language rights
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Levelling Down
The Supreme Court’s decision to remove pre-1970 decisions from its website isn’t much of a win for bilingualism Continue reading
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La Constitutionnalité de l’application de la Loi 101 aux entreprises fédérales
Le 18 août dernier, le ministre responsable de la Langue française, M. Simon Jolin-Barette, a annoncé qu’il souhaitait voir la Charte de la langue française appliquée aux entreprises sous juridiction fédérale. Une telle mesure forcerait notamment les entreprises fédérales à obtenir un certificat de francisation et à se soumettre à une série d’obligations destinées, comme l’indique le préambule de Continue reading
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How to do Originalism
In my last post, I summarized the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Caron v. Alberta, 2015 SCC 56, which held that Alberta is not under a constitutional obligation to enact legislation in French as well as English. There was, you will recall, a majority opinion by Justices Cromwell and Karakatsanis, who were joined by four of Continue reading
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What Did They Mean?
Must the laws of Alberta ― like those of Manitoba (as well as Québec, New Brunswick, and of course Parliament itself) be enacted and published in both French and English? The answer to this question, which the Supreme Court addressed in Caron v. Alberta, 2015 SCC 56, decided on Friday, turns on the meaning of a short Continue reading
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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 Continue reading
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Local Circumstances
The Supreme Court has delivered its ruling this morning in the dispute about the ability of a party to submit exhibits in French into evidence in cases before the courts of British Columbia. In Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie‑Britannique v. British Columbia, 2013 SCC 42, it holds, by a bare 4-3 majority, that exhibits submitted for the truth Continue reading
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Le mépris de Pauline Marois
J’ai essayé, depuis le début de ce blogue, de le garder non-partisan. Cependant, lorsqu’un parti politique propose des mesures non seulement à l’encontre, mais au mépris des droits fondamentaux et de la constitution et de la loi qui les protègent, je dois le dénoncer. C’est ce que fait aujourd’hui le Parti québécois. Comme le rapporte Continue reading
Double Aspect 