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How well are people with intellectual disabilities and their interests represented in the House of Commons and in the offices of members of Parliament (MPs)? A series of interviews was conducted with parliamentarians who have personal experience working alongside persons with disabilities, members of advocacy groups, and a person with intellectual disabilities who are or have worked in parliamentary offices. Using this information, the author explores the current state of representation of these individuals and their interests, the barriers they and others face in improving their representation, and makes recommendations for how to make the House of Commons more inclusive for persons with intellectual disabilities., Introduction Every day, people with disabilities around the world face many barriers to exercising their basic human rights in all kinds of situations. In fact, the United Nations has stated [...]

The courts have interpreted and applied sections 1 and 2 of the Charter, including in the case of Occupy Toronto in 2011. In recent days, the word 'freedom' has been [...]

A clause in Canada's constitution lets politicians nullify citizens' rights. It needs to go F OR THOSE who nod off at the mention of Canada's constitution, the obscure-sounding 'notwithstanding clause' [...]

The obscure-sounding 'notwithstanding clause' is actually rather dangerous I N NOVEMBER DOUG FORD, the premier of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, got into a brawl. The trade union representing 55,000 [...]

Issuer Direct Corporation announced the availability of Investor Relations websites that comply with the technology requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Accessible Canada [...]

Access to abortion is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many abortion facilities are located in major cities, which creates barriers for those in rural areas. Abortion [...]

Introduction I. Basic Rules Regarding Preambles and Constitutional Interpretation in the British Constitutional Tradition A. Preambles and Statutory Interpretation B. "A Constitution Similar in Principle to That of the United [...], In recent years, unwritten constitutional principles often find their place in Canadian constitutional law via their supposed foothold in the part of the preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867 that refers to "a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom". Principles such as judicial independence, democracy, federalism, constitutionalism and the rule of law, and protection of minorities have been derived from the preamble. This article looks through over a hundred years of Supreme Court of Canada case law in order to determine what that preambular phrase has meant over time. It turns out that in the years immediately after 1867, it referred to what we now call political constitutionalism. A hundred or so years later, this same passage came to be associated with legal constitutionalism, though the Court has more recently backed away from the fullest implications of that approach. This article proposes a reading of the preamble and constitutional principles that is consistent with recent Supreme Court of Canada case law and defensible given current jurisprudential trends. That reading gives due regard to the traditional meaning of the rule of law all the while acknowledging that there are genuinely hard cases (particularly prevalent at the Supreme Court level) where neither rules nor principles provide dear answers. In those circumstances, respect for the rule of law requires as much wisdom and judgement as it does application of more prosaic legal skills. This artide therefore recommends what is here referred to as a "sustainable jurisprudence" that offers an essential bridge between by now orthodox Dworldnian prindple-based reasoning and contextual studies more commonly found in sodo-legal, feminist, and other critical literature. Au cours des dernieres annees, les prindpes constitutionnels non ecrits ont souvent trouve leur place dans le droit constitutionnel canadien a travers leur pretendu ancrage dans la partie du preambule de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867 referant a << une constitution reposant sur les memes prindpes que celle du Royaume-Uni >>. Des prindpes comme l&apos;independance judidaire, la democratie, le federalisme, le constitutionnalisme et la primaute du droit, ainsi que la protection des minorites decoulent du preambule. Cet artide dechiffre une centaine d&apos;annees de jurisprudence de la Cour supreme du Canada afin de determiner le sens attribue a cette phrase preambulaire au fil du temps. Il s&apos;avere que, dans les annees suivant tout juste 1867, elle referait a ce que nous appelons maintenant le constitutionnalisme politique. Une centaine d&apos;annees plus tard, ce meme passage est assode avec le constitutionnalisme legal, bien que la Cour ait recemment pris du recul par rapport aux pleines implications de cette approche. Cet article propose une lecture du preambule et des prindpes constitutionnels qui est compatible avec la jurisprudence recente de la Cour supreme du Canada et defendable au vu des tendances jurisprudentielles actuelles. Cette lecture accorde une consideration appropriee au sens traditionnel de la primaute du droit, tout en reconnaissant que certains cas sont reellement complexes (ce qui est particulierement frequent au niveau de la Cour supreme), lorsque ni les regles ni les prindpes ne fournissent de reponse daire. Dans ces circonstances, le respect de la primaute du droit requiert tant la sagesse et le jugement que l&apos;application d&apos;habiletes juridiques plus prosaiques. Cet artide recommande donc ce que l&apos;on appelle id une << jurisprudence durable >>, qui cree un pont essentiel entre un raisonnement. dworlrinien base sur des prindpes et les etudes contextuelles plus souvent trouvees dans la litterature sodojuridique, feministe et dans d&apos;autres gemes de litterature critique.

