AS/GL/POLS 3605 3.0
Key to Version 1 of the Mid-Term Exam: Feb. 11, 2005
(Version 2 has the same questions, but in a different order)

Part A: Objective Questions (60 marks)

1.  Match the following cases in Column A with the appropriate item in Column B.  Some column A cases may be used more than once.  (Each blank is worth 2 marks, for a total of 60 marks)

Column A
1.  Alberta Press Bill reference (1938)
2.  Saumur v. Quebec (1953)
3.  Switzman v. Elbling & A.G. Quebec (1957)
4.  Roncarelli v. Duplessis (1959)
5.  Robertson & Rosetanni v. The Queen (1963)
6.  Regina v. Drybones (1970)
7.  A.G. Canada v. Lavell and Bédard (1974)
8.  A.G. Canada & Dupond v. Montreal (1978)
9.  Operation Dismantle Inc. v. the Queen (1985)
10.  The Queen v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. (1985)
11.  Edwards Book and Art Ltd. v. the Queen (1986)
12.  The Queen v. Oakes (1986).
13.  Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union v. Dolphin Delivery (1986)
14.  McKinney v. University of Guelph (1990)
15.  R. v. Keegstra (1990)
16.  R. v. Zundel (1992)
17.  R. v. Butler (1992)
18.  R. v. Sharpe (2001)
19.  Quebec v. Ford et al (1988)
20.  RJR-MacDonald Inc. v. Attorney General of Canada (1995)
21.  Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration (1985)
22.  Reference re B.C. Motor Vehicle Act (1985)
23.  Askov v. The Queen (1990)
24.  Rodriguez v. Attorney-General of British Columbia (1993)
25.  R. v. Mills (1999)
26.  Valente v. The Queen (1985)
27.  R. v. Therens
28.  Doucet-Boudreau v. Nova Scotia (2003)
29.  Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem (2004)
30.  Little Sisters (2000)
31.  Cdn. Fdn. for Children, Youth & the Law v. Canada (2004)


Column B
__9___The Charter applies to cabinet decisions made pursuant to prerogative power.
__1___The “Duff Doctrine” made its first appearance.
__10__The Lord’s Day Act was struck down as a violation of Freedom of Religion under the Charter.
__2 __In this pre-Bill of Rights case, the Supreme Court struck down a Quebec city by- law that in effect prevented Jehovah’s Witnesses from distributing their literature on the streets.
__11__Ontario’s Sunday closing legislation was upheld by the Supreme Court; the Court decided that the indirect and unintentional violations of freedom of religion that the legislation created could be justified under s.1 of the Charter.
__3___Quebec’s  “padlock” law was struck down by the Supreme Court because it trenched on the federal power over the criminal law.  A minority of judges invoked the Duff Doctrine as an additional reason.
__12__A “reverse onus” clause in the Criminal Code that stated that a person found guilty of possessing an illegal narcotic is presumed guilty of trafficking unless he/she can prove otherwise was struck down by the Supreme Court as violating the Charter right of the presumption of innocence.
__4___This is the leading Canadian case that illustrates how judges can apply the principle of the rule of law to protect human rights.
__13__The courts are NOT part of “government” in s. 32 of the Charter.  Although the Charter applies to the common law in the area of public law, the Charter does not apply to court decisions made under the common law regarding private (civil) law.
__5___The Lord’s Day Act was upheld by the Supreme Court as not violating freedom of religion in the Canadian Bill of Rights.
 __30__Even though the government has the right to prohibit obscene materials from entering Canada, customs officials may not constitutionally apply a stricter standard to homosexual than to heterosexual materials.
__14__The Charter of Rights does NOT apply directly to universities or other private institutions.
__6___This is the only case prior to 1982 in which the Supreme Court struck down as federal law because it violated the Canadian Bill of Rights.
__15__ The Criminal Code provision prohibiting “wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group” is a violation of freedom of expression that CAN be upheld under s.1.
__7___As long as all Indian women are treated the same under the Indian Act, there is no violation of equality under the Canadian Bill of Rights even though women are not granted the same privileges as men.
__16__The Criminal Code provision prohibiting “spreading false news ” is a violation of freedom of expression that CANNOT be upheld under s.1 of the Charter.
__19__Commercial advertising is protected by the Charter's guarantee of freedom of expression.
__8___Mr. Justice Beetz was highly critical of the idea of an “implied bill of rights,” as described in the Duff Doctrine.  This decision increased public support for a constitutional charter of rights.
__29__Freedom of religion means that building managers must accommodate sincerely held religious practices that do not create a hardship for other building residents.
__18__The prohibition of the possession of child pornography for distribution or sale in the Criminal Code violates freedom of expression, but it can be generally upheld under s.1 of the Charter.
__21__ Fundamental justice in S. 7 of the Charter includes the right of refugee claimants to know and reply to government objections to their claims through an oral hearing.
__19__After this Supreme Court decision, the Quebec government invoked s.33 of the Charter to override the Charter’s guarantee of freedom of expression in Quebec’s outdoor sign law legislation.
__21__This post-Charter decision revived the Canadian Bill of Rights.
__27__This decision determined that when a person is asked to take a breathalizer test that may be used as evidence, that person must be informed of the right to counsel.
__28__The Supreme Court upheld the decision of a Nova Scotia trial judge that an appropriate remedy to enforce minority language education rights (S. 23) is to require the prov. government to report on its progress in establishing francophone secondary schools.
__14__The failure of a provincial government to prevent age-based discrimination in its Human Rights Code is a violation of equality under the Charter, but it can be justified under S.1 because a pension scheme based on compulsory retirement constitutes an important public policy objective.
__31__Parents and teachers can use "reasonable" force to discipline children without violating the Charter.
__23__The Supreme Court developed a test for unreasonable delay in court proceedings.  The Court relied on evidence on court delay researched by Prof. Carl Baar.
__19__ A blanket override of Sections 2 and 7 to 15 of the Charter by the Quebec government is procedurally acceptable.
__17__The prohibition of the possession of obscene materials for distribution or sale in the Criminal Code violates freedom of expression, but it can be upheld under s.1 of the Charter.
__20__The absolute prohibition of tobacco advertising violates freedom of expression under the Charter, and cannot be justified under s.1.
__21__Fundamental justice, either in s. 7 of the Charter or the Canadian Bill of Rights, means that unsuccessful refugee claimants cannot be deported without first granting them an oral hearing.
__26__ The three essential conditions of judicial independence are security of tenure, financial security, and institutional independence.
__24__The Criminal Code section prohibiting assisted suicide violates s.7 of the Charter, but according to the majority, this prohibition can be justified under s.1.
__27__The Supreme Court decided that the phrase "detention" in the Charter should be interpreted broadly to include "psychological detention."
__25__Legislated limits to the accused’s right to obtain confidential records of a sexual assault complainant violates the accused’s right to a fair trial.  However, these limits can be justified under s.1 because of the societal need to protect the privacy of complainants and to prevent sexual assaults.
__6___The part of the Indian Act that makes it an offence for a native person to be intoxicated off a reservation was declared to be discriminatory and was struck down.
__22__An absolute liability offence, combined with a mandatory jail sentence, violates the guarantee of fundamental justice in s.7 of the Charter.
__12__This case developed the main test for s.1 of the Charter.
__19__Freedom of expression includes the language of expression.


