Call for Papers - Courts and Politics Research Group 7th Annual Spring Workshop

Due Date: March 29th

The Courts and Politics Research Group invites the submission of abstracts for its seventh annual Spring Workshop, to be held at the University of Guelph on Friday, May 10, 2024.

The goal of the workshop is to bring together faculty and graduate students who study in the field of courts and politics to present scholarship or works-in-progress, (including MRP/thesis chapters) to a group of individuals with shared interests and expertise, in a relaxed and friendly setting. There is no specific theme for the workshop; instead we invite scholars to present work that falls into the broad field of courts and politics, constitutionalism, and law and politics. We encourage the submission of scholarship that is in early stages or is unpublished.

We are pleased to announce that this year the workshop will feature a keynote address by Dr. Andrew McDougall on his new book, Sleeping Dogs: Quebec and the Stabilization of Canadian Federalism after 1995 (University of Toronto Press, 2023). 

Those interested in presenting work are asked to send paper titles and short abstracts (200 words or less) to Kate Puddister (kpuddist@uoguelph.ca) and Emmett Macfarlane (courtsandpolitics@gmail.com) workshop organizers.

Scholars that wish to attend, but do not want to present a paper are asked to RSVP to Kate Puddister.

The Courts and Politics Research Group is composed of scholars who study courts, constitutions, and the law from a political science perspective. It is designed to connect political scientists in the region of Southern Ontario: http://www.courtsandpolitics.org/

We hope you can join us in Guelph for what promises to be an interesting and productive workshop.

6th Annual Spring Workshop

May 5, 2023

University of Guelph

Room 019 MacKinnon

8:50 am Welcome and Introduction

  • Emmett Macfarlane (Waterloo) and Kate Puddister (Guelph)

 9:00am-10:30am - Studying the Law

  • Danielle McNabb (Queen’s) and Minh Do (Guelph): The Perils and Promise of Indigenous Legal Mobilization: Revisiting Ktunaxa Nation
  • Dennis Baker (Guelph): Politics by Private Law Means
  • Marc Zanoni (Guelph): Electoral Law and Policy: Judicial or Legislative Policymaking
  • David Said (Guelph): Police Accountability and Administrative Justice: An Empirical Analysis of Public Complaints About Police in Ontario

Moderator: Dave Snow (Guelph)

10:45am-12:15pm – Supreme Court Decision-Making

  • Emmett Macfarlane (Waterloo): Revisionist History at the Supreme Court
  • Andrew McDougall (Toronto), Robert Schertzer (Toronto), and Andreea Musulan (Toronto): Applying Computational Social Science Approaches to Supreme Court of Canada Decisions, 1980-2021: Towards a Fresh Perspective on the Court
  • Alec Dobson (Western): The Second Era of Section 15 of the Charter: Resisting the Historical Reality of Inequality
  • Minh Do (Guelph), Robert Schertzer (Toronto), and Hayley Russell (Toronto): Checking our blind spots: assessing the common (and distinctive) contributions of recent work on the Supreme Court’s Charter, Federalism and Indigenous caselaw

Moderator: Troy Riddell (Guelph)

12:45pm-1:45pm – KEYNOTE: Emmanuelle Richez (Windsor), “The Court Challenges Program: A Powerful Tool for Constitutional Change in Canada”

 Moderator: Emmett Macfarlane (Waterloo)

 2:00 pm-3:15pm – CONCURRENT PANELS

a)The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

  • Charles Buck (Toronto): The Desuetude of the Notwithstanding Clause – Fact or Fiction?
  • Mark Harding (Guelph): Are the Liberals the “Charter Party”?
  • Brendan Dell (Guelph): Return to Smith? Canadian Courts’ Treatment of Harper-Era Mandatory Minimum Sentences

