-
Bar This Claim
A couple of recent cases that the Québec Court of Appeal should consider in deciding whether to let the Barreau’s challenge to mandatory minimums go forward.
-
Kingsley & Mayrand on Election Law
I had the chance to attend a great talk at McGill yesterday, with the former and current Chief Electoral Officers, Jean-Pierre Kingsley and Marc Mayrand, speaking and exchanging views on the past, present, and future challenges of election law in Canada. It was great, and especially interesting in that their two perspectives, while similar, were…
-
Mainville Reference Factums
Thanks to the good offices of a friend, I have been able to get my hands on the factums filed in the Mainville Reference, in which the Québec Court of Appeal will consider the constitutionality of the appointment of a judge of the federal courts to a superior court of Québec ― and, more specifically,…
-
Courts, Government, and Originalism
Despite its popularity south of the border, originalism hasn’t had much of a purchase in Canadian constitutional thinking. One reason, no doubt, is the power of what we think is the example of the “Persons Case,” Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General), [1930] A.C. 124, generally taken to be a decisive rejection of originalist constitutional interpretation.…
-
How Much Your Picture?
After skipping a month, I have resumed my sequence of monthly posts for the CBA National Magazine’s blog. Today, I take on two recent Québec cases awarding damages to people whose pictures were published without their consent. One is Hammedi c. Cristea, 2014 QCCS 4564, where the defendant was the editor of a small newspaper who had published…
-
Ignoramus et Ignorabimus
I have mentioned the problem of political ignorance a number of times on this blog, notably in connection with legislative inaction on access to justice. The idea ― which I have shamelessly borrowed wholesale from Ilya Somin (who explains it, for example, here) ― is that most people are ignorant about political matters writ (very) large…
-
Une Injustice
J’ai déjà écrit, ici et ailleurs, que l’omission des droits de propriété de la Charte canadienne, qui était censée permettre aux gouvernements de poursuivre des politiques économiques et sociales égalitaires, a des effets pervers qui font en sorte qu’elle leur permet plutôt de transférer de l’argent des pauvres aux mieux nantis. Dans ce billet, je veux…
-
Quasi-Meaningless
In one of my very first posts, I wondered what the Supreme Court meant by describing a statute, or a common-law right, as “quasi-constitutional.” I concluded that this description probably did not mean anything substantial, and was little more than an indication that the Court considered the statute or right in question as very important. Its decision…
-
Unintended Consequences?
When I commented on the oral arguments in Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2014 SCC 59, the B.C. hearing fees case, I argued that although there was a good deal of support among the various parties and interveners for the proposition that it was section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867,…
-
Carry On
One writes in order to try to force the universe to make sense. Others shoot for much the same reason. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, but that’s a difficult proposition to maintain in the face of a hail of bullets. Still, one must fight with what weapon one can wield.…
Double Aspect 