Charter

May 23, 2012

Is There Voice after Exit?

First of all, an apology for the overextended silence. I couldn’t find anything interesting to blog on, I’m afraid. Fortunately the CBC has rescued me by reporting on a challenge to the provision of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000 c. 9 (CEA) which prohibits Canadians who have resided abroad for more than five consecutive… Continue reading

Constitutional law, Law of Democracy

Canada, Charter, election law, elections, voting
May 11, 2012

Rants and Freedoms

Some university students think the lecturer whose class they are taking is doing a lousy job. Someone creates a hyperbolically-named Facebook group to rant; others join; a few post derogatory messages on the group’s wall. So far, so normal. But, after the semester ends and the lecturer, for reasons unknown, is no longer employed by… Continue reading

Constitutional law, New Technologies

Charter, education, Facebook, free speech, freedom of expression, social media, university
April 18, 2012

A Belated Happy Birthday to the Charter

I wasn’t able to post yesterday, but still want to say something good on the Charter‘s anniversary. My doubts and worries notwithstanding, I believe that the Charter has done Canada a lot of good. With Lord Acton, I believe that “[l]iberty is not the means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest… Continue reading

Constitutional law, Political philosophy

Canada, Charter, constitution, courts, judicial review, liberty, politics
April 16, 2012

A Charter Child’s Blues

This was originally written more than three years ago now, but I am fond of the text. I thought I would repost it tomorrow, on the Charter‘s 30th anniversary, but decided to do it today. Hopefully I’ll come up with something more celebratory tomorrow. *** I am a proud Charter child. A copy of the… Continue reading

Constitutional law, Constitutional Theory, Political philosophy

Canada, Charter, courts, democracy, politics, Supreme Court of Canada
April 15, 2012

A Right to Bear Arms? Canadian Cases

Here’s something I should have done yesterday, before launching into my analysis of the Charter‘s protection of liberty and of the right to bear arms: read some actual cases! Well, better late than never. In R. v. Hasselwander, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 398, Justice Cory, writing for a 3-2 majority, opined, at p. 414, that “Canadians, unlike Americans… Continue reading

Constitutional law

Bill of Rights, Charter, right to bear arms, Supreme Court of Canada
April 14, 2012

A Charter Right to Bear Arms?

My friend Michael Cust makes an interesting suggestion in a blog post asking whether there is a right to bear arms in Canada: while there is no self-standing right to bear arms, “a case could be made that it’s part of our right to liberty” protected by section 7 of the Charter, because history suggests… Continue reading

Constitutional law

Charter, fundamental justice, liberty, right to bear arms
April 13, 2012

Emergency Wiretaps and Privacy Rights

Well, the Supreme Court of Canada has great timing. Or maybe I do, but saying that would be immodest, right? In any case, the day after I wrote that the Court latest privacy decision was a mess, it has released its decision in R. v. Tse, 2012 SCC 16, addressing the conflict bewteen the right to privacy… Continue reading

Constitutional law

Charter, judges, privacy, Supreme Court of Canada
April 12, 2012

Privacy in the Past, Present, and Future

Our own actions – individual and collective – set the upper limit of our privacy rights. We will never have more privacy rights than we care to have, although we often have fewer. One stark illustration of this idea comes in Isaac Asimov’s short story “The Dead Past,” in which a group of scientists build… Continue reading

Constitutional law, Constitutional Theory, Legal philosophy, New Technologies

Charter, judges, privacy