The Charter of Rights and the legalization of politics in Canada

Abstract

In 1982 Canada put a Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its constitution and dramatically changed the nature of Canadian politics by giving the courts, and especially the Supreme Court, a general superintendence over all aspects of government and by making debates about the constitution a dominant theme of Canadian political life. In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of his original 1989 work, Michael Mandel, Professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, critically examines the history and philosophy of the phenomenon of “legal politics” and the way it has transformed the politics of language, crime, immigration, labour, business, race and gender. A case-by-case study of the important constitutional decisions of the eighties and nineties is joined by a detailed analysis of such major constitutional events as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord and referendum.

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