Moderator: Danielle McNabb (Queen’s)

b) Non-Judicial Institutions/Actors

  • Paul Gardner (Queen’s) and Sharece Thrower (Vanderbilt): Judicial Review of Presidential Agency Instructions: Can the President Use the Law to Get What She Wants?
  • David Said (Guelph) and Mark Mancini (UBC): Not Set in Stone: Determining the Range of Reasonable Penalties in Professional Regulatory Bodies in Ontario
  • Charlie Feldman (practitioner): Constitutional Safeguard, Procedural Speedbump, Political Shield? Revisiting Constitutional Review by the Subcommittee on Private Member's Business

 Moderator: Kate Puddister (Guelph)

 3:30pm-4:45pm – BOOK ROUNDTABLE: Emmett Macfarlane, Janet Hiebert, and Anna Drake, Legislating under the Charter (University of Toronto Press, 2023)

  • Dennis Baker (Guelph)
  • Kate Puddister (Guelph)
  • Andrew McDougall (Toronto)
  • Emmett Macfarlane (Waterloo)

 Moderator: Minh Do (Guelph)

PAST EVENTS:


Rights and Institutional Relationships: 
A Workshop in Honour of Janet Hiebert

University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
October 14, 2022

 

Welcome and Introduction – 9:00am-9:10am

 Emmett Macfarlane, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo

Models of Judicial Review – 9:15am-11:00am

 Parliamentary Bills of Rights: Hopes, Disappointments, and Salvation
James Kelly, Department of Political Science Concordia University

Devolution, rights and institutional relationships
Chris McCorkindale, School of Law, University of Strathclyde

A culture of rights? Assessing the Trudeau government’s use of Charter Statements
Brendan Dell, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph
Mark Harding, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph

Honourable Legislatures? Section 35 and Legislative Rights Review
Minh Do, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph

Limiting Rights – 11:15am-12:45pm

Rights Talk and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Nancy Hills, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph
Emmett Macfarlane, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo

Rights and the Law’s Progressive Measures
Grégoire Webber, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University

National Unity and the Notwithstanding Clause
Andrew McDougall, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto

LUNCH BREAK

Special Remarks 1:45-2:15pm

Peter Russell, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto

Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, Department of Political Studies, Queen’s University

Gwyneth Bergman, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta

Elections and Rights – 2:15pm-3:15pm

The Political Changes and Challenges to Canadian Election Advertising
Erin Crandall, Department of Politics, Acadia University
Andrea Lawlor, Department of Political Science, King’s University College, Western University

Understanding the Pre-Campaign: An Analysis of Third Party Spending in the 2019 Federal Election
Tamara Small, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph

Legislatures and Rights – 3:30pm-5:00pm

Correcting Rights: Judicial Review, Legislative Sequels, and its Impact on Amending Inconsistencies with the Charter
Andrew Nguyen, Department of Political Studies, Queen’s University

Consequences of Weak Parliamentary Rights Review: A Study of Harper-Era Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
Brendan Dell, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph
Kate Puddister, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph

Regulating Police Power: Courts and Legislatures
Troy Riddell, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph

Program

Friday, April 30 (all times Eastern)

Reconciliation - 11:00am-1:00pm

Peter Russell (Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto)
“40 Years After Patriation Brought Canada’s Constitution Home the Home Has Changed Fundamentally”

Kiera Ladner (Professor, Department of Political Studies, University of Manitoba) and Jeremy Patzer (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba)
“40 years on and still Fishing for Rights”

Minh Do (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“Beyond Consultation: A Research Agenda to Investigate Partnerships and Co-Management in Land Governance”

Rebecca Major (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Windsor) and Cynthia Stirbys (Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, University of Windsor)
“Canada Act, 1982: Using the master's institutional instruments to dismantle the master's goals of Indigenous rights certainty”

Samuel La Selva (Professor, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia)
“Indigenous Sovereignty, Canadian Constitutionalism, and Citizens Plus: The Unended Quest of Canada’s Original Hedgefox”


The Charter, Federal/National Diversity, and Quebec - 1:30pm-3:15pm

Mark Tushnet (William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Emeritus, Harvard Law School, Harvard University)
“The Charter and Plurinationalism”

Félix Mathieu (Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pompeu Fabra) and Dave Guénnette (Postdoctoral Fellow, McGill University)
“Still Not Cheering: Understanding Quebec's Perspective on 1982”

James Kelly (Professor, Department of Political Science, Concordia University)
Québec and the 'Sign Law' Thirty Years after Ford and Devine: Ford construit solide.

