August 2007
Monthly Archive
Canadian Constitutional Law #37 - Remedies and Reform Thursday, Aug 23 2007
1L and Canadian Constitutional Law and Constitutional Law and Erin Morgan and McGill Faculty of Law 1:48 pm
In this podcast we will discuss remedies within the constitution, and the process of constitutional reform within Canada. This is the final podcast in Canadian Constitutional Law.
Schachter v Canada (1992)
Vriend v Alta (1998)
Canadian Constituional Law #36 - Aboriginal Rights Wednesday, Aug 22 2007
1L and Canadian Constitutional Law and Constitutional Law and Erin Morgan and McGill Faculty of Law 11:42 pm
In the second-last podcast for the course, we move outside the Charter and consider the constitutional entrenchment of aboriginal rights in sec 35 of the Constitution Act 1982. Even though these rights are entrenched outside of the Charter, we will see how jurisprudence has imposed limits upon aboriginal rights in a style very similar to the section 1 analysis normally performed on charter rights.
St. Catherine’s Milling and Lumber Co. v. The Queen (1888)
Calder v. British Columbia (Attorney General) (1973)
Guerin v. The Queen (1984)
R. v. Sparrow, (1990)
R. v. Van der Peet, (1996)
Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997)
Canadian Consitutional Law #35: Language Rights Thursday, Aug 16 2007
1L and Canadian Constitutional Law and Constitutional Law and Erin Morgan and McGill Faculty of Law 4:41 pm
Language rights are very important in Canada as a result of the historical French-English tension. However, sections 91 and 92 do not assign administration of language-related issues to a specific level of government, so it is treated as an ancilliary sphere over which both levels of government have some control. Language is not a ground listed in section 15, although it may be analogous. The most important provisions relating to language in the constitution are in s133 (the right to use either official language in court and in parliament) and in the Charter between ss16 and 23, the latter being the right to minority language education.
Devine v AG Qc (1988)
AG Manitoba v forest (1979)
Mercure v AG Saskatchewan (1988)
R. v Paquette (1988)
Mahe v Alberta (1990)
Ford v Quebec (AG) (1988)
Canadian Constitutional Law #34: Economic and Social Rights Thursday, Aug 16 2007
1L and Canadian Constitutional Law and Constitutional Law and Erin Morgan and McGill Faculty of Law 4:41 pm
Why does the Charter focus on legal and politcal rights, to the exclusion of economic and social rights? What does this absence mean for Canadian citizens? Could economic and social rights be read into the charter under an existing section? That’s what Gosselin tries to do in Gosselin v Quebec, without success. In this podcast we shall study the supreme court’s judgement, focusing on the dissenting opinion that Canada should include an economic right to basic subsistance under sec 7.
Gosselin v Quebec (2002)
Canadian Constitutional Law #33: Equality Rights Thursday, Aug 16 2007
1L and Canadian Constitutional Law and Constitutional Law and Erin Morgan and McGill Faculty of Law 4:00 pm
In this podcast we will be discussing section 15 of the charter, equality rights. It is important to understand the difference between formal equality (American model) and substantive equality (Canadian model). We will consider the case of Law v Canada, which contains a very thorough analysis of equality rights by Iacobucci J.
Regina v Drybones (1970)
AG Canada v Lavell (1974)
Bliss v Canada (1979)
Law v Canada (1999)