Though a few weeks old by now, the recent decision by the Federal Court in Poker v Mushuau Innu First Nation 2012 FC 1 [Innu] was too interesting to go without comment. In Innu, the Court set aside a First Nation Band Council election due to a series of shortcomings in the election process.

Folks, it’s the great debate (pardon the pun) of 2008 all over again. As in 2008, the decision has been made to exclude Green Party leader Elizabeth May from participating in the televised (and widely watched) English and French leaders’ debates, to be held on April 12th and 14th. The decision was made by a [...]

It couldn’t have happened at a more inconvenient time: in the midst of swirling election rumours with some polling suggesting the governing Conservative Party is sitting in long elusive majority government territory, the party has lost the latest round in its battle against allegations of fraudulent election financing.  In a dispute that has been ongoing since the [...]

In addition to being the last court of appeal to all constitutional issues, including the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments, the Supreme Court of Canada is the final arbitrator to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In this role, the nine judges give meaning and interpret the relative and open-ended values [...]

A few days ago, New Democratic Party (NDP) Justice Critic Joe Comartin (Windsor Tecumseh) called for the removal of Conservative MP and Public Works Minister Christian Paradis from the Supreme Court of Canada Appointments Advisory Committee. Mr. Paradis is among 67 Conservative candidates in the 2006 election who are presently facing litigation for alleged violations [...]

INTRODUCTION The Spanish Constitutional Court is becoming one of the most popular institutions in the country. By “popular” I do not mean “generally well-liked”, but “frequently used” or mentioned in conversations and in the media, that is, in the middle of the political debate. On the other hand, as I mentioned in previous contributions, (here [...]

Last Friday Tom Schreiter wrote on the recent Supreme Court decision R v. Bryan with a decided focus on the evidentiary issues raised by the case. The case however warrants further examination due to the nexus of 2(b) of our Charter and the Canada Elections Act with which the case deals. The dissent delivered by [...]

Yesterday the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its decision in R. v. Bryan, a case dealing with the right to publish federal election results on election night. The stakes were pretty low for both sides: the accused was convicted at trial for violating a provision of the Canada Elections Act and was fined $1000. [...]