Gerald Baier (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia)
“Revisiting the Charter Centralization Thesis”


Saturday, May 1 (all times Eastern)

Charter Rights I - 9:00am-11:00am

Matthew Hennigar (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Brock University)
“The Most Important Charter Right? The Rise and Future of Section 7”

Eleni Nicolaides (PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“Carter Compliance: Litigating for Access to Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada”

Kerri Froc (Assistant Professor, UNB Law School, University of New Brunswick)
“Canada Sex Problem: Section 15 and Women’s Rights”

Tamara Small (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“Policing Partisan Self-Interest? The Charter and Election Law in Canada”


Public Opinion, the Media, and the Charter - 11:30am-1:00pm

Dave Snow (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph) and Eleni Nicolaides (PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“Notwithstanding the Media: Section 33 of the Charter after Toronto v. Ontario”

Erin Crandall (Associate Professor, Department of Politics, Acadia University), Andrea Lawlor (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, King’s University College, Western University), & Kate Puddister (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“Charter Talk: Elite Versus Popular Attitudes Towards the Charter”

Andrew McDougall (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto)
“It Works in Practice, but Does it Work in Theory? Accepting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a National Symbol”


Constitutional Change - 1:30pm-3:00pm

Richard Albert (William Stamps Farish Professor in Law and Professor Government, The University of Texas at Austin)
“The Invisible Transformation of Canada's Constitutional Amendment Rules”

Phil Lagassé (Associate Professor, The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carlton University)
“Cracks in the Foundation: The Crown and Canada's Constitutional Architecture”

Ran Hirschl (Professor of Political Science and Law, University of Toronto)
“The Urban Gap”


Sunday, May 2 (all times Eastern)

The Charter and Judicial Decision-Making - 10:00am-11:45am

Emmett Macfarlane (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo)
“Revisiting Judicial Activism”

Lori Hausegger (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Boise State University), Danielle McNabb (PhD Student, Department of Political Studies, Queen's University) and Troy Riddell (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“The Provincial Courts of Appeal: Decision Making and Hierarchical Relations in the Charter Era”

Kent Roach (Professor & Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto)
“The Charter and the RCMP”

Mark Harding (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph)
“The Political Purposes of the Charter: Four Decades Later”


Charter Rights II - 12:15pm-1:45pm

Joshua Sealy-Harrington (J.S.D. Candidate and Lawyer, Columbia Law School)
“The Charter of Whites: Systemic Racism and Critical Race Equality in Canada”

Brenda Cossman (Professor of Law, University of Toronto)
“Sex Work, Abjection and the Constitution”

Stephanie Chouinard (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Royal Military College of Canada)
“Canadian Language Rights: Forging the 40 Years Ahead”


Freedom of Expression in Canada

A workshop co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo, the Courts & Politics Research Group, and the research cluster for Indigenous Peoples, Decolonization and the Globe at the Balsillie School of International Affairs

REGISTER HERE

October 4, 2019

Balsillie School of International Affairs Room 1-42

 Welcome and Refreshments - 8:30am-8:50am

 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS – Emmett Macfarlane - 8:50am

 PANEL I: The Charter of Rights and Jurisprudence - 9:00am-10:30am

 Richard Moon (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor) “Does Freedom of Expression Have A Future?”

 Jamie Cameron (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University) “Process Matters: Prior Restraint, Procedural Unfairness, and s. 2(b) of the Charter”

 Emmett Macfarlane (Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo) “Identifying the Harms of ‘Harmful Speech’”

 Stéphanie Chouinard (Department of Political Science, Royal Military College of Canada) and Emmanuelle Richez (Department of Political Science, University of Windsor) “The Tension Between Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Canada: The Ford and Devine Legacy after Thirty Years”

 

 PANEL II: Justifying Limits in Law and Purpose - 10:45am-12:15pm

 Bruce Ryder (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University) “Equality and Freedom of Expression in the Evolution of the Ontario Human Rights Code”

 Cara Zwibel (Canadian Civil Liberties Association) “Counter Speech and Obstruction: Where is the Line?”

