Responsibilities, Rights in Action and the Courts

A letter in the mail

One day, an adult in your home may get a letter from the court: a jury summons. It may be inconvenient. But without ordinary citizens willing to serve, the right to a trial by jury would mean nothing.

Rights and responsibilities go together. Your right to a fair trial depends on other people's responsibility to serve on juries. Your right to vote depends on others respecting election results. This lesson looks at the responsibilities of citizenship, how people use their rights to change things, and the institutions that protect rights.

Responsibilities of citizenship

The Government of Canada's citizenship guide lists these responsibilities:

• Obeying the law. No one is above the law.
• Taking responsibility for oneself and one's family: working, supporting your family, caring for your own well-being.
• Serving on a jury when called. In Ontario, jurors must be Canadian citizens aged 18 or older.
• Voting in federal, provincial and local elections.
• Helping others in the community, for example by volunteering.
• Protecting and enjoying our heritage and environment.

Some are legal duties (obeying the law, jury duty when summoned). Others are civic responsibilities that a healthy democracy needs but does not force: voting is not compulsory in Canada. There is no compulsory military service, though defending Canada through service in the Canadian Armed Forces or community emergency response is an honoured choice.

Analysing responsibilities means asking: Why does this responsibility matter? What happens if many people ignore it? For example, low voter turnout means a smaller group of people chooses the government for everyone.

Using rights to bring about positive change

Rights are not just shields; they are tools. People in Canada have used them to change laws and practices:

• SOS Montfort (Ontario): in 1997, a provincial commission ordered major cuts to the Montfort Hospital, a francophone hospital in Ottawa. Franco-Ontarians organized a huge campaign, with rallies and petitions, and went to court. In 2001 the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled that the decision did not respect the constitutional principle of protecting minorities, and the hospital stayed open as a French-language hospital. Freedom of assembly, expression and the courts worked together.
• Eldridge (1997): Deaf patients in British Columbia argued that hospitals must provide sign language interpreters. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed under section 15 equality rights: without interpreters, Deaf patients did not receive equal health care.
• First Nations children (2016): the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, led by Cindy Blackstock, and the Assembly of First Nations filed a human rights complaint. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children on reserve by underfunding child and family services, and ordered changes, including to how Jordan's Principle is applied (so First Nations children get services without delays over which government pays).

Other tools include writing to representatives, organizing petitions, forming organizations (s. 2(d) freedom of association), voting, and running for office.

Courts and other institutions

The courts protect rights and the public good by:

• deciding cases independently, using public rules and evidence;
• judicial review: striking down laws or government actions that violate the Constitution;
• balancing individual rights with the public good, such as public safety or health;
• protecting young people through a separate youth justice system under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which applies to people aged 12 to 17 and focuses on rehabilitation and accountability.

Other institutions and organizations:

• Human rights commissions and tribunals: the Ontario Human Rights Commission promotes human rights; the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario decides complaints under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the first such code in Canada, 1962). Federally, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Tribunal cover federally regulated areas.
• Ombudsman Ontario investigates complaints about provincial government organizations, municipalities and school boards.
• Privacy commissioners (federal and Ontario) protect personal information.
• Legal Aid Ontario helps people with low incomes get legal help.
• Police enforce the law, and must respect Charter rights.
• Civil society organizations, such as civil liberties associations, legal clinics and advocacy groups, take cases, intervene in court and inform the public.

Skills and careers

The political inquiry skills you are building transfer to work and everyday life: researching and checking sources, weighing evidence, understanding different perspectives, communicating clearly and persuasively, working in groups, and resolving disagreements respectfully. These are also skills of the citizenship education framework: active participation, a sense of identity and belonging, and understanding how structures work.

Careers where civics is an asset include: lawyer, paralegal, judge, court clerk, police officer, journalist, policy analyst, public servant, political staff member, diplomat, elections officer, social worker, community organizer, human rights officer, non-profit manager and teacher. In Grade 11 and 12, courses such as Understanding Canadian Law and Canadian and World Politics build on this course.