SEVEN/FIFTY
The Centre for Constitutional Studies Blog

Is there a constitutional right to health care in Canada? Well… it’s complicated. On its face, the Supreme Court has been fairly clear: there’s no broad, guaranteed right to health care under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms . [1]  This can seem surprising, especially since Canada’s universal health care system is widely regarded as a core part of the country’s identity. But the issue isn’t off the table entirely and at the heart of this debate is a key distinction: positiv

In this expert Q&A, 2025 CCS Summer Student Nicole Ibalio talks to Professor Rebeca Macias Gimenez (University of Alberta) about her research on the Site C hydropower dam project (Peace River), the impacts it's having on First Nations in BC, and the role that treaty rights can play in challenging these impacts. Q. Could you give an overview of the Site C hydropower dam project, including relevant parties and effects on the land? A.  There are a number of First Nations that ar

In this expert Q&A, 2025 CCS Summer Student Areeba Ismail talks to Ian Peach — Consultation Manager for the Wolastoqey First Nation, former Dean of the UNB Law Faculty, and an expert in intergovernmental affairs — about the Carney government’s Bill C-5 ( An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act ). In particular, Areeba and Ian talk about the context and reasoning behind C-5, its potential impact on the rights of Indigenous p

When governments reach for the notwithstanding clause, three questions often get blurred together. Can they? Must they? Should they? These questions are related, but each demands a different kind of answer. “Can they” is a constitutional question about legal authority: does the Charter  permit this move? “Must they” is a question about necessity: were there viable alternatives that could have addressed the problem without overriding rights? “Should they” is a normative questi

Back in 2019, I published a paper called The Notwithstanding Clause and the New Populism , in which I argued that the ongoing justifiability of the notwithstanding clause was contingent on aspects of Canada’s political culture that were at risk of erosion. On the way to this conclusion, I dismissed defences of the notwithstanding clause couched in terms of legislative supremacy, arguing, in part, that such defences create a tension between the notwithstanding clause and the a

On Thursday, October 2, the Centre for Constitutional Studies hosted a talk by Andrew Stobo Sniderman  on the inadequacy of public services on First Nations reserves and the possibility that section 36 of the Constitution Act, 1982 could be used to challenge that inadequacy. [1]   The background to Sniderman’s talk is that Canadian law has created a serious conundrum for First Nations individuals. Given the under-funding of on-reserve services, many decide that it is better