 Byron Sheldrick (Department of Political Science, University of Guelph) Anti-SLAPP Legislation in Canada:  Regulating Freedom of Expression and Access to Justice

 Christopher Bennett (Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo) “Denying Deniers: Climate Change Denial and the Impermissibility of Speech Act”

 12:15pm-1:15pm - LUNCH

 PANEL III: Regulation - 1:15pm-2:45pm

 Erin Crandall (Department of Politics, Acadia University) and Andrea Lawlor (Department of Political Science, King’s University College, Western University) “Freedom of Expression in an Age of Fake News: Regulatory Considerations and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms”

 Carissima Mathen (Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa) “Regulating Expression on Social Media”

 Leonid Sirota (Auckland University of Technology Law School) “A Conscience- and Integrity-Based Framework for Assessing the Justifiability of Speech Compulsions”

 Sonia Lawrence (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University) “Still Something Left to Lose: Expression and Equality at the Law Society of Ontario”

 PANEL IV: The Academic Context – Beyond The ‘Campus Speech’ Debate - 3:00pm-4:45pm

 David Newhouse (School of Business, Trent University) “Extending the Rafters: Indigenous Knowledge in the Western Academy” 

 Shannon Dea (Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo) “On Silence”

 Jasmin Habib (University of Waterloo) “Unsettling Speech: the Israel-Palestine Conflict and Campus Activism”

 Jeffrey Sachs (Department of Politics, Acadia University) “You Can’t Say That On Campus: Free Speech and Political Activism in Canadian Higher Ed”

 Dax D'Orazio (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) "Freedom of Speech and Deplatforming in the University: The Ann Coulter Debacle at the University of Ottawa"

4th Annual Spring Workshop 

Thursday, May 2, 2019 - University of Guelph

Rozanski Hall 102 and TBA

 8:50 am      Welcome and Introduction (refreshments provided)

  • Emmett Macfarlane (University of Waterloo), Kate Puddister (University of Guelph), Eleni Nicolaides (University of Guelph)

9:00 am – 10:30 am Judicial Decision-Making and Appointment

  • David Said (University of Guelph) and Dennis Baker (University of Guelph): “The (Appropriate) Role of a Judge in a Constitutional Democracy: A Content Analysis of Canadian Judicial Appointment Applications”
  • Tori Noble (University of Windsor), Emmanuelle Richez (University of Windsor), Marc André Bodet (Université Laval), and Alec Hoy (University of Windsor): “Tilted Bench: Judicial Decision-Making at the Supreme Court of Canada in Charter Legal Rights Cases”
  • Emmett Macfarlane (University of Waterloo): “Judicial Amendment v. Judicial Interpretation: A Distinction With a Fundamental Difference”
  • Mark Harding (University of Guelph): “Contestation over Cooperative Federalism in the Supreme Court”

Moderator: Troy Riddell (University of Guelph)

10:45 am – 12:15 pm Concurrent Panels (choose one)

Panel A: Law, Politics, and Public Policy (Room 102)

  • Marc Zanoni (University of Guelph): “Using Punctuated Equilibrium to Analyze Court Impact on Parliamentary Agendas”
  • Dave Snow (University of Guelph): “The Social Construction of Naturopathic Medicine in Canadian Newspapers”
  • Alana Cattapan (University of Saskatchewan): “Of Flesh and Blood: Explaining Variation in Human Tissue Legislation in Canada”
  • Gwen Bergman (Queen’s University): “Political Principles and Legal Logistics: The Impact of Administrative Law on Religious Freedom in the Supreme Court of Canada”

Moderator: Matthew Hennigar (Brock University)

