The death of former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney will lead to a wide examination of his legacy. A lasting policy of the Mulroney regime is free trade with the United States.
The Supreme Court of Canada ordered the federal government back to the drawing board on its Impact Assessment Act. But the legislation got a lot of things right in an era of climate change and related issues.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the federal Impact Assessment Act needs amendments for Constitutional compliance, but the court’s recommended approach is no longer viable.
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina. Indigenous leaders have criticized the province’s updated consultation framework saying it excludes Indigenous nations.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
Saskatchewan’s provincial government must work with Indigenous nations on a shared vision for the future that is more likely to withstand the tests of time and litigation.
Then-Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles visiting Canada in 2017. As a new monarch is crowned in Britain, is it time for Canada to have a head of state who is Canadian?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Whatever Queen Elizabeth’s personal qualities, it’s time to determine how the monarchy fits Canada’s current situation as an independent country and its aspirations for the future.
People and vehicles fill Wellington Street near Parliament Hill at the beginning of the so-called freedom convoy occupation of Ottawa in late January, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Long-term assessments of the trucker convoy will depend less on questionable interpretations of individual freedom and more on whether the state’s fundamental obligations were seriously threatened.
A person holds a copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms during the so-called freedom convoy protest on Parliament Hill.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The Canadian Constitution compels a proportionate weighing of all Charter rights against the threat of COVID-19, meaning that individual freedom is not absolute.
Left to right, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Finance Minister Allan MacEachen and Québec Premier René Lévesque attend the constitutional conference in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 1981 — the morning after eight premiers hastily pieced together a constitutional accord.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Poling
The constitutional reform agreement reached in November 1981 has produced a bitterness in national relations that lingers to this day and imposes on Canada a cost that has weakened the nation.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gives a COVID-19 update in Edmonton in September 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Given low levels of turnout and high levels of “no” support in urban areas, Alberta lacks a clear mandate to press for changes to Canada’s Constitution after its equalization referendum.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks as Ontario Premier Doug Ford listens at a groundbreaking event at a gold mine in 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ontario has historically been the province in Confederation most concerned about buoying Ottawa and limiting its own relative power for the sake of national unity. Doug Ford puts that legacy at risk.
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau speaks during a dramatic meeting with the entire federal cabinet and a delegation of about 200 First Nations leaders on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 1970.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/R. Mac
How did a national leader whose animating political spirit was protecting human rights come to adopt a passive acceptance of Canada’s worst face of colonialism?
Worried about another 1980s-style constitutional crisis? Don’t be. There may be less than meets the eye to Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals have caused alarm. But it’s largely a game aimed at finding common ground between federalist and separatist voters in the province.
Rideau Hall, the official residence of Canada’s Governor General, is waiting for its next inhabitant.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
For the first time in Canadian history, the Governor General has resigned. Now is the perfect time to imagine a different kind of head of state for the country.
Pierre Trudeau hosts a meeting at 24 Sussex in Ottawa with the provincial premiers on Sept. 12, 1980.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Pierre Trudeau’s contribution to the remaking of Canada cannot be questioned. Throughout the 1980 to 1982 constitutional debates, he reminded Canadians of their country’s basic values.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen with Québec Premier Francois Legault in December 2018 at the opening of a first ministers’ meeting. Legault has accused Trudeau of insulting Québecers because of the federal Court Challenges Program.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Anne Levesque, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms doesn’t mean much if it can’t be enforced. That’s why the Court Challenges Program is so important — no matter what the Québec premier says.
The Trudeau government’s federal price on carbon survived Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s challenge.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Matt Smith
A ruling by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal recognizes the threat of climate change, but its approach is too narrow.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threat to wield the notwithstanding clause reveals flaws in Canada’s Constitution in terms of how municipalities are completely unprotected.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ontario’s recent threat to use the notwithstanding clause to reduce the size of Toronto’s city council is a reminder that municipalities have little protection under the Constitution.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters in Toronto on Sept. 10, 2018, after announcing he’ll invoke the notwithstanding clause in his battle to shrink Toronto city council. Is Ford taking on the “Court Party?”
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov.
Doug Ford’s wielding of the notwithstanding clause is part of a broader opposition to judicial activism that has developed among right-wing politicians and academics in the post-Charter era.