The Rule of Law: It’s Not Just for Lawyers and People Who Say “Whereas”
Ours To Protect
Every country has its uniqueness.
Jamaica has more than its share of very fast runners.
China has… well, all of the pandas.
And Canada?
We have the rule of law… the invisible force that keeps the whole place from turning into the comments section of Facebook Marketplace.
And yeah, yeah, other countries have the rule of law as well (since lots of places… like Jamaica... have it too) but we do it really well.
Hear me out.
Now, if the phrase “rule of law” sounds like something printed on a stone tablet and read aloud by a guy wearing ceremonial sleeves, stick with me. This isn’t a civics lecture. This is just me (a man who once confidently but erroneously argued with a barista about the pronunciation of “macchiato”) trying to make sense of why fairness matters.
And here’s the thing: the rule of law isn’t for lawyers.
It’s for us.
Everyday people. The dog walkers. The Tim Hortons drive-thru philosophers. The Canadians holding the door open a full 40 metres too early because we’ve misjudged the distance like polite northern gazelles… deers, I think I mean deers.
Most of us don’t think about fairness until it’s missing.
It’s like Wi-Fi.
Or ketchup chips.
You don’t appreciate it until you walk into a hotel and discover the only signal is coming from 2011.
But fairness… real, structural fairness… runs quietly in the background, making sure chaos doesn’t get a running start.
Let me show you.
Everyday Fairness You Probably Forgot Is Fairness
You can vote without someone yelling in your face.
That’s not normal everywhere. Some countries treat voting like a competitive sport with full-contact intimidation and a soundtrack that feels suspiciously like a wrestling entrance. But here? You walk in, show your ID, mark a box, grab a tiny golf pencil you absolutely forget to return, and leave. No one tackles you. No one screams at you about fluoride.
That’s fairness working.
You can challenge a traffic ticket.
I’m not saying you’ll win (Canadian judges have heard every excuse known to humankind, including “I didn’t realize my foot was doing that”) but the point is: you get the chance. The system lets you say, “Your Honour, I swear the sign said 80,” and the judge can say, very politely, “It did not.” And you both go on with your day.
That’s fairness.
If your neighbour complains about your fence, you don’t settle it with a duel.
You go to mediation. You talk. Somebody mentions bylaws. Everyone pretends they’ve read them. Eventually the fence gets fixed and you wave awkwardly for the next decade.
Fairness achieved.
The Terms and Conditions of Society… Except You Can’t Scroll Past It
You know when you download an app and the terms and conditions pop up? And you scroll for so long you start to question whether the app actually belongs to you or you just sold your soul to a cartoon owl?
Well, the rule of law is basically the terms and conditions of society… except you can’t scroll past it. You can’t hit “I Agree” and hope for the best.
You’re already living inside it.
Fairness is the thing that keeps powerful people from rewriting rules on a whim. It’s the quiet safety feature that makes sure the game isn’t rigged just because someone woke up one morning and decided they’re now the CEO of Everything.
It’s what stops a politician from saying, “Actually, the law doesn’t apply to me” and having the rest of us politely but firmly suggest: “Yeah… no.”
And here’s the magical part: it works even when we’re not thinking about it. It’s like your smoke detector. You don’t think about it until it starts yelling at you at 3 a.m. because a dust particle drifted too confidently.
Why This Matters Right Now
These days, trust feels fragile. You scroll online and it’s all outrage, conspiracy theories, and a surprising number of adult humans insisting they’ve “done their own research” on YouTube at 1.25x speed.
But underneath all that noise is something steady: a system built to keep things fair, even when things get loud.
The rule of law protects the vulnerable.
It limits the powerful.
It gives the rest of us a sense of predictability… a rare commodity in a world where even your thermostat thinks it knows better than you.
Without fairness, everything becomes a negotiation with whoever’s holding the most megaphones.
With it? You get a country where:
disagreements don’t turn into chaos,
institutions stay accountable,
and ordinary people (people like your aunt who still prints emails) can trust that the system is working even when they’re not watching.
Fairness Isn’t a Courtroom Thing. It’s an Everyday Canadian Thing.
The rule of law isn’t something that happens in grand buildings with marble floors and echoey hallways. It’s something that happens in lineups, on ballots, in neighbourhoods, and on those weird little “Take a Number” machines that only exist in offices where everyone still uses fax machines.
It’s what lets us coexist without reading the fine print of chaos.
And it’s something we all have a role in protecting.
Not just lawyers, judges, or that one kid from high school who now posts very dramatic LinkedIn updates about leadership.
Fairness is ours. Every Canadian’s.
If you want a genuinely helpful breakdown of how fairness works… how it protects people… how it keeps the whole country from sliding into nonsense… there’s a great resource for that.
Learn how fairness protects all of us at ourstoprotect.ca.
Because fairness isn’t something that just happens.
It’s something we choose.
Every day.
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