Canada and the Ethics of Constitutionalism

Identity, Destiny, and Constitutional Faith

Samuel V. Laselva

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780773555303
• eBook ISBN: 9780773555600
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Global Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Canada is caught between two empires and between two constitutional systems. However, neither the British model of a "single sovereign" nor the American people's "sacred fire of liberty" matched the pluralistic identity of Canada, so Canadians engaged in constitutional experimentation.

In Canada and the Ethics of Constitutionalism Samuel LaSelva argues that, in order to understand the old Canada of Confederation and the new one that followed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is necessary to see how distinctive Canadian constitutionalism is and how that distinctiveness does not depend on borrowings from the British or American constitutional models. LaSelva supports his argument by exploring different aspects of Canada's contribution to the ethics of constitutionalism including the limits of free expression, the Charter's notwithstanding clause, the origins and functions of judicial review, the Quebec secession debate, Aboriginal self-government, and the conception of Canada as a multicultural and multinational mosaic.

Through a careful consideration of how Canadian constitutional pluralism with its focus on the rights of others differs from American and British ideas, Canada and the Ethics of Constitutionalism provides engaging answers to contested questions about how Canada was founded and what it has become.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 The New Canada, the Old Canada, and The Spirit of Haida Gwaii
• 2 The Charter of Rights, the British Connection, and the Americanization Thesis
• 3 The Notwithstanding Clause and the American Rights Model
• 4 British Judges, Charter Dialogue, and America’s “Celebrated Footnote”
• 5 Free Speech for the Thought That We Hate?
• 6 Mosaic and Melting Pot
• 7 Secession and Identity
• 8 The Spirit in the Land and the Spirit of the Constitution
• 9 The Arduous Destiny of the Peaceable Kingdom
• 10 Constitutional Faiths
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index