 Panel B: Courts and Criminal Justice (Room TBA)

  • Jenaya Nixon (University of Guelph): “ v. Antic and Justices of the Peace: Analysing the Impact of Bail Reform”
  • Rachel Schumann (University of Toronto): “‘It’s a no brainer’: How Friends and Family Influence the Imposition of Bail Conditions”
  • Carolyn Mouland: (University of Toronto) “Parenting Parliament: The Constitutionalized Interpretation of Corrective Force in Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth, & the Law

Moderator:  Dennis Baker (University of Guelph)

 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Lunch is provided thanks to a generous donation by the Political Science Department, University of Guelph 

 1:15 pm – 2:45 pm Concurrent Panels (choose one) 

Panel A: Courts, Indigenous Politics, and Public Policy (Room 102)

  • Andrew M. Robinson (Wilfred Laurier University): “You Can’t Get There From Here: Ktunaxa Nation and Domestic Legal Barriers to Implementing UNDRIP Commitments Regarding Sacred Sites in Canada”
  • Minh Do (University of Toronto): “The Duty to Consult: The Promise of Dialogue, the Reality of Negotiations”
  • Jessica Rumboldt (York University): “An Analysis of the Overrepresentation of Indigenous Female Offenders in the Canadian Correctional System”

Moderator: Dave Snow (University of Guelph)

Panel B: Law and Policy Reform (Room TBA)

  • Danielle Lucia McNabb (University of Guelph): “The Rape Shield’s Defective Policy Cycle”
  • Jason VandenBeukel (University of Toronto): “Reform by Force: Evaluating the Trudeau Government’s Senate Reform Agenda”
  • Nicola Hibbard (University of Guelph): “Rights Without Remedies: Victims’ Rights Complaint Mechanisms”

Moderator: Mark Harding (University of Guelph)

 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm Public Keynote: Kent Roach “Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case” (Room 102)

Introduced by Kate Puddister (University of Guelph)

 4:30 pm Courts and Politics Research Group executive meeting (Room 102)

3rd Annual Spring Workshop

Thursday, May 10, 2018 - University of Guelph

Room: Rozanski 106 

 8:50 am                                   Welcome: Refreshments provided

  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo
  • Kate Puddister, University of Guelph

 9:00 am – 10:30 am:               Courts and Criminal Justice

  • Carolyn Yule (University of Guelph) and Rachel Schumann (University of Toronto): The Influence of R v. Antic on Bail Decision-making
  • Stephanie Rodrigues (University of Guelph): Judicial Consideration of Transgender Status in Canada: A Case Analysis of Six Transgender Sentencing Decisions
  • Rachel Schumann (University of Toronto): “What About My Life” How Bail Releases Impact the Lives of Sureties
  • Troy Riddell (University of Guelph) and Dennis Baker (University of Guelph): The Charter and Policing
  • Moderator: Byron Sheldrick (University of Guelph)

 10:45 am – 12:00 pm:             Special Session I – Keynote: Courts without Cases: The Law and Politics of Advisory Opinions

  • Carissima Mathen (University of Ottawa): “The Advisory Court”
  • Moderator: Kate Puddister (University of Guelph)

 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm:               Lunch is provided thanks to a generous donation by the Political Science Department, University of Guelph

 1:15 pm – 2:45 pm:                 Courts: Controversies, Concepts, and Contributions

  • Emmett Macfarlane (University of Waterloo): The Legacy of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin
  • Jean-Christophe Bédard-Rubin (University of Toronto): Bilingualism at the Supreme Court of Canada: Historical and Critical Perspectives on the Emergency of a Debate Between Diverging Constitutional Narratives
  • David Said (University of Guelph): Crown Agencies and Courts: Examining Judicial Review of Administrative Determinations in Canadian Public Policies
  • Tom McMorrow (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): Who is to Uphold the Honour of the Crown?
  • Moderator: Matthew Hennigar (Brock University)

 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm:                Special Session II: Canada’s Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests

