A Legal Forum for Intellectual Diversity

Is the Alberta Sovereignty Act a mechanism to provide a “shadow court” that challenges federal laws? Martin Olszynski, Professor of law at the University of Calgary and member of the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s advisory council on impact assessment, discusses the constitutionality of the Alberta Sovereignty Act.

How did Carter v Canada change the Canadian legal landscape? Today’s encore episode of Runnymede Radio is from a discussion hosted by McGill’s Runnymede chapter with Professors Yuan Yi Zhu, of Leiden University, and Stéphane Sérafin, of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law. This episode features Jacob McConville, president of the Runnymede Society’s chapter at McGill University, as guest host.

If law, including constitutional law, is downstream from politics, what are the implications for federalism in Canada? Barry Cooper, Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary, joins Runnymede Radio to discuss the Free Alberta Strategy and its cornerstone, the Alberta Sovereignty Act, including the notion that this Act was drawn up as “unconstitutional on purpose”. For further reading, take a look at “Geoffrey Sigalet and Jesse Hartery: The critics were wrong about Danielle Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Act.”

Does the Notwithstanding clause turn off rights protected by the Charter? Does it preserve those rights by requiring courts to stay silent while legislatures alone interpret their bounds? Or are courts always available to provide a remedy? This episode features political science professor Geoffrey Sigalet and lawyer Eric Mendelsohn. For further reading, take a look at the following articles: Grégoire Webber, Eric Mendelsohn & Robert Leckey  “The faulty received wisdom around the notwithstanding clause” (Policy Options, 2019) Maxime St-Hilaire and Xavier

Is free speech protected in Canada? Christine Van Geyn, Litigation Director, and Josh Dehaas, Counsel, for the Canadian Constitution Foundation join us to talk about their latest book, “Free Speech in Canada.” The book provides a history of this important right and how it has evolved. This episode features guest host Sam Benzaquen, Vice President of the Runnymede Society’s student chapter at McGill University.

How can legal professionals better understand the meaning of the Canadian constitution? MP Scott Reid and Michael J. Scott discuss Primary Documents, “a searchable database of historical documents relating to the drafting and adoption of the Constitution of Canada.” Their work aims to facilitate legal research and provide a better understanding of Canada’s constitutional law and history. For more information, take a look at their website, primarydocuments.ca.