Senate reform
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The Façade and the Edifice
This is my much-delayed post on the Supreme Court’s opinion, issued last Friday, in Reference re Senate Reform, 2014 SCC 32. Although the Court’s conclusions, all of which I had correctly predicted the day before, were not really a surprise, its reasoning was somewhat unexpected. It is also rather vague and difficult to understand. This may have been the Continue reading
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It’s a Dangerous Thing…
… To make predictions, especially about the future; so Winston Churchill. But the attraction of doing so is irresistible, so here goes: my forecast for the outcome of the Senate Reference, which the Supreme Court will release tomorrow. (If you need a refresher on the Reference and the issues it raises, as well as another Continue reading
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What Matters in the Province?
I mentioned, in my discussion of my doubts regarding the constitutionality of consultative elections for Senate nominees under the “Peace, Order and Good Government” (POGG) power of s. 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867, that I also had doubts about authority of the provinces to set up such elections. As in that post, my thoughts Continue reading
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Lack of National Concern
Here’s a question that bothers me. In the arguments about its proposed Senate reform, the federal government has asserted that it could set “consultative” elections of Senate “nominees” pursuant to the general “peace, order and good government” (a.k.a. POGG) power of s. 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867. The counter-argument is that such elections are a Continue reading
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Senate Reference Notes
I took notes while watching the Senate Reference hearings last week ― it’s not a verbatim transcript of course, but as close to one as I could manage. In case you are interested in what went on ― beyond my very partial summaries here and here ― but cannot or do not want to watch the whole Continue reading
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What to Make of the Constitution
I have written a post on the Senate Reference hearings for I-CONnect, the blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law. In large part, it follows up on and develops some of the ideas I had in my first impressions post last week, with a bit more context. I am cross-posting it below. *** Over Continue reading
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First Impressions
I will have more structured and fuller thoughts in the next days, but here are some initial impressions, in no particular order, of the Supreme Court’s hearings on the Senate Reference, almost all of which I watched. *** This case is, of course, largely about constitutional interpretation. (Much more so, in fact, than most constitutional Continue reading
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What We Said
Apologies for the recent silence. There was no particularly good reason for it, either. Anyway, I’m back. And there is a very good reason for that: the Québec Court of Appeal has released its opinion in response to a reference by the Québec government on the constitutionality of the Federal Government’s Senate reform plans, which Continue reading
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Constitutional Conventions and Senate Reform
Fabien Gélinas and I have written a paper on the (under-appreciated yet crucial) role of constitutional conventions for assessing the constitutionality of the federal government’s plans for reforming the Senate, which are the subject of references now being considered both by the Supreme Court and by the Québec Court of Appeal. (The factums for the Continue reading
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Keeping Judges Busy
The Globe and Mail reports that the federal government will go to the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of its Senate Reform project. Opponents of the reform have dared it to do so for years. They’ll get their wish now. The Supreme Court’s was already asked to rule on Senate reform project once, by Pierre Continue reading
Double Aspect 