I'm very excited to say that I'll be joining the
@ubcokanagan
Department of Econ, Phil, and Political Science as Assistant Prof. of Law and Politics. I could not be more grateful to the many mentors, friends, and colleagues who help me get to this point.
I'm delighted to say that I've been appointed the Director of the new
@ubc_ccl
Thanks to my Assistant Director Andrew Irvine,
@fass_ubco
staff and our many associates. We are excited to promote scholarship and debates on topic related to constitutional law, esp. heterodox ideas.
Former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci offered David Johnston advice that DJ was not in a conflict of interest given personal ties to Trudeau. This fits with why
@MarkPMancini
+ I argue it's a mistake to involve former SCC Justices in public law:
I participated in a
@RunnymedeSoc
debate on Bill-21. I opposed Bill-21 as an unjustifiable violation of religious liberty but argued the notwithstanding clause cannot be reviewed. But here we find this discussion libeled as a "smokescreen" for white supremacy. Pathetic.
I’m delighted to join
@MLInstitute
as a senior fellow and to write this piece with
@finseraste
on why Alberta’s proposed policies re. trans minors will protect the Charter rights of children:
@GeoffSigalet
joins MLI as a Senior Fellow! 🎉
Geoff, an expert in political theory and constitutional law, is an Assistant Prof. of Political Science at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus.
Learn more about Geoff 👇
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I'm pleased to share this
@TheHubCanada
piece co-authored with the brilliant
@JesseHartery
on why the Alberta Sov. Within A United Canada Act appears constitutional:
There is no "trouble" with section 33: it was designed to grant legislatures the ability to contest activist judicial review. The only evidence that it was designed to be used sparingly comes from those who opposed it. See:
A good question that raises the trouble with s 33. If the government invokes the notwithstanding clause it need not justify Charter violations as reasonable under s 1. The clause is blunt and powerful and was meant to be used sparingly, with democratic accountability as a check.
Thanks to
@Sean_Speer
for inviting me to scribble some reflections on PM Justin Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act. I also owe the students in my federalism and Charter courses thanks for helping me think about this. Article linked below:
The burden is on these law profs and this political scientist to show how using part of the Constitution for exactly the purpose it was intended for is outside the “normal legal process”. What use of section 33 would be “normal” for them?
Not a law prof, but having constructed and taught the Charter class in Pols since 2010, I fully support this statement from the excellent faculty at the College of Law.
I’m delighted to say that our article (with Jesse Hartery) on the comparative aspects of Alberta’s Sovereignty Act “The Frontiers of Nullification and Anti-Commandeering” is now forthcoming in Publius
#federalism
#abpoli
We're delighted to welcome Justice Malcolm Rowe of the
@SCC_eng
to
@ubcokanagan
for our 2023 Constitutional Lecture on "Judicial Authority: Institutional Capacity, Checks and Balances and Legitimacy". Sept. 21, 5-7pm ADM 026 (University Theatre)
@fass_ubco
@ubc_ccl
Delighted to write this with
@BenWoodfinden
We take the view that one can even substantively disagree with Ontario's decision to extend limits on third-party spending and yet find this use of the notwithstanding clause to democratize a reasonable disagreement about Charter rights
**Dialogue and Distrust: John Hart Ely and the Canadian Charter** final version for (2021) Int. Journal of Const. Law
@ICON__S
now available
@SSRN
:
Special thanks to
@rosalinddixon15
@MHailbronner
for editing this cool symposium on "Ely and the world".
Thanks to Justice Malcolm Rowe
@SCC_eng
for teaching our
@fass_ubco
students about the Constitution and the judicial role. I don’t think they’re going to forget it! Next Sept. we’re excited to host him in Kelowna for our annual
@ubc_ccl
constitutional lecture.
Reasonable according to whom? Section 1 is the reasonable limits according to the courts, section 33 is reasonable limits according to the legislature (and the people).
I think the best way to describe the relationship between the two is that s. 1 is the “reasonable limits” clause and s. 33 is the “unreasonable limits” clause.
**Between Populism and Juristocracy: The Republicanism of Rainer Knopff** my defence of
@rknopff
's republican constitutionalism and his continuing relevance to debates in Canadian public law, forthcoming in
@CJPS_RCSP
now available on SSRN:
In this article for
@TheHubCanada
I argue that CJ Wagner has been “transparently opaque” in handling the events surrounding Justice Brown’s resignation:
This
@CBCSamSamson
article shows bias: 1. You say section 33 overrides human rights but it merely creates paramountcy over judicial decisions. 2. You only speak to scholars and activists who are critical of Alberta and Sass laws. Please do better.