2.  Fill in the blanks.  Each blank is worth 2 marks, for a total of 40 marks.

1.  There are two rights guaranteed by the Canadian Bill of Rights that are not guaranteed in the Charter, as follows:

a)  ___right to property_______________________________
b)  ___right to a fair hearing pursuant to fundamental justice to determine rights or obligations

2.  Summarize the “Oakes test” for the application of s.1 of the Charter:

I.  First, the court must define the ___objective___________ of the impugned legislation.  Then, the court must decide whether this is ___substantially important (of sufficient importance to justify overriding a right).

II.  Second, according to the "proportionality test," the court must determine whether:

a)__the objective (of the legislation) is rationally connected to the means used to achieve the objective

b)__rights are limited as little as necessary to achieve the objective__, &

c)__the good accomplished by overriding the right outweighs the harm done by overriding it (the cure can't be worse than the disease).

3.  According to _Ronald Dworkin_______, individuals have a right to equal concern and ___respect________ in the design and administration of the institutions that govern them.  The philosopher who developed the "harm" principle to justify limits to rights was __John Stuart Mill.

4.  In the B.C. Motor Vehicles Act case, the Supreme Court arguably interpreted “fundamental justice” in s.7 of the Charter in a _substantive_ rather than a __procedural___ way.

5.  Section __33__ of the Charter allows legislatures and Parliament to insert a "notwithstanding clause" into legislation, but this clause expires after __5__ years.  Section __24 of the Charter is the "remedies" section.  The second part of the remedies section allows judges to exclude evidence collected in violation of the Charter, if to admit the evidence would __bring the administration of justice into disrepute.   

6.  Michael Mandel is considered a __left________ wing critic of the Charter, while Knopff and Morton criticize the Charter from the __right_________ side of the political spectrum.  

7.  Section __32_____ of the Charter defines what bodies the Charter applies to.  In the _____Mills_______________ case, the Supreme Court declared that a "dialogue" takes place between elected legislatures and the courts about the interpretation of the Charter.