Title: Blossoming Equality & Freedom

I drew this picture because I wanted to show that the Charter protects our rights and freedom; it also means we grow stronger together happily, and everyone in Canada is equal. The stem of the flower is a fist, which symbolizes equality and protection of our rights. In the middle of the flower, I put a red maple leaf, which represents Canada. The faces around it are Canadians, and the petals surrounding them are multicoloured, because Canada is a multicultural country. The gender symbol to the left of the fist is red and white, like the colours of our national flag, and it shows, along with the smaller symbols, that everyone in Canada is equal, no matter their gender, race, or ethnicity.

Title: Grace's Charter

Hey, I want to talk about equality and freedom. Freedom is when you can do what you can and not be judged and feeling free from anything that puts you in a barrier like inequality. We should not be judged for our race, sexuality, religion, or gender. Be proud for who you are. This is important to me because I believe none of us should suffer for our differences. That’s what makes us beautiful and it’s so hard to believe we are treated differently it’s very tragic to me.

Title: What Canada Means to Me

In Canada we have freedom for a lot of things. We get to choose who we want to be and what we want to be. We also have rights for things like we have the right to move to any province, and the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada. People have the right to religion if it is their choice and we have the freedom of peaceful assembly. All people here are always gonna be equal.

I think Canada is a wonderful place where people from all over the world can come and stay.

It can be incredibly easy for us to take the many rights and freedoms under the Charter that we enjoy day after day, for granted. We lose grasp on how important the equality it provides has on our lives and the opportunities that are available to us. This supreme law allows me, and countless other Canadians, to have our individuality accepted and recognized through its underlying morals of fairness.

To visually represent my rights and freedoms, I wanted to express this valued equality using the impartiality of Lady Justice. Throughout my drawing I included many different symbols representing rights and freedoms in the Charter such as religion in s. 2(a) shown through sacred buildings like a mosque and church in her dress, equality rights under s. 15(1) portrayed by the varying individuals in the crowd practicing peaceful assembly protected in s. 2(c) of the Charter. The illustration of Lady Justice is created to reign above and over these elements since without the equality of which she stands for, none of the freedoms below her would exist harmoniously in Canada. Her symbolism also helped me to understand the power that the Charter has in the justice system itself because by appreciating and understanding what rights and freedoms I possess, I am able to protect myself and others from harm against our individuality. With the Charter, we are able to guarantee that just actions are made continuously in the future so that everyone is protected, accepted, and safe in their country.

As an adolescent ethnic student living in Canada, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms means a lot to me in my daily life. The Charter’s components, particularly section 2, Fundamental Freedoms, section 6, Mobility Rights, and section 15, Equality Rights, have allowed my family, friends, and I to live freely and co-exist peacefully. However, it has shown how these simple rights and freedoms we have can easily be restricted, limited, or even fall apart during this pandemic. In my visual representation on the left side of the page, it has drawings of religious symbols to illustrate section 2(a). In Canada, we can have the freedom of religion without being looked down on. Multicoloured fists raised in the air illustrate section 2(c) and section 15(1), wherein Canada allows different ethnicities and sexual orientations to come together as one to live in harmony. It also shows how we can also protest for the things we think are not right. The right side of the page shows hands held in a square covered by a word called “shattering” to illustrate section 15(1), wherein in Canada before the pandemic, everyone was treated the same. However, the pandemic shows that this equality we have in Canada is now falling apart or shattering because of the discrimination occurring, especially to the Asian community. Some people think that every Asian caused COVID and started this pandemic. Additionally, a praying hand covered by a word called “closed” to illustrate section 2 (a), wherein Canada before the pandemic, churches were open, and everyone can celebrate mass. However, now because of the pandemic, it is closed, so now, different religions may not celebrate mass in person but online. Although we may still have church online, we are still missing things we would normally do in person, so it is not the same. Next, I drew an airplane covered by “essential only” to illustrate section 6(1); wherein Canada we can leave, enter, and remain in this country how we would like, even so, because of the pandemic, airplane flights are now restricted to essential only. Lastly, two people are standing apart from each other signifying section 2(d), wherein in Canada, we could always hang out, party, and have fun with friends and family. Although, with the pandemic, we cannot even see each other anymore.

The written work I have decided to write and submit is a poem about what the Canadian charter of rights and freedom mean to me as citizen of Canada.

Under the Charter, freedom, and equality may be interpreted as growth and support. Canada is noted for its cultural mosaic, which has a diverse range of ethnicities, languages, and faiths. co-existing. This piece emphasizes how diverse cultures embrace one another in order to replicate this multicultural concept. As each part, not only relies on the strength of another but as well, prospers through its uniqueness. Creating the diverse population that Canada is today.

With the idea of a cultural mosaic, each component can be seen as independent yet due to artistic intentions, have been mounted on another. With each part co-existing rather than blending into another, they share equal opportunities to shine. Without freedom and equality, Canada would lack the ability to grow and prosper. As each Canadian, expands their ability to achieve and flourish.

Freedom and equality under the Charter, show the strength within the Canadian population. As each individual is free to achieve equal opportunities, yet still prosper from the support of another Canadian.