Justin Trudeau
Member of Parliament
Papineau
September 15, 2009
How does the Charter protect individuals from discrimination?
We live in a world right now where we're so beset by you know some very, very big problems be they environmental or, conflict based, or resourced based or what have you, that it's very, very easy right now especially with the modes of communication we have to highlight differences between people, to say you guys are the enemy, or your guys are different, or you guys are not to be trusted because you speak a different language, you're a different colour skin, you practice a different religion or just because you live on the wrong side of the river from us. Tools like the Charter establish the ground rules, say you know what: we all are worthy of respect. We're all worthy of dignity. We all can demand the same basic rights that are essential for human beings to thrive, and the more we spend time understanding that that's a non-negotiable element of human existence, the better off we're all going to be, and that's the force that Canada brings to the world and needs to continue to bring to the world of being present, of, of saying look there are rights and wrongs and you know the wrongs are so often done in the name of division to individuals who deserve to be treated with, with equality and fairness and that that's a powerful message that resonates very strongly with a lot of people.