Introduction I. Democracy in the Canadian Constitution: A Brief Overview II. Critiques of the Unwritten Principles A. Legitimacy Critique B. Interrelatedness C. Implications for die Content of Unwritten Principles III. [...], This article considers the content of the unwritten principle of democracy and its potential relevance in Canadian constitutional interpretation. The unwritten principles of federalism, the rule of law and constitutionalism, democracy, and the protection of minorities set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Secession Reference have received extensive academic attention. Much yet remains unknown, however, about the democracy principle. This article argues that we should interpret the unwritten principle as embodying a "thin" or procedural account of democracy tied to meaningful participation, rather than a "thick" version imposing specific outcomes or broader obligations. I argue that whatever the weight of a "thick" account of democracy, a "thin" understanding is preferable for filling in the content of a constitutional principle that has legal force. The central critiques of the use of unwritten principles in constitutional interpretation are 1) that they lack legitimacy and 2) that they are incoherent in relation to one another. Operationalizing a thin version of democracy in constitutional interpretation responds better to the claims that the unwritten principles lack legitimacy or are incoherent. A thin account still permits the unwritten principle to carry out its functional role in constitutional interpretation, such as enabling courts to fill in gaps in the text or to engage in structural reasoning. The article considers the implications of this approach for referendums and municipal elections. Cet article examine le contenu du principe non ecrit de la democratie et sa pertinence potentielle dans le cadre de l&apos;interpretation constitutionnelle canadienne. Les principes non ecrits du federalisme, de la primaute du droit et du constitutionnalisme, de la democratie, et de la protection des minorites, enonces par la Cour supreme du Canada dans le Renvoi relatif a la secession du Quebec, ont feit l&apos;objet d&apos;une attention particuliere de la part de la communaute academique. On ignore cependant encore beaucoup sur le principe non ecrit de la democratie. Cet article soutient que nous devrions interpreter ce principe comme incarnant une definition << etroite >> ou procedurale de la democratie, associee a une participation significative, plutot qu&apos;une definition << large >> imposant des resultats specifiques ou des obligations plus vastes. Nous soutenons que, quel que soit le poids d&apos;une definition << large >> de la democratie, une comprehension << etroite >> de celle-ci est preferable pour indiquer la teneur d&apos;un principe constitutionnel ayant une force juridique. Les principales critiques de l&apos;utilisation de principes non ecrits dans l&apos;interpretation constitutionnelle sont 1) qu&apos;ils manquent de legitimite et 2) qu&apos;ils sont incoherents les uns par rapport aux autres. L&apos;operationnalisation d&apos;une definition << etroite >> de la democratie dans l&apos;interpretation constitutionnelle repond mieux aux affirmations selon lesquelles les principes non ecrits manquent de legitimite ou sont incoherents. Une definition << etroite >> permet au principe non ecrit de remplir son role fonctionnel dans l&apos;interpretation constitutionnelle, notamment en permettant aux tribunaux de combler les lacunes des textes ou d&apos;entreprendre un raisonnement structurel. Cet article prend en consideration les consequences de cette approche pour les referendums et les elections municipales. Cet article examine les considerations de cette approche a l&apos;egard des referendums et des elections municipales.

Not only is there no clear answer in Canadian law as to what the 'supreme law' of Canada comprises, but no agreement on how to find that answer. In this [...]

This article sheds light on the fundamental role that narratives and metaphors play in shaping how we think, talk, and argue about the Canadian Constitution. More specifically, the article makes [...]