New SCC Thoughts on the Honour of the Crown in Modern TreatiesThe SCC recently decided three cases interpreting historic and modern treaty promises to aid in the reconciliation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. I wrote about two of these…
Section 24 – Damages for Unconstitutional LegislationThe Supreme Court of Canada recently confirmed that individuals may bring actions under s. 24 of the Charter for damages flowing from unconstitutional legislation. The Court’s decision in AG Canada v Power upholds a decades-old principle established in Mackin…
A New Look at the Role of Treaties in ReconciliationTwo recent Supreme Court of Canada cases try to advance the fundamental objective of the modern law of treaty rights: the reconciliation of the interests of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Both cases show nation-to-nation treaty-making unfolding within the Canadian Constitution…
Gender and Pronouns NotwithstandingI want to pick up the story of the injunction issued by Megaw J of the Saskatchewan Court of Kings Bench against the policy preventing schoolkids under 16 from using their preferred names and pronouns without parental consent…
Canada Assists Other Democracies by Sharing Its Judicial TalentThe rule of law is often described as the rule of laws and not individuals. Amidst the roar of debate about this simplistic description, some basic ideas are commonly understood…
SCC Uses Charter Values to Essentially Expand a Defined Class of Rights HoldersCharter values that subtend Charter rights have been assigned various roles in adjudicating disputes from developing the common law to resolving genuine ambiguities in statutory interpretation.
What’s in a Name (Or Pronoun)?I recently noticed headlines that the Federal Court of Appeal had set aside an interim Order staying the removal of Colin Ewen because the Motions Judge had raised an issue about gender pronouns…
SCC Cases and Business EthicsI want to examine a couple of cases from the Supreme Court of Canada that demonstrate a growth of ethical principles in contracts that underpin much of the economy…
Extraterritorial Investigations and the CharterRecently, the Supreme Court of Canada was faced with two interlocking issues in McGregor. They arose from a charge of voyeurism against a member of the Canadian Armed Forces attached to the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC…
A View of the Charter Methodology BattlefieldIt’s not often that a Justice in a senior appellate court characterizes an inflection point in Charter methodology as a “battlefield” between two approaches to its interpretation…
