Can a Provincial Referendum Trigger a Legal Duty to Enter Constitutional Negotiations? Alberta’s 2021 Equalization Referendum and the Reference re Secession of Quebec
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
Provincial Constitutions: What Are They and How Do We Amend Them?
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
The Constitutional Amendments in Quebec’s Bill 96: Whose Consent is Needed?
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act Reference: Federal Criminal Law Powers Applied to Modern Science
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
Yes, the Federal Government Can Put a Price on Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Part 2
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
Yes, the Federal Government Can Put a Price on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
British Columbia’s Guardian Angels… Straight from Hell? BC’s Civil Forfeiture Act Case
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
Recently, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that certain provisions of BC’s Civil Forfeiture Act,[1] which allows the BC government to seize property allegedly “tainted” by crime, were an […]
A Fair Deal for Alberta: Are Changes to the Equalization Program Coming?
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
On 17 June 2020, the Government of Alberta released the Fair Deal Panel’s report.[1] The Fair Deal Panel, created by Premier Jason Kenney, interviewed and curated responses from Albertans on […]
Courts of Appeal Split on Validity of Carbon Tax
Category: Federalism, Constitutional Issues
In order to meet its obligations under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, Canada implemented the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (“GGPPA”) in 2018.[1] Colloquially known as the “carbon tax,” the […]
Containing a Virus and Government Power: Restrictions on the Federal Response to COVID-19
Category: The Charter, Federalism, Constitutional Issues
Canada’s provinces and territories have all declared states of emergency or public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Declaring a state of emergency allows the government to secure […]
Emergency Powers and the Emergencies Act
Category: Federalism, Pandemic
* This article is an edited excerpt of “Climate Emergency vs Emergency Powers” by Michael Graham originally published on June 27, 2019. Emergency Branch: Peace, Order, and Good Government (“POGG”) The Constitution […]
The Feds and a Conversion Therapy Ban: Mixed Messages and Constitutional Challenges
Category: The Charter, Fundamental Freedoms (Section 2), Legal Rights (Sections 7-14), Federalism
In 2019, the federal government has been inconsistent about a potential ban on conversion therapy even though the practice is harmful and professionally disregarded. This article will pose and attempt to answer a series of questions: What is the ‘therapy’
A National Pharmacare Plan Requires Cooperative Federalism
Category: Federalism
Introduction: Proposed Pharmacare Canada is the only OECD country with universal health coverage that does not include prescription drugs.[1] Canadian provinces have different regulations for prescription coverage – offering a mix of programs that subsidize drug costs, often depending on factors
Wrangling with the Law: Can Federalism Save Rodeo Animals?
Category: Federalism
Introduction The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta. The event hosts one of the world’s largest rodeos in which people from all over the world come to compete. However, each year a
The ‘Carbon Tax’. Wait, can the feds do that?
Category: Federalism
The highest provincial courts of Saskatchewan and Ontario both found the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (“the Act”), better known as the ‘carbon tax’, constitutional. But not everyone agrees.[1] Debating the constitutionality of the ‘carbon tax’ appears to be the new national pastime.