On February 16, 2016, the Quebec Superior Court upheld the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, an Act of the federal Parliament that gave Canada’s assent to an Act before the Parliament of the United Kingdom that changed the rules of succession for the British monarchy such that the system of male preference primogeniture under which a younger son could displace an elder daughter in the line of succession was to be ended and also such that the rule that rendered anyone who married a Catholic became ineligible to succeed to the Crown was similarly removed. In Motard v. Procureur general du Canada et al., 2016 QCCS 588, Justice Claude Bouchard examined the question as to whether the amendments to the royal succession, and Canada’s assent to them, were changes to Canada’s constitution and, if so, whether Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 was therefore engaged.
Monthly Archives: February 2016
Electoral reform for Canada – to have or not to have a referendum?
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Recently, there have been increasing cries for the Liberal government to hold a referendum on any new electoral system. On the CBC News website today, there is a report on a poll conducted by Insight West which found that nearly two thirds of Canadians polled considered that there should be a referendum on any new system of voting. But would this be a good way to decide upon such an issue?
Trinity Western University v. The law societies – an update as to where things stand
For those of you who follow this issue, the current score is 2 to 1 for Trinity Western University as against the Law Societies. TWU has won two of the three trial court decisions – namely, those in British Columbia and Nova Scotia. It lost its inaugural round in Ontario. All three decisions are being appealed. As we all know, this one is going all the way to the Big House.
Where do things stand right now in the three provinces?
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Does the demise of the press present a constitutional issue for our democracy?
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In today’s Globe and Mail, Lawrence Martin has underscored the “crisis in journalism”. His opinion piece, “A crisis that cries out for a public inquiry”, presents an important question about the state of the “fourth establishment” and its role in democratic government. He describes the root of the problem as follows:
Today, we have a crisis in the journalism industry unprecedented in scope. A media implosion. Newspapers being reduced to digital editions, large numbers losing their jobs, circulation falling, ad revenues plunging, near monopoly ownership of big-city dailies, the old business model in a state of collapse.
He goes on to observe that “it’s a joke to think that a healthy democracy can be restored given the continuing depletion of the one industry that holds business and government to account”. He asks “[i]f traditional print journalism cannot be sustained, what fills the void?” Good question.
Constitutionally Canadian 