Constitutional law
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Ask Not
I have written more than enough about the oath of allegiance to Queen that would-be Canadian citizens have to take, but I have thought of an analogy that I like and which just might help us think the matter through. The Canadian citizenship is like marriage ― not necessarily in some romantic or esoteric way, though there… Continue reading
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Empty Promise
I wrote yesterday about the challenge now being considered by the Superior Court of Ontario to the constitutionality of the wording of the oath of allegiance that would-be Canadian citizens must swear or affirm. The oath requires one to promise loyalty and fidelity to the Queen, her heirs, and successors. As I explained, the Federal… Continue reading
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True Allegiance
When I became a Canadian citizen, more than 10 years ago now, I had, a according to the Citizenship Act, to affirm that I [would] be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada… Continue reading
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Then and Now
Much has been said and written in the last few years, both in Canada and in the United States, about the role of money in politics and also about the importance of electoral procedures in enfranchising ― or disenfranchising ― citizens. But this is not a new problem, as a description of the English electoral… Continue reading
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You’re Fired!
Earlier this month, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal issued a decision which, if legally predictable, offers us a useful opportunity to think about some serious questions in Canadian administrative law. At issue in Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v. Government of Saskatchewan, 2013 SKCA 61, was the constitutionality of s. 20 of Saskatchewan’s Interpretation Act, 1995, which… Continue reading
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You Didn’t Build That
The Québec government is not entitled to obtain and keep the Québec-related data of the now-defunct federal gun registry: so holds the a unanimous five-judge panel of the Québec Court of Appeal in a judgment delivered today, reversing the Superior Court, which had ruled for the province last fall. The Court of Appeal is not… Continue reading
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Federalism, Democracy, Same-Sex Marriage
It’s about time I got back to blogging. (Well, it was about time about two weeks ago, but… ) And there is surely no easier way to do so, though there are probably better ones, than to jump on the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage cases bandwagon. Especially if one can do so in a… Continue reading
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Multiple Perspectives
I wrote, back in February, about Martin v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 FCA 15, a case in which the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that Parliament’s failure to provide double unemployment insurance benefits to parents of newborn twins (allowing them to take twice as much time off work as the parents of an only child) was… Continue reading
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Ceci n’est pas une prière
Le dictionnaire Larousse définit le mot « prière » comme un « [a]cte rituel par lequel on s’adresse à une divinité ou à ses intercesseurs », ou encore comme un « [e]nsemble de formules, en général codifiées, par lesquelles on s’adresse à Dieu ». La Cour d’appel du Québec, elle, a une autre vision des choses. Une prière,… Continue reading
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Voice after Exit, European Edition
I wrote last year about a court challenge by two Canadian citizens living in the United States to a provision of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000 c. 9 (CEA), which prohibits Canadians who have resided abroad for more than five consecutive years (except members of the Canadian forces, civil servants, diplomats, and employees of international organization) from… Continue reading
Double Aspect 