Canada
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A Diversity of Diversities
There has been some rather unpleasant controversy over judicial appointments of late, following the appointment of professors Grant Huscroft and Bradley Miller to the bench in Ontario. The Globe and Mail‘s Sean Fine has been busily pushing the narrative of “conservative” appointments, focusing on the new appointees’ criticism of Canadian courts and laws. On Twitter, La… Continue reading
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A Gag after Exit
The federal government knows that it is going to lose the battle over the voting rights of Canadians abroad for over five years, who are now disenfranchised under paragraph 11(d) of the Canada Elections Act. Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice declared this disenfranchisement unconstitutional earlier this year, in Frank v. Canada (Attorney-General), 2014 ONSC 907), a decision… Continue reading
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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… Continue reading
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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.… Continue reading
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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… Continue reading
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Ideology and Canadian Judges
In case you missed my self-promotion yesterday, my new post a the CBA National Magazine’s blog is up. It argues that we need to change the ways in which we think about and study judicial ideology in Canada. Simply importing American models, which rely on using the party of the president who appointed a judge, or… Continue reading
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L’amour des deux citrons
J’ai déjà eu l’occasion de dénoncer les grossières exagérations et le simplisme époustouflant, le tout assaisonné d’une bonne dose d’ignorance et même de mensonge, de Frédéric Bastien, un historien qui passe ses temps libres à pourfendre le juges canadiens qu’il croit être des tyrans assoiffés de pouvoir. Il en remet dans son plus récent billet sur… Continue reading
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Coyne on Lazy Revolutionaries
In his latest Postmedia column, Andrew Coyne has some harsh and cogent observations about the Tories’ failure to come to terms with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and (Canadian) constitutional law more broadly. Mr. Coyne’s column is well worth reading, and some of his observations are similar to my own. Mr. Coyne points… Continue reading
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Le sens de la laïcité
L’actualité a publié sur son blogue politique un billet de Frédéric Bastien appelant à la poursuite du débat sur la « laïcité » et défendant la pertinence de la Charte de la honte, alias Charte de laïcité, alias Charte des valeurs, proposée par l’ancien gouvernement péquiste. Malheureusement, comme bien d’autres interventions des partisans de cette… Continue reading
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Nation Tsilhqot’in c. Colombie-Britannique: ce qu’il ne faut pas trop tarder à savoir. Partie 2: le titre ancestral
Le récent arrêt de la Cour suprême du Canada dans l’affaire Tsilhqot’in porte principalement sur le titre ancestral. Il le fait d’abord en disposant de la question de savoir si le juge de première instance s’était trompé en concluant que les demandeurs avaient fait la preuve d’une « occupation suffisante » du territoire revendiqué. C’est donc dire que… Continue reading
