Fixing Our Fixed Election Date Legislation

Canadian Parliamentary Review, p. 19, Spring 2009 In September 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada sought and received a dissolution of Parliament from the Governor General. This was despite the … Continue Reading →

Reconceiving Solicitor-Client Privilege

Queen’s Law Journal, Vol. 35, p. 493, 2010 Solicitor-Client Privilege is one of the oldest and most venerated doctrines under the common law. Over the past three decades, Canadian courts … Continue Reading →

The Dutiful Conscript: An Originalist View of Justice Wilson’s Conception of Charter Rights and Their Limits

Supreme Court Law Review, Second Series, Vol. 41, p. 331, 2008 During her relatively short time on the Supreme Court of Canada (1982-1991), Justice Bertha Wilson constructed an independent and … Continue Reading →

Canadian Legal Ethics: Ready for the Twenty-First Century at Last

Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, p. 1, 2008 This article analyzes the transformation in the scholarship of legal ethics that has occurred in Canada over the last … Continue Reading →

A Tale of Two Maps: The Limits of Universalism in Comparative Judicial Review

CLPE Research Paper No. 14/2008 Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 2009 The explosion of scholarship in comparative constitutional law in the last decade tends to overshadow the traditional suspicion that comparative … Continue Reading →

Canada as Constitutional Exporter: The Rise of the ‘Canadian Model’ of Constitutionalism

Supreme Court Law Review, Second Series, Vol. 36, 2007 This article details the rise of a Canadian model of constitutionalism at the intersection of constitutional law and international relations. Examining … Continue Reading →

Constitutional Legitimacy and Responsibility: Confronting Allegations of Bias after Wewaykum Indian Band v. Canada

The Supreme Court Law Review, Vol. 25, p. 165, 2004 This article analyzes the highly unusual situation where an allegation of bias is brought against a Supreme Court justice after … Continue Reading →

Constitutional Hierarchy: Solicitor-Client Privilege as Super-Constitutional Right

Between 1999 and 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada transformed solicitor-client privilege from a common law right to a constitutional right of the highest order. Over those three years, the … Continue Reading →

Breaking the Law’s Grip on Equality: A New Paradigm for Section 15

Supreme Court Law Review, Vol. 20, p.33, 2003 Equality is an elusive and often divisive concept. The Supreme Court of Canada has struggled with its interpretation, tacking back and forth … Continue Reading →

The Increasing Irrelevance of Section 1 of the Charter

Supreme Court Law Review, Vol. 14, p. 175, 2001 This paper addresses the topic of judicial deference to legislative choices under section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and … Continue Reading →