Making Sense Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms

The purpose of this guide is to provide a user-friendly handbook to inform school administrators and teachers about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, highlighting some of its more prevalent implications for educational practice. The guide begins with a brief introduction to the Charter, followed by a synopsis of the pertinent rights and freedoms. The text then focuses on ten main concerns under the Charter and how they relate to both denominational and non-denominational schools and school systems throughout Canada. The sections of the guide cover legal, religious, equality, and minority language rights, plus rights relating to special education and school attendance. Where applicable, each section presents true-to-life case scenarios which highlight suggestions for dealing with those and similar situations.

Subtitle: making sense of it all (a background analysis & a look at the future). The history and politics of Canada's constitution, including the 1867 British North America Act, the 1982 Constitution Act, and the Meech Lake Accord. Considers the issues that remain and examines the various options.

The introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 was accompanied by much fanfare and public debate. This book does not celebrate the Charter; rather it offers a critique by distinguished scholars of law and political science of its effect on democracy, judicial power, and the place of Quebec and Aboriginal peoples twenty-five years later. By employing diverse methodological approaches, contributors shift the focus of debate from the Charter’s appropriateness to its impact – for better or worse – on political institutions, public policy, and conceptions of citizenship in the Canadian federation.

Drawing on cases, Stark identifies the problems with our current approach to domestic violence, outlines the components of coercive control, and then uses this alternate framework to analyse the cases of battered women charged with criminal offenses directed at their abusers.

In Governing from the Bench, Emmett Macfarlane draws on interviews with current and former justices, law clerks, and other staff members of the court to shed light on the institution’s internal environment and decision-making processes. He explores the complex role of the Supreme Court as an institution; exposes the rules, conventions, and norms that shape and constrain its justices’ behavior; and situates the court in its broader governmental and societal context, as it relates to the elected branches of government, the media, and the public.