  • Stéphanie Chouinard, Royal Military College of Canada
  • Tamara A. Small, University of Guelph
  • Dennis Baker, University of Guelph
  • Peter Russell, University of Toronto
  • Moderator: Dave Snow, University of Guelph

 4:30 pm                                  Closing Remarks

  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo

Book talk - Prof. Peter Russell

Monday September 25, 2017 - University of Waterloo

Courts & Politics Research Group 2nd Annual Spring Workshop

 Friday, May 5th, 2017

University of Guelph

MacKinnon 132

#CourtsandPoli

 8:45 am – Welcome: Refreshments provided

  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo
  • Kate Puddister, University of Guelph

 9:00 am – 10:45 am: Policy Ideas, Conflict, and Learning

  • Minh Do (University of Toronto): The Supreme Court of Canada’s Promotion of Aboriginal-Crown Policy Relationships in the Duty to Consult
  • Dave Snow (University of Guelph): Policy Learning Across the Provinces: The Case of Parentage in Ontario
  • Andrew Nguyen (Queen’s University): The Utility of Compliance for Explaining Policy Conflicts with the Supreme Court Charter Decisions
  • Thomas McMorrow (University of Ontario Institute of Technology): MAiD in Canada? Debating the Constitutionality of Canada’s New Medical Assistance in Dying Law
  • Discussant: Emmett Macfarlane (University of Waterloo)

 BREAK

 11:00 am – 12:15 pm: Courts and Criminal Justice

  • Amanda Komljenovic (University of Guelph): Judicial Decision-Making in the Case Outcomes and Sentencing of Mentally Ill Offenders in Canada: A Descriptive Study
  • Vito Totino (University of Guelph): Culture of Delay: The Potential of Local Legal Culture as a Factor Affecting Court Delay in Ontario  
  • Discussant: Kate Puddister (University of Guelph)

 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm: Lunch is provided thanks to a generous donation by the Political Science Department, University of Guelph

 1:15 pm – 2:45 pm: Judicial Decision-Making

  • Troy Riddell (University of Guelph) and Lori Hausegger (Boise State University): Judicial Decision-Making in Canadian Appellate Courts: Results of a Survey  
  • Greg Flynn (McMaster University): Rethinking of Redefining Judicial Activism: Section 1 and Reasons versus Outcomes
  • Peter Augustinavicius (University of Waterloo): The Rights of Broadcasters in Canada and the United States: A Typological Approach
  • Discussant: Matthew Hennigar (Brock University)

 BREAK

 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Roundtable - Courts and Politics Research: The State of the Field

  • Ian Greene, York University
  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo
  • Matthew Hennigar, Brock University
  • Moderator: Dennis Baker, University of Guelph

 4:30 pm – Closing Remarks

  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo

 

Courts and the Constitution: Policy Impact

University of Waterloo (Stratford Campus)

October 7, 2016

 8:30am – Greetings & Refreshments

 9:00am – Introductory Remarks

 9:15am-10:45am – Panel 1 – Theories of Policy Change and Their Application

  • Minh Do (University of Toronto) “The Promise and Pitfalls of Public Policy Approaches to Understanding the Influence of the Duty to Consult”
  • Dave Snow (University of Guelph) and Kate Puddister (University of Guelph) “Closing a Door but Opening a Policy Window: Legislating Assisted Dying in Canada”
  • Marc Zanoni (University of Guelph) “The Supreme Court of Canada, Punctuated Equilibrium, and Judicial Remedies”

 10:45am-11:00am - Break

 11:00am-12:30pm – Panel 2 – Policy Issues #1

  • Erin Crandall (Acadia University) and Andrea Lawlor (King’s University College, Western University) “Third party policy and electoral participation after Harper v. Canada: A triumph of egalitarianism?”
  • Dagmar Soennecken (York University) and Chris Anderson (Wilfrid Laurier University) “Taking the Harper government’s refugee policy to court”
  • Kate Puddister (University of Guelph) “Protecting Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Section 12 of the Charter and Mandatory Minimum Sentences”
  • Troy Riddell (University of Guelph) and Dennis Baker (University of Guelph) “The Charter Beat: The Impact of Rights Decisions on Canadian Policing”

