The source of this precept is found in the principle of the supremacy of Parliament which states that Parliament has unrestrained powers and that it can. Thus, it alone can create a right and none exists which has not been proclaimed as such by a legislative body. When a legislature has not pronounced on a question, advantages enjoyed by individuals are called privileges, freedoms or liberties. Often, there has been a tendency to group such rights in a single document so as to give them, seemingly, more force and prestige. In Canada, for example, a Canadian Bill of Rights was issued in 1959 and provincial Charters of Rights have been enacted in every province, including a very extensive one issued in Quebec in 1974.
Statutory rights are advantageous, as they are easy to create and consequently are numerous.
However, they are just as easily amended and consequently may easily be removed. The original Canadian constitution contained some recognition of linguistic and school rights in ss. 133 and 93. However, to a large extent, the country functioned with the principle of Sovereignty of Parliament until the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enacted in 1982. In Quebec, the provincial Charter of Rights is one of the most extensive in North America.