The New Right to Vote

We're pleased to welcome Professor Michael Pal from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law to discuss the right to vote under section 3 of the Charter.

This event will be held at 12:00PM in room 105 of the Law Centre.

To register, click the link on the right side of the page.

Lecture Abstract:

The right to vote guaranteed by section 3 of the Charter is in a period of rapid evolution, after the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in Frank, City of Toronto, and Working Families. This lecture argues that the history of section 3, the text of the Charter, and the contemporary case law suggest that the answers to three questions will define the ‘new right to vote.’ First, what is the proper relationship of section 3 to other democratic rights and freedoms? Second, what are the implications of the more frequent use of the notwithstanding clause for section 3? Third, is there a ‘positive’ dimension of the right to vote? The lecture argues that the scope of the new right to vote will be closely tied to the answers to these questions. It sets out responses to each in light of Canada’s democratic tradition and the reality of global challenges to democracy.