7.2.1 Laws and Who Makes Them

Canada is governed through an organized system of laws. A law is a written rule. Its job is to guide the way people behave in society. Laws are not handed down by one powerful person. They are made by representatives whom Canadians elect. That link matters: because voters choose the lawmakers, the laws come out of the democratic process. Laws are also written down, so that everyone is able to find out what the rules actually are. This organized, written system is what holds daily life together across the whole country.

Making laws is only part of the picture. Two other groups put them into practice. The courts settle disputes. The police enforce the laws day to day. Enforcement reaches the country's borders as well — at the Canada-United States border, a guard with a sniffer dog may search the trunk of a car. One point matters above all the others: the law in Canada applies to everybody. Judges, politicians and police officers are bound by it in exactly the same way as any other person. Nobody is placed above the rules.

Laws exist for reasons that go beyond punishing wrongdoing. First, they keep order in society, so that people can live and work alongside each other. Second, they give a peaceful route for settling arguments. Instead of fighting, people can bring a dispute to a court and accept the decision. Third, laws put into words what Canadians value and believe. Read together, the rules of a country show what its people think is right and important. So the legal system is practical and, at the same time, a statement of shared values.