The courts have delegitimized the Charter — it's time to reclaim it

Was the Charter of Rights and Freedoms a mistake? National Post columnist Carson Jerema thinks so . Writing in these pages last week, he argued that the Charter was a massive gift of power to the judiciary that allowed the august benches of the Supreme Court to replace our emasculated political chambers. Why bother with Parliament, when the real power is just a short walk down Wellington Street?

The theory behind an entrenched Charter of Rights — that the law should restrain majorities from violating fixed and judicially enforceable rights — is not imprudent, nor does it necessarily lead to absurd results like constitutionalizing bike lane policy . But the more that the public perceives that judging is finger-in-the-wind preaching, the less legitimate the Charter will appear.

So, it