NATIONAL SECURITY CONTEXT The right to equality and Protection against discrimination is a fundamental element of human rights for all members of Canadian society. In addition to the constitutional protection of equality rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”), federal, provincial and territorial governments in Canada have enacted human rights laws that prohibit discrimination on grounds such as national origin, race, religion, colour, sex, age and disability. Human rights in Canada are also supported by Canada’s commitments under international covenants; click here.

NATIONAL SECURITY CONTEXT
The right to equality and
Protection against discrimination is a fundamental element of
human rights for all members of Canadian society. In addition to the constitutional protection
of equality rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”), federal,
provincial and territorial governments in Canada have enacted human rights laws that
prohibit discrimination on grounds such as national origin, race, religion, colour, sex, age
and disability. Human rights in Canada are also supported by Canada’s commitments under
international covenants  and conventions including the many  human rights
instruments that Canada has ratified related to the protection of equality rights and the
prohibition of discrimination.
Canada’s International Human Rights Obligations
At the international level, the obligation to respect, protect and fulfill human rights rests with
national governments.18 International law recognizes that certain rights may be limited by
proportional and justified national security measures. In particular, Article 4 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) permits derogations from
certain civil and political rights in the context of public emergencies, but explicitly prohibits
any derogation based solely on grounds such as race, colour and religion in any
circumstance.19 Canada ratified the ICCPR in 1976.
In 2004, the International Commission of Jurists affirmed the obligations of states both to
protect persons from acts of terrorism and to ensure that “counter-terrorism measures
themselves must always be taken with strict regard to the principles of legality, necessity,
proportionality and non-discrimination.”20 In 2010, these principles were reiterated by the
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms while countering terrorism.21
Canada’s 2009 report to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review reflects these
obligations. It underscores a Canadian commitment to ensure that laws regulating the
relationship between security and human rights are drafted to be consistent with Canada’s
international human rights obligations.22
Application of the Canadian Human Rights Act
The Canadian Human Rights Act, RSC 1985, c H-6 (the “Act”) is aimed at preventing and
remedying discrimination. Section 2 provides the Act’s “dominant purpose”:
[A]ll individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for
themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated,
consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or
prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices[.] 23
Human rights laws in Canada are laws of general application with a quasi-constitutional
status.24 The Act applies to matters under the legislative authority of Parliament,