Jasmyn Naru Culminating Reflection

The point of view that I have changed is the section of the Charter that I value the most.
At first, the section of the Charter that I valued the most was legal rights. Legal rights protect
Canadians when dealing with the justice system. The common saying for presumption of
innocence is “every person accused of any crime is innocent until proven guilty”. However,
now, I believe that mobility rights - the right to enter, remain in, and leave Canada - are the most
important. I believe that this was the most important section of the Charter now because every
Canadian citizen should have the right to seek work, or live wherever they choose. Mobility
rights are fundamental because you never know when an emergency comes up and you have to
leave the country for a while.

I now value mobility rights over legal rights because I have a personal experience that
opened my eyes to the importance of mobility rights. In late 2022, there was an emergency in my
family - one of my family members had passed. Because of this, my family had traveled to India
to attend the funeral and grieve together. For my family, it was fairly easy to cross borders and
arrive in India to meet my extended family. However, my family in a country with fewer
mobility rights was trapped in the country for longer. They eventually got through after a few
extra days. This made me think about how lucky I am to live in a country where I have the right
to leave the country freely. My opinion on mobility rights give me a more left-wing approach on
the political spectrum (Liberal-NDP).

Mobility rights in Canada also mean that anyone regardless of a mental and/or physical
disability should be able to go anywhere. However, in my community, a lot of places are not
wheelchair accessible. Places like some banks, grocery stores, and even offices have small doors,
and no elevators or ramps. Even mentally disabled people are often discriminated against instead
of given help. In my community, I can reach out to organizations like Autism Ontario (provincial
level), Ability Online (municipal level), and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities - CCD
(federal level), to help advocate to rebuild a more inclusive and accessible community. To start
taking action, I could write a letter to these organizations to maybe start a rally in my community
to raise awareness about the issue. Together, I believe we can make mobility rights available to
every Canadian citizen regardless of any disability.
 The point of view that I have confirmed is that healthcare is continuously unavailable and
inaccessible to a lot of Canadian citizens. The inaccessibility of healthcare concerns almost all
Canadians as we all will experience health problems at some point in our lives. However, the
people who are most affected are nurses and doctors, Canadians living in rural areas, and the
government. Numerous clinicians are going on strike due to working lengthy hours and are
experiencing burnout. Because of this, there is a nursing shortage which is slowing down the
flow of doctor’s offices and hospitals. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and Canadian
Nurses Association (CNA) advocate justice for clinicians to improve the Canadian healthcare
system. Canadians in rural areas also experience hardships when accessing healthcare. Since
rural areas have sparsed populations, it is hard for everyone to be in proximity to a pharmacy,
doctors’ office, or hospital. The question often asked is “Where do you put a medical clinic that
is close to everyone when everyone is spread out?”. The government is also affected by the
unavailability of healthcare because it is an ongoing issue. The Liberals continue to promise
investment into funding for health services but the issue remains.

The reason my point of view on healthcare remains the same is because I haven’t seen
any new changes to the system. I don’t believe that Canada’s healthcare system is satisfactory
because personally, my family and I have still been experiencing the same problems we
experienced two-three years ago. My grandfather has recently undergone a surgery and requires
a nurse to come in every week for a check-up. However, for the past few weeks the nurse has not
been coming in even though we have a registered spot for one. My grandfather now needs extra
help due to the lack of regular check-ups. Earlier this year, when I had fractured a bone in my
foot, I immediately needed an X-ray to find out what happened. Due to the lack of clinicians in
the hospital it took me twelve hours to get an X-ray and a report. Both examples show how
unorganized the healthcare system is. On the political spectrum, I fall on the left-wing (NDP). I
agree with the New Democratic Party’s views on healthcare. They say that we need to put more
funding into preventative healthcare - healthier lifestyles in general, better the long-term care
system, and introduce more pharmacist responsibilities. I believe that if Canada follows a more
NDP route to the issue, we can rebuild a better and stronger healthcare system.
 I think having a political perspective on issues is imperative because it helps you see all
the different party’s points of view on different issues and helps you know your rights, make
decisions, and prepares you to vote. For me, civics class opened my eyes to different views on
issues, and helped me see that I can make a difference in my community. Before civics, I wasn’t
even sure what the difference between left and right wing was, but now I am more educated and
am even able to form my own opinion on different political parties. The thing I am most glad to
be able to take away from this course is that anyone can make a change in their city or town.
Now, I know the different ways to take action and might even continue to advocate for Canadian
healthcare.
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