My family has worked as lumberjacks in interior BC since Confederation, and in 1940 my great-grandpa started a sawmill in Lumby about 60km from where I'll be teaching. I bet he'd be glad to hear we're coming home.
I'm getting notwithstanding clause hate mail and I love it.
Now I can't stop thinking about my alternative life as a London cabbie rambling on to my clients about fly fishing and Aristotle. me: "fly fishing combines phronesis and sophia!" client: "just find the pub mate!"
*rings* “Hello/Bonjour, Welcome to the Health Canada Suicide Hotline, Bienvenue à Santé Canada Parlons Suicide: press 1 if you’re suicidal and would like to speak to a crisis responder, press 2 if you’re suicidal and would like medical assistance in dying. Appuyer sur 1 pour…”
Megaw J. claims that it’s wrong to argue that reviewing a law invoking s33 is “judicial activism” because… Trial courts are subject to appellate reversal? This is like saying that buildings have fire alarms so it’s wrong to tell people to avoid playing with gas and matches.
The notwithstanding clause is my bull of phalaris: when section 33 is invoked I hear the sweet music of lawyers screeching counter-factuals about how they wish it was unconstitutional and I do a little political constitutionalist dance:
**Legislated Rights as Trumps: Why the Notwithstanding Clause Overrides Judicial Review** is now forthcoming
@OHLJ
I argue that the technical meaning of "notwithstanding" in section 33(1) and the subjunctive mood of section 33(2) prohibit judicial review:
Political scientists should learn from lawyers about how law constrains and shapes politics, but political scientists have much to offer lawyers in understanding how politics constrains and shapes the law.
@EmmMacfarlane
is one of our finest scholars in this tradition.
My colleague Prof. Dave Snow has written a fantastic content analysis of
@CBCNews
coverage of the Saskatchewan parental rights law: you're not dreaming, CBC is empirically biased.
I was honoured to contribute a lesson on the Charter's section 33 "Notwithstanding Clause" to this
@CDNConstFound
course. Now I've enrolled and am excited to take some lessons from my colleagues. Bravo to
@jobearon
@cvangeyn
et aussi à
@ChantalBellava1
BREAKING: The
@CDNConstFound
is excited to announce the release of our new free online course in constitutional law and fundamental freedoms.
Registration is free to all and the course is available here:
The UK, Australia, and New Zealand, where every law is section 33 without the five year expiry, must not be part of the modern human rights regime.
This is exactly the kind of thing section 33 was designed for:
Our modern human rights regime (intl, constitutional, statutory) was borne out of a recognition, post WWII, that governments and legislatures will sometimes use their powers to harm vulnerable minorities, with catastrophic consequences.
Quite the passage here from Miller J.A. in Sitladeen (at para 100):
Anti-critical race theory dog whistles, galore—which is no surprise, in a case involving anti-Black racism and policing.
A brief thread of
#CriticalRaceTheory
critique.
I’m excited to be presenting my paper “Interpreting not infringing rights” at
@TRUFacultyofLaw
on March 7 at 1pm in reading room OM3652. See you in Kamloops! My only regret is that
@MarkPMancini
won’t be there yet!
Perhaps what's most hilarious about this is that, if you read the Constitution, you will not find a provincial power to legislate in relation to the enforcement of federal laws.
I've written an article discussing former SCC Justice Iacobucci's role in the SNC Lavalin and Johnston scandals for
@MLInstitute
It may be of interest to
@FrankCaputoKTC
@DavidLametti
+the Italian/Legal Community:
I see that a number of legal scholars are posting myths about the notwithstanding clause again. When Sask last used it it’s view was vindicated by the Sask Court of Appeal! Here is a primer on what these myths are:
If anyone needed more convincing that the SK gov't *knows* their parental rights policy is likely to harm kids but simply don't care, it's right here in the immunity from liability clause -- right after invocation of the notwithstanding clause:
#skpoli
@kvallier
It is all the more horrifying given that our publicly funded press and academia are attacking anyone who criticizes the new culture of death or refuses to bow to it.
Our chapter "Equally Sovereign: Alberta and the New Provincial Rights Movement" (with Jesse Hartery) is now forthcoming in From Multilateral Failures to Unilateral Successes (David Guenette, Catherine Mathieu, and
@felixmathieu92
eds):
**American Rights Jurisprudence Through Canadian Eyes** is now published in the UPenn Journal of Con Law:
I think it could help complement/challenge readers of
@jamalgreene
's excellent new book:
The latest draft of my art. "American Rights Jurisprudence Through Canadian Eyes", forthcoming in the UPenn Journal of Con Law V.23 2020. I argue against
@jamalgreene
and Prof. Vicki Jackson that proportionality may not cure what ails US rights doctrines:
Canadian public law has been quite a dramatic subject to study these past few months. Here is my attempt to dispel some of the myths surrounding the Charter's notwithstanding clause for
@MLInstitute
"Notwithstanding Judicial Benediction":
I don't always agree with
@andrew_leach
but I learn from his thinking. It is ridiculous to go after him about disclosing work that is directly related to his academic field. He shouldn't even have to defend himself from such silly attacks.
