Section 7: Life, Liberty, and Security
7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
What and Who the Right Protects
Section 7 of the charter protects a person's right to life, liberty, and security. This section is part of the category of "legal rights," which also ensures other protections such as the right to fully answer and defend yourself in a fair trial and to protect yourself from self-incrimination. The right to liberty can be limited if a person is found guilty in a fair trial. These sections of the charter applies to everyone in Canada including visitors and foreign students.
The right to life can mean being protected from situations that pose a risk of death. It also considers indirect risk to life such as barriers to health care or the necessities of living.
The right to liberty is the freedom to make fundamental personal choices as well as the freedom from restraint over physical movements.
The right to security can be physical security and psychological security. Physical security means the right to protection from bodily harm or interference with one’s own choices with respect to their body. Psychological security is the right to protection from unusual stressors, beyond those of normal life and work.
Any action that seems to interfere with these rights is only an infringement if the action is outside the “Principles of Fundamental Justice”. These principles are the ones that ensure laws are fair.
Relevant Case
One example of a case is Canada (Attorney General) vs PHS Community Service Society 2011 SCC 44. In this case a safe injection health facility had been created in Vancouver, which allowed it to prevent deaths by overdose among drug addicted people. However this facility was denied an extension of its license since it violated the Controlled Drugs and Substances act, which says you can’t possess or traffick illegal drugs. The workers who ran the facility went to the Supreme Court saying that Canada had violated their client's Rights and Freedoms by preventing them from receiving help if they were in danger. The court agreed saying that the law "arbitrarily prohibited the management of addiction and its associated risks". The facility was then judged to be exempt from the law and allowed to operate. (Wikipedia, Canada (AG) v PHS Community Services Society 2021)
When these Rights can be Justifiably Limited
When it is within the Fundamental Principles of Justice these rights can be justifiably limited. It might seem to be an infringement on someone’s right to liberty to say they can’t walk across a runway at the airport but the law preventing that is obviously fair since it prevents accidents and harm to both the person and the public who travel by plane. Further more, people who are incarcerated for a criminal offence have justifiable limits on their rights if they are a threat to public safety.
References
Branch, L. S. (2022, March 31). Consolidated federal laws of canada, the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982. Legislative Services Branch. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html
Youth Guide to the Charter - English - Omarbinalkhattab.ca. Youth Guide To The Charter - English. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.omarbinalkhattab.ca/eteacher_download/3347/85592
Right to life, liberty and security of the person. Centre for Constitutional Studies. (2021, December 15). Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2019/07/right-to-life-liberty-and-security-of-the-person/#:~:text=Section%207%20of%20the%20Canadian,government%20that%20violate%20those%20rights
Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, October 29). Canada (AG) v PHS Community Services Society. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_(AG)_v_PHS_Community_Services_Society
Pagliaro, J. (2018, November 6). Supervised injection sites face new roadblocks in Toronto with provincial guidelines. thestar.com. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2018/11/06/supervised-injection-sites-face-new-roadblocks-in-toronto-with-provincial-guidelines.html
Skathi. (2019, June 7). Freedom Liberty symbol flat vector image on vectorstock. VectorStock. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/freedom-liberty-symbol-flat-vector-25725927