This course focuses on the constitutional dimensions of liberty in Canada. We will examine laws that restrict fundamental freedoms (such as emergency restrictions on freedom of movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposed Online Harms Act, limitations on pro-Palestinian expression and peaceful assembly during the Israel-Gaza war, limitations on collective bargaining rights and the right to strike). We will also examine laws that aim to enhance the exercise of fundamental freedoms (such as anti-SLAPP legislation), and assess them from the perspective of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We will focus on the Charter provisions that protect freedom of conscience and religion (s.2(a)), freedom of expression and the press (s.2(b)), freedom of peaceful assembly (s.2(c)), freedom of association (s.2(d)), international and interprovincial mobility (s.6), and the right not to be be deprived of liberty except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice (s.7). The course aims to establish a theoretical and doctrinal foundation for each of the rights and freedoms studied, and to consider how they relate to each other. Through a series of case studies focused on current controversies, ongoing litigation and legislative debates, the course will consider the appropriate scope of civil liberties, and what limits on them can be upheld as reasonable and demonstrably justifiable pursuant to s.1 of the Charter. We will also evaluate the increasing resort by provincial legislatures to s.33 of the Charter to insulate legislation from judicial invalidation based on violations of fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality rights. The approach throughout will be contextual and critical, with an eye to Canada’s international human rights obligations and comparative lessons.
Method of Evaluation: A short (2,000 words) mid-term written assignment (20%); a six hour take-home examination (60%); and class participation (20%).