There's been a lot of noise about my work for two federal ministries since 2015. In this post, I provide more detail on how I earned $3600 per year from consulting contracts, whether the
@ualberta
allows such work and how I answered a reporter's questions.
Please join us at
@ubcokanagan
for our upcoming event featuring an exciting lecture by Prof. Jacob Levy (
@mcgillu
@RGCS_McGill
): "Culture Wars as a Teachable Moment for Free Speech and Academic Freedom" Feb 12, 4-5:30pm LIB 312. With thanks to
@Liberal_Studies
Congrats to
@DwightNewmanLaw
on having his fantastic chapter on "Canada's Notwithstanding Clause" cited in Justice Rowe's reasons in Ontario (AG) v. G. It is a chapter of the collection I co-edited with
@GregoireWebber
@rosalinddixon15
I hope my students read this fun exchange between
@Vermeullarmine
and
@WilliamBaude
+
@StephenESachs
there is much to learn! I am guessing that all interlocutors are smiling at Prof. Vermeule's title.
Interested in the separation of powers? Recent events got you thinking about how some types of contestation between the branches may frustrate rather than protect liberty? Well then, you may be interested in my talk for
@Liberal_Studies
this Friday at 1:00PM ET.
I received some cool mail yesterday. My book is out!
There are many people to thank for all their help. I tried to take care of that in the acknowledges, but I do want to give shout-out to
@RichardAlbert
@EmmMacfarlane
(and to Tom Bateman) for the generous book blurbs
Amazing conversation last night on “Has DEI lost its way?” from
@azimshariff
and Paulo Guadiano for
@UbcPpe
@HdxAcademy
Our speakers did a fantastic job modeling civil discourse and empirically grounded arguments.
This
@TheHubCanada
piece by
@SunKerry
and
@yuanyi_z
is fantastic. They rightly argue that it would be just to use section 33 to override an Ontario court decision ruling that it’s discriminatory to make sure teachers know basic math.
New piece with the inimitable YYZ, on one of 2021's loose ends: the Ontario Divisional Court's ruling that it was discriminatory and unconstitutional for the province to require teacher candidates to pass a Mathematics Proficiency Test.
Thanks to
@TheHubCanada
for publishing.
The world—and the legal community—needs far more of
@HarshaWalia
’s politics, not less.
Any critical examination of our existing order reveals that we merely reconfigure hierarchy rather than challenge it. And Harsha’s story reveals the price of that challenge.
#IStandWithHarsha
Next Wed. (Feb. 24) at 7pm tune in to the link below for a discussion of "Shakespeare Against Tyranny" in "Richard III" with
@ColmFeore
@randall_rmartin
Paul Yachnin and CBC Ideas'
@NahlahAyed
and yours truly:
This summer,
#QueensLaw
welcomes post-doctoral scholar Geoff Sigalet to the faculty;
@geoffsigalet
will be working with
@GregoireWebber
on various projects relating to political and legal thought:
Are you concerned about academic freedom? We're excited share Jacob T. Levy's UBC "PPE Conversations" lecture on "Culture Wars as a Teachable Moment for Free Speech and Academic Freedom". The lecture is followed by a conversation with
@GeoffSigalet
:
Esp.
@kewhittington
@GregoireWebber
@jtlevy
and the twitterless Michael McConnell, J.W. Muller, Bradley Miller, Grant Huscroft, and Philip Pettit. I owe you all more than words can say. I've won the lottery with this chance to research and teach close to family.
Lot's going on in Canadian con law today but check out this fantastic article by Prof. Dave Snow in
@TheHubCanada
on why the preemptive use of section 33 is the norm, not the exception:
We’re pleased to launch this new
@ubc
“PPE Conversations” series. Check out our first event on “Resisting Hate with Free Speech?” with Nadine Strossen. Many thanks to all who helped make the event possible including
@ubcstudios
and
@Liberal_Studies
#ubc
#freespeech
#ppe
We're excited to launch our new "UBC PPE Conversations" video series in collaboration with
@Liberal_Studies
Please enjoy our first event featuring Prof. Nadine Strossen speaking on "Resisting Hate with Free Speech" in conversation with
@GeoffSigalet
No, it isn't the first such use of section 33
@TheLawofWork
(technically there have been many such invocations since a number of uses of s33 have selected all of Section 2. And Sask. enacted a similar law invoking section 33 in 1986:
There you have it folks, Ontario Conservatives are the first Canadian government to use the Notwithstanding clause to override Constitutionally protected Labour Rights.
