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, restrictions on expression online, limitations on expression and peaceful assembly in public spaces, and the evolution of the right to privacy). We will also examine laws that aim to enhance the exercise of fundamental freedoms (such as anti-SLAPP legislation and election spending restrictions) 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)), the right to vote (s.3), the right not to be deprived of liberty except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice (s.7), and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure (s.8). 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 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 (2,500 words) mid-term written assignment (25%); an in-person exam (60%); and class participation (15%).