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Full-Text Articles in Law
A Historical Account Of The Orderly Payment Of Debts Act Reference: Limiting Provincial Efforts To Protect Insolvent Debtors, Thomas Gw Telfer, Virginia Torrie
A Historical Account Of The Orderly Payment Of Debts Act Reference: Limiting Provincial Efforts To Protect Insolvent Debtors, Thomas Gw Telfer, Virginia Torrie
Dalhousie Law Journal
This paper analyzes the history of the Alberta Orderly Payment of Debts Act and the constitutional controversy that followed. The legislation sought to protect debtors by imposing restrictions on creditors. In 1960, the Supreme Court of Canada in Reference re Validity of Orderly Payment of Debts Act, 1959 (Alberta) ruled that the legislation was ultra vires on the basis that it interfered with the federal bankruptcy and insolvency power. The Orderly Payment of Debts Act reference is the capstone in a trilogy of cases in which provincial legislation was invalidated for encroaching upon the federal bankruptcy and insolvency power. The …
Reassessing The Constitutional Foundation Of Delegated Legislation In Canada, Lorne Neudorf
Reassessing The Constitutional Foundation Of Delegated Legislation In Canada, Lorne Neudorf
Dalhousie Law Journal
This article assesses the constitutionalfoundation by which Parliament lends its lawmaking powers to the executive, which rests upon a century-old precedent established by the Supreme Court of Canada in a constitutional challenge to wartime legislation. While the case law demonstrates that courts have continued to follow this earlyprecedent to allow theparliamentary delegation of sweeping lawmaking powers to the executive, it is time for courts to reassess the constitutionality ofdelegation in light ofCanada's status as a liberal democracy embedded within a system of constitutional supremacy. Under the Constitution of Canada, Parliament is placed firmly at the centre ofpublic policymaking by being …
Caesar's Faith: Limited Government And Freedom Of Religion In Bruker V. Marcovitz, F C. Decoste
Caesar's Faith: Limited Government And Freedom Of Religion In Bruker V. Marcovitz, F C. Decoste
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Supreme Court of Canada has long pursued the view that our law is somehow an expression and repository of what it terms "Canada 's fundamental values." In Bruker v. Marcovitz, the Court added to the catalogue of these judicially decreed and enforced values one concerning religion, namely, the protection of Canadians against the arbitrary disadvantages of their religions. This comment argues that the Court's judgment in this regard constitutes a fundamental threat to religious liberty inasmuch as it subordinates religious beliefand practice to state values by making the legal acceptability of the former turn on their conformity to the …
Something To Talk About: Is There A Charter Right To Access Government Information?, Vincent Kazmierski
Something To Talk About: Is There A Charter Right To Access Government Information?, Vincent Kazmierski
Dalhousie Law Journal
Can sections 2(b) and 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms be interpreted to protect a constitutional right of access to government information? The author argues that the constitutional principle of democracy provides a foundation for judicial recognition of such a constitutional right of access even though the inclusion ofan explicit right to access to government information was rejected during the process of drafting the Charter Given that the Supreme Court of Canada's section 2(b) and 3 jurisprudence has been informed by the principle of democracy, the application of the principle may now guide the Court to include …
The Legislature, The Executive And The Courts: The Delicate Balance Of Power Or Who Is Running This Country Anyway?, A Wayne Mackay
The Legislature, The Executive And The Courts: The Delicate Balance Of Power Or Who Is Running This Country Anyway?, A Wayne Mackay
Dalhousie Law Journal
The expanding role of Canadian courts since the introduction of the Charter has prompted critics to decry what they see as excessive and "anti-democratic" judicial activism. The author addresses such criticisms, responding, in particular, to the arguments of Ted Morton and Rainer Knopff. The article critiques the basic elements of Morton/Knopf's thesis: that activist courts are anti-democratic, excessively political, and engaging in illegitimate law-making. Rejecting the claim that Canada's judiciary is a less democratic state institution, the author notes the powerful law and policy-making role performed by the federal cabinet-for practical purposes, an unelected body. The author endorses the dialogue …
Recognizing Substantive Equality As A Foundational Constitutional Principle, Patricia Hughes
Recognizing Substantive Equality As A Foundational Constitutional Principle, Patricia Hughes
Dalhousie Law Journal
