The State of Canada's Constitutional Democracy
This course offers the unique opportunity to learn from and debate with leading scholars of public law in Canada on the current state of our constitutional democracy. Subjects scheduled for discussion include the path to reconciliation, the role and limits of federalism in managing the present public health emergency, the risks and benefits of social media in elections, the history and reform of Supreme Court appointments, the challenges to freedom of the press, the use and misuse of the Notwithstanding Clause, the scope of religious freedoms, the balance between civil liberties and national security, the role and functions of the Senate, the Alberta independence movement and the future of Confederation, and the essential features of the administrative state in Canada.
Directed by Richard Albert, this ten-week course will be held live on Zoom on Tuesdays starting on June 9, 2020. Richard Albert will preside over every session. Each session will begin with a live presentation delivered by a featured scholar on a subject of her expertise. The remainder of the time—roughly one hour in each session—will be reserved for discussion between course registrants and the featured scholar. Readings may be circulated in advance for specific sessions.
The roster of distinguished faculty in this course on "The State of Canada's Constitutional Democracy" follows below, with the biographical information and subject-matter focus for each.
- Ryan Alford, Lakehead University, Emergency Powers in Canada: Past, Present--and Future?
- Kate Glover Berger, York University, The Constitutional Character of the Administrative State
- Jamie Cameron, York University, Freedom of Expression and its Limits
- Hoi Kong, University of British Columbia, Federalism and the Pandemic in Canada
- Robert Leckey, McGill University, Rereading and Rethinking the Notwithstanding Clause after Bill 21
- Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo,The Renewed Senate
- Carissima Mathen, University of Ottawa, The Tenth Justice and Other Tales: Canadian Judicial Appointments Law
- Naiomi Metallic, Dalhousie University, The Relationship between Canada and Indigenous People: Where are we in 2020?
- Ted Morton, University of Calgary, Alberta at the Cross-Roads
- Michael Pal, University of Ottawa, Social Media and Democracy
This course is open to all, including faculty and students in law, government, history, world affairs, and other fields.
The enrollment cost for this course must be received by Thursday, June 4, 2020. The cost is $28 CAD/$20 USD. The modest proceeds from this course will be used to cover some of the costs incurred in developing this course and also to fund bursaries for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school students in Canada and Haiti.
All registrants completing this course will receive a certification to that effect from the International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism. No academic credit will be awarded in connection with this course.
Thank you for your interest in this course directed by Richard Albert, currently a professor of constitutional law and formerly a law clerk to the Chief Justice of Canada.