I don't want to over-argue the case concerning distinctions between our different rights and freedoms. Collectively they are the bedrock on which Canada's social contract stands. Eliminate any one of those rights and it's game over. So each right can be regarded as essential to our way of life.

On the other hand, our rights extend across very different aspects of what it means to be a Canadian citizen. So clearly the rights aren't equal in every way. Some of those rights, by their very nature, cannot be limited by government decree. The freedoms of conscience, thought, opinion and belief are- at least at present- untouchable by any authority. Our other fundamental freedoms- namely, religion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, can be limited by government. Nevertheless, any government that does so puts our entire way of life at risk.