Constitutional Crossroads

A quick look at our brand new book on the Constitution Act, 1982

This month saw the release of my latest edited book, “Constitutional Crossroads: Reflections on Charter Rights, Reconciliation, and Change” (UBC Press, 2022). I co-edited this one with the amazing Kate Puddister, after we organized a big conference last year geared towards examining the 40th anniversary of the Constitution Act, 1982 under the auspices of our Courts & Politics Research Group.

Rather than focusing only on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we wanted a volume that also examines the other key parts of the 1982 - “Aboriginal and treaty rights” under section 35 and constitutional change under the 1982 amending formula. The result was a massive 26-chapter collection featuring political scientists and legal scholars.

The book is organized into four sections: “Institutional Relationships” exploring the purposes and symbolic impact of the Charter, judicial activism, the effect of the Charter on Canadian federalism, the Charter’s international influence, media coverage of rights, and the notwithstanding clause; “Charter Rights” includes chapters on election law, section 7’s right to life, liberty and security of the person, sex work, medical aid in dying, policing and the RCMP, racism and equality rights, sex and equality rights, language rights, and the exclusion of evidence under section 24(2); “Reconciliation” features chapters on decolonization, Indigenous rights and the impact of section 35, the duty to consult, land governance, and conceptions of Indigenous sovereignty and Canadian constitutionalism; and “Constitutional Change” examines informal reform of the amending formula, Quebec’s role and view of the 1982 process, the Crown, and the place of cities in the constitutional fabric.

We were excited to develop a collection that features established names in the field like Peter Russell, Kiera Ladner, Ran Hirschl, Richard Albert, Mark Tushnet, Brenda Cossman, Samuel LaSelva, and Kent Roach (to name a few), but also some brilliant up-and-coming junior scholars and students too. Joshua Sealy-Harrington’s work on critical race equality, Minh Do’s work on the duty to consult, and Eleni Nicolaides’s work on medical aid in dying are all indispensable examples of the latter.

Working with Kate was fantastic - I’ve put together a few edited volumes on my own before this and have enjoyed the process of getting collections out efficiently and quickly, and working with Kate on this giant project was as easy as could be. I suspect (hope) it will be the first of many collaborations.

The book is initially available only in hard cover at a relatively steep price, but a more affordable soft cover will be released next summer.