  12:30pm-1:30pm – LUNCH (Courtesy funding from the Faculty of Arts, University of Waterloo)

 1:30pm-3:00pm – Panel 3 – Policy Issues #2

  • Kyle Kirkup (University of Ottawa) “After Marriage Equality: Courting Queer and Trans Rights”
  • Michael McCrossan (University of New Brunswick) “Contrasting Theories of Reconciliation, Crown Sovereignty, and Territoriality: Assessing the Impact of Section 35 for Aboriginal Rights”
  • Eleni Nicolaides (Brock University) and Matthew Hennigar (Brock University) “Carter Conflicts”

 3:00pm-3:15pm – Break

 3:15pm-4:45pm – Panel 4 – Institutional Contexts

  • Richard Albert (Boston College) “Quasi-Constitutional Amendments”
  • Kate Glover (Western University) “Judicial Advisory Opinions & Constrains on Policy Implementation”
  • Janet Hiebert (Queen’s University) “The Charter, Policy, and Political Judgment”
  • Robert Schertzer (University of Toronto) “Collaborative Federalism and the Role of the Supreme Court of Canada”

 4:45pm – Concluding remarks


Courts & Politics Research Group Spring Workshop

Thursday, May 5th, 2016

University of Guelph

Room: MacKinnon 313

 8:45 am – Welcome

  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo
  • Kate Puddister, University of Guelph

 9:00 am – 10:30 am: Institutional Examinations of Courts

  • Colton Fehr, University of Toronto: Dismantling the Dialogue (or Perhaps Politics is Such a Bad Thing After All)
  • Marc Zanoni, University of Guelph: The Supreme Court of Canada, Punctuated Equilibrium, and Judicial Remedies
  • Jean-Christophe Bédard Rubin, University of Toronto: Assessing the Impact of Unilingualism at the Supreme Court of Canada
  • Kate Puddister, University of Guelph: A Question They Can't Refuse? Canadian Reference Questions and the Separation of Powers
  • Discussant: Dennis Baker, University of Guelph

 10:45 am – 12:15 pm: Courts and Criminal Justice

  • Dennis Baker and Troy Riddell, University of Guelph: Police Implementation of Charter decisions: Preliminary Results
  • Evangeline Kroon, University of Guelph: Victim Credibility on Trial: The ‘Perfect Victim’ Stereotype in Cases of Sexual Assault
  • Remy Sansanwal, Western University: The Reform of Canadian Prostitution Law: The Oldest Oppression v. the Oldest Profession and Ongoing Deliberation
  • Discussant: Kate Puddister, University of Guelph

 12:15 pm – 1 pm: Lunch and Keynote

Lunch is provided thanks to a generous donation by the Political Science Department, University of Guelph

  • Léonid Sirota, New York University: Originalist Reasoning in Canadian Constitutional Jurisprudence

 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Courts in a Comparative Perspective

  • Karry-Ann Cornwall, University of Guelph: Tunisian Constitution-Making: The Preservation of Secularism
  • Nicholas Fraser, University of Toronto: Expanding Rights or Protecting Turf? Constitutional Courts and the Politics of Refugee Status Determination in the United Kingdom
  • Faisal Kamal, University of Toronto: Constitutional (Re)engineering and Divided Staatvolk in Multinational States
  • Discussant: Troy Riddell, University of Guelph

 2:45 pm – 4:15 pm: Courts and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo: Positive Rights and Section 15: Addressing a Dilemma
  • Gwyneth Bergman, University of Waterloo: Manifesting Belief in Canadian Law: What is ‘Freedom of Conscience’?
  • Matthew Hennigar, Brock University: ‘Executive-Judicial Dialogues’ About Reasonableness Under Section 1
  • Discussant: Dave Snow, University of Guelph

 4:30 pm – Closing Remarks

  • Ian Greene, York University
  • Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo