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Does the World Need More Canada?

Sujit Choudhry
Thursday, August 9, 2007

I've posted a new paper on SSRN, "Does the World Need More Canada?  The Politics of the Canadian Model in Constitutional Politics and Political Theory".  The paper is forthcoming in the International Journal of Constitutional Law in October.  Here is the abstract:

In the past two decades, numerous political theorists have taken up the question of how constitutional design should respond to the fact of minority nationalism. Just as important as that question is the way in which these theorists have responded to it. Some, rather than deriving constitutional strategies and models from abstract principles of political morality, have turned to real-life models to buttress their proposed solutions. It is precisely in this context that Canada has attained considerable prominence.

Michael Ignatieff, the Charter and the Quebec Nation Debate

Sujit Choudhry
Monday, August 13, 2007

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the  Charter, I offer some skeptical thoughts on the success of the Charter as an instrument of nation-building, in Bills of Rights as Instruments of Nation-Building in Multinational States: The Canadian Charter and Quebec Nationalism, posted on SSRN.  Here is the abstract (after the break):

Lies, Damned Lies and Campaign Promises

Lorne Sossin
Monday, October 1, 2007

Today, as the home stretch of Ontario's election campaign begins, Conservative leader John Tory announced that he will allow a free vote after all on his controversial proposal to extend public funding to faith based schools. Many will seize on the turnaround as evidence of a "broken promise" (Tory has earlier indicated he would not put the proposal to a free vote if elected on October 10th). Perhaps this is an example of Tory having to get cozy in a bed of his making. Much of Tory's campaign has emphasized Premier McGuinty's broken promises, including most notably his "no new taxes" pledge of the 2003 campaign and the Liberal's subsequent decision to impose a new tax (the "health premium").

This all raises the question –What is the nature of integrity, ethics and accountability in political campaigning?

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which had encouraged the “no new taxes” pledge in 2003, took Premier McGuinty to court after the health premium was passed in 2004, arguing that he had breached a contract. The Ontario Court of Appeal rejected this legal ploy, affirming the obvious, which is that politicians who make campaign promises have not created a legal obligation to do the thing they promised.

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