Episode 07 : Limits on Rights and Freedoms with Professors Marcus Moore and Joel Bakan

Are Charter rights absolute? In 1981, David Oakes was caught with drugs and faced a reverse onus forcing him to prove his innocence. His case became the foundation of Canadian constitutional law. Professors Joel Bakan and Marcus Moore — who clerked for Chief Justice Dickson during the Oakes decision — explain the landmark test that determines when governments can limit our rights. They unpack the four-part framework, the balance between individual freedoms and collective interests, and why Chief Justice Dickson's definition of democracy as "commitment to social justice and equality" remains constitutionally entrenched. A test that has stood time and spread worldwide.