The author proposes that substantive equality be recognized as a foundational constitutional principle. The foundational principles--or underlying constitutional norms-which constitute the constitutional framework have become more important as Canada matures as a regime governed by constitutional supremacy. Most prime social and political values have been recognized as underlying constitutional norms, including democracy, federalism, protection of minority rights, political speech and judicial independence. Although section 15 of the Charter has been interpreted as encompassing substantive equality, which has been identified as a significant social value by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court has yet to include it among the foundational …
Reconsidering The Charter And Election Boundaries, Mark Carter
Reconsidering The Charter And Election Boundaries, Mark Carter
Dalhousie Law Journal
This article argues for a judicial interpretation of the right to vote under s.3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that places more emphasis upon ihe principle of the equal power of every vote-"one person, one vote"--than maybe suggested by the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Reference re: Electoral Boundaries Commission Act. This becomes an issue of particular importance when a government is suspected of engaging in gerrymandering. Gerrymandering involves enhancing expected electoral support by ensuring that fewer votes will be needed to elect representatives in ridingspredictedto support the government. Any concessions governments may wish to make …
Mélanges Jean Beetz, Teresa Scassa
Mélanges Jean Beetz, Teresa Scassa
Dalhousie Law Journal
Melanges Jean Beetz is a collection of essays honouring the late Supreme Court of Canadajudge who died in 1991 after a lengthy battle with illness. The timing of the publication of the book, some five years after his death, places the work within what is perhaps a fitting social and political context. The constitutional crises that have plagued this country continue in what seems to be a period of heightened alienation between Quebec and the rest of Canada. An exploration of the contribution of Justice Beetz to the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada may be of assistance in …
The Expulsion And Disqualification Of Legislators: Parliamentary Privilege And The Charter Of Rights, Andrew Heard
The Expulsion And Disqualification Of Legislators: Parliamentary Privilege And The Charter Of Rights, Andrew Heard
Dalhousie Law Journal
This article examines whetherthe Charter of Rights limits the ability of legislatures to expel sitting members and to disqualify individuals from running for election. The discussions reveal the uncertain breadth of the constitutional status that the Supreme Court of Canada accorded legislative privilege in New Brunswick Broadcasting Co. v. Nova Scotia (Speakerof the House of Assembly). The author argues that both explusion and disqualification should be included among the privileges that are beyond the Charter's purview.
Does Canada Need A Social Charter?, Matthew Certosimo
Does Canada Need A Social Charter?, Matthew Certosimo
Dalhousie Law Journal
Over the decade since the birth of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, expectations that it would impact greatly on the lives of Canadians have gone largely unfulfilled for those regarded as being the most in need of its protection. A recent decision of the Nova Scotia County Court has reminded critics that the narrow interpretation given the Charter'se quality2 and security oftheperson3 provisions, particularly with regard to social and economic rights, excludes from its purview the well-being of Canadians in economic need.
Canadian Constitutional Law And Madame Justice Bertha Wilson - Patriot, Visionary And Heretic, James Macpherson
Canadian Constitutional Law And Madame Justice Bertha Wilson - Patriot, Visionary And Heretic, James Macpherson
Dalhousie Law Journal
In the remainder of this paper I will consider Justice Wilson's contribution to Canadian constitutional law. The paper has three parts. Each has a different theme, although the themes overlap in places. I have given these themes labels, each reflecting, I believe, a significant feature of Justice Wilson's constitutional thinking and writing. The labels are Justice Wilson as - Patriot, Visionary and Heretic. In the next three parts of this paper I will deal with each of these themes, with reference principally to her decisions in Charter cases but also with occasional references to her decisions in other categories of …
Relations Between The Maritimes And The Supreme Court Of Canada: The Patterns Of The Early Years, James G. Snell
Relations Between The Maritimes And The Supreme Court Of Canada: The Patterns Of The Early Years, James G. Snell
Dalhousie Law Journal
When establishment of a supreme court for the young Canadian Confederation was first mooted after 1867, reaction in the Maritimes was strikingly positive. The Halifax Morning Chronicle, for example, which by no means was yet reconciled to the new British North American union and which saw the court quite accurately as "securing and centralizing the judicial authority in Canada," nevertheless conceded the indispensability of such an institution: If this Confederation continues to exist of course such a court will be a necessity. There must be a central and paramount authority and other things being favourable we would support the bill …