Join us November 8-10, 2023, for Evolving Approaches to Constitutional Interpretation in Canada, a conference hosted by the uOttawa Public Law Centre, the University of Alberta, and the York Research Chair in Pluralism and Public Law at Osgoode Hall Law School. The conference will open with a reception on Wednesday, November 8 from 6:15 pm to 8:15 pm in Huguette Labelle Hall. The two days that follow will include panels, structured discussions, and more informal opportunities for discussion and debate. Every effort will be made to work across disciplinary and other divides to produce cutting edge new scholarship.
The registration fee for the conference is $200 for in-person attendance, $100 for online access, and student pricing is available at a cost of $30.
The uOttawa Public Law Centre, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, and the York Research Chair in Pluralism and Public Law at Osgoode Hall Law School invite you to attend a two-day conference in Ottawa on Evolving Approaches to Constitutional Interpretation in Canada. This conference has been approved for 30 minutes of Professionalism Content and 1 hour and 50 minutes of EDI Professionalism Content by the Law Society of Ontario.
The Supreme Court of Canada’s approach to interpretation is evolving in many areas of constitutional law. From its decision in Quebec (Attorney General) v 9147-0732 Québec inc. 2020 SCC 32, in which a majority endorsed a clearly more textual approach to Charter interpretation, to Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 SCC 34, holding that unwritten constitutional principles cannot invalidate legislation, the resurgence of the peace, order and good government (POGG) power in References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11, an unstable Charter values analysis in administrative law, the increasing importance of structural constitutionalism, and the sui generis nature of the Honour of the Crown, now is an opportune time to examine the Court’s approach to interpretation across the breadth of constitutional law topics.
Friday, November 10, 2023
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Parallel Sessions
| Does originalism have a place in Canadian constitutional interpretation? (Room TBD) | What is the appropriate role for the immanent constitutional order — architecture, values, principles — in constitutional construction? (FSS 4007) |
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Moderator: Justice Grant Huscroft
Speakers: Léonid Sirota (University of Reading) |
Moderator: Gerard Kennedy (University of Alberta)
Speakers:
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10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Break Sponsored by the Law Commission of Canada
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Parallel Sessions |
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| What is the relationship between judgment, fact-finding, and constitutional interpretation? (Room TBD) |
How is Canadian constitutional interpretation influenced by federalism, Indigenous rights, and the co-existence of Indigenous constitutional orders? (FSS 4007)
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Moderator: Justice David Stratas Speakers: Benjamin Perryman -
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Moderator: Justice Sébastien Grammond Speakers: Hoi Kong (University of British Columbia) |
| 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | Lunch – Social Sciences Building, 120 University Private, Room 4007 | |
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2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Fundamentals of Interpretation III: The Litigation Perspective – Moderator: Justice Mahmud Jamal
Speakers: Andrew Bernstein (Torys LLP)
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3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. | Fundamentals of Interpretation IV: Articulating a Research Agenda –
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| 3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Wrap-Ups, Thank Yous – Social Sciences Building, 120 University Private, Room 4007 |
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Remarks by Shauna Van Praagh, President of the Law Commission of Canada