I Already Googled It

In response to this:

Jeff McBride boldly suggests in the 21^st’s edition that “[r]ights shouldn’t apply before oath sworn”, asking “[a]re these people Canadians before they have sworn the oath?”

Perhaps before making an assertion about rights that people do and do not have, or when they should and should not “apply”, one should actually read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Charter contains two broad categories of rights and freedoms: Those which pertain to citizens only, and those which pertain to all people.

For example, section 2a) of the Charter specifies: “Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms […] freedom of conscience and religion”.  Canadian or not, everyone has these fundamental freedoms.

We don’t have freedom of expression, thought, religion, conscience, et cetera because government or a charter gives us those rights.  We have those rights unless government takes them away.  You don’t have to swear an oath and become a Canadian citizen to receive basic human dignity, that’s something that everyone – because of their very nature as human beings – should enjoy.

Note section 1 of the Charter: “The [Charter] guarantees rights and freedoms set out in subject”.  It doesn’t grant anyone anything.  It recognizes pre-existing rights and guarantees that they will not be taken away.