Release

November 21, 2007

Telegdi Introduces Private Member’s Bill to Create Charter Day

Ottawa: Andrew Telegdi today introduced his Private Members Bill C-485 in the House of Commons that would make every April 17th “Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Day”; a day to promote and celebrate the word and spirit of the Charter.

“Canadian history is replete with injustices perpetrated upon Aboriginal Peoples and others from various ethnic, cultural and religious groups throughout our history. On Charter Day we remember and atone for past human rights abuses and dedicate ourselves to building an inclusive Canada,” Telegdi said.

He further stated: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms defines us as Canadians and makes Canadians who came from all over the world equal before the law. On this the 25th anniversary year of the Charter, it is appropriate that we enact a day dedicated to helping Canadians learn why we have the Charter to protect their human rights and civil liberties and how the word and spirit of the Charter is a central guiding principle in drafting laws,”

Former Prime Minister the Right Honourable Pierre Trudeau added the Charter to the Constitution Act of Canada in 1982 to guide our democratic and legislative process. It protects individual rights by preventing laws that unfairly discriminate or that take away human rights. It acknowledged that everyone regardless of colour, religion, race, or belief possesses certain fundamental rights that no government can remove without cause.

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