Quite a day in Canadian Labour law and Constitutional history.
This coziness of our politicians with the judiciary should complicate Canadians’ “counter-majoritarian” delusions about courts. Judges, in and out of office, can sanctify and even carry forward government aims. The sooner we realize this the better.
Did the SNC Lavalin scandal pique your interest in how we should regulate retired judges? Check out the final QLJ version of our argument (written with
@MarkPMancini
) for partial restrictions on the ability of former judges to practice law in Canada:
Come hear
@SCC_eng
Justice Malcolm Rowe speak about judicial authority and power tomorrow at
@ubcokanagan
. Here is a preview of what makes his perspective unique and insightful on the separation of powers:
Join us at
@ubcokanagan
tomorrow for a
@RunnymedeSoc
fireside chat with Andrew Petter (scholar, former Attorney General BC, former President of
@SFU
) from 6-7:30 in EME 1101. We'll be discussing Charter politics, federalism, judicial power and other fun topics.
Check out this fantastic article for
@MLInstitute
by Prof. Dave Snow on the notwithstanding clause and the current debate about pronoun policy in Saskatchewan:
I'm excited to be speaking with
@RunnymedeSoc
@UAlbertaLaw
on the federal government's use of "the sledgehammer" that is the Emergencies Act tomorrow at 4pm MT.
We have two great events on our calendar for tomorrow.
➡️ Our
@LawLakehead
chapter hosts Ken Coates at 12:30PM ET.
➡️ Our
@UAlbertaLaw
chapter hosts
@GeoffSigalet
at 4:00PM MT.
All welcome to attend!
Guilbeault notes that this is a reference case so it’s not a decision and the law is not actually struck down, it’s an opinion that they will use for amending the legislation.
This is an important distinction to remember.
#SCC
#cdnpoli
If you’re interested in dialogue theory and commonwealth constitutionalism come my discussion with
@DoubleAspect
today at
@queensulaw
from 1:00-2:30. Thanks to
@RunnymedeSoc
for organizing
Speaking at
@queensulaw
, with
@GeoffSigalet
, on Commonwealth constitutionalism and dialogue, at 1PM today. Then on to
@AllardLaw
at UBC for a talk on applying the Rule of Law to Canadian constitutional law, on Wednesday: . Come say hello if you can make it!
I've written a review of James Allan's latest book for
@LawLiberty
"The Constitutional Heresy of James Allan" Jim's work is fun to read and think about and he deserves more attention from Americans thinking about judicial power:
Now I know why my American law friends have been sending me emails and texts asking me if I'm one of Santa's Canadian elves... (the answer, of course, is that only the SCC clerks are elves, but they are locked up in the workshop).
Fantastic piece by
@DeanLeckey
@GregoireWebber
@ericmendelsohn
The notwithstanding clause does not “override” the Charter, but allows the leg.’s understanding of a right to operate notwithstanding it. Brilliant work!
At some point during my PhD someone important told me “stop writing about dialogue theory: it’s over.” If Parliament uses s33 to respond to this case I would like buy that person a beer and say something smart like “I guess it really wasn’t over eh?” Or maybe just smile impishly.
In case you missed it, and are interested in comparing Canadian and US right jurisprudence, see below: (Also, happy belated Fourth of July and Canada Day! 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇸)
The latest draft of my art. "American Rights Jurisprudence Through Canadian Eyes", forthcoming in the UPenn Journal of Con Law V.23 2020. I argue against
@jamalgreene
and Prof. Vicki Jackson that proportionality may not cure what ails US rights doctrines:
A great article! Thanks for the shout out
@jobearon
(alongside
@DwightNewmanLaw
) re. our section 33 scholarship. Minor quibble: I don't see what the problem with preemptive invocations of s33 is given that most of the time the Court has precedent indicating its views
Everything we say about involving former SCC justices in public law matters applies a fortiori to explicitly political matters entangled with important legal principles and conventions.
I was so excited this morning that I misattributed the cite to
@DwightNewmanLaw
! It's at para.240 of Justices Côté and Brown's partial dissent. Also congrats
@briandnbird
for "The Judicial Notwithstanding Clause" cited at para.237. Here's his article:
Congrats to
@DwightNewmanLaw
on having his fantastic chapter on "Canada's Notwithstanding Clause" cited in Justice Rowe's reasons in Ontario (AG) v. G. It is a chapter of the collection I co-edited with
@GregoireWebber
@rosalinddixon15