Bill of rights vs. Canadian charter.

It is in this vein that a country drafts legislation to protect the rights of their inhabitants. In the United States there is the Bill of Rights of 1781, which consists of a preamble and the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, 1787. In Canada there is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is the first part of the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982. Both of these documents provide for the rights and freedoms for their respective populations. These documents are vastly different, but also contain several similarties. Thou both excellent documents, it is in my contention, however, that the Bill of Rights is far superior, more significant and efficiently exceeds the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Bill of Rights has a long history entangled with that of the American Constitution. The first Congress has achieved more than any other congress in American history, they not only have the credits of a successful organization of the government, of law, administration, and defense but the enactment of the American Bill of Rights. The original Constitution of 1787 contained several provisions of major significance for civil liberties, however did not contain a specific bill of rights. This failure to incorporate a bill of rights by the framers of the constitution was not a sign of resentment or lack of concern to the rights of man, but rather their certainty that particular guarantees of rights was unnecessary. However this did not satisfy some states, who deeply demanded for solemn assurances that the new government would not consent to exercise tyranny, therefore a debate between the Federalist and Anti-Federalist began.

The Federalist were who argued for a strong national government to provide order and protect rights of people and claimed that the bill of rights was unnecessary. On the other hand the Anti- Federalist argued for a weak national government and wanted to add the Bill of Rights to protect the people against abuses of power. A number