Reading Time: 6 minutesDisponible en français. Beyond the strategic, media and political considerations at play in federal party leadership campaigns, there are constitutional conventions and rules, often less well known, governing the departure of leaders and their replacement in the Senate or the… Read More ›
Reading Time: 7 minutesDisponible en français. A secure border helps keep the population safe from various criminal threats while allowing for the legal movement of people and goods across the border. With this in mind, States must work together to address major issues,… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Gender equality means that every person, regardless of their gender identity, has the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities. While in Canada, every individual is equal and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law,… Read More ›
Reading Time: 7 minutesDisponible en français. Mandatory minimum sentences are set by Parliament to limit judicial discretion when it comes to imposing punishment. There were six offences with mandatory minimum sentences when the first Criminal Code (the Code) was enacted in 1892, for… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Canadian citizenship can be obtained through birth on Canadian soil, by descent through birth or adoption outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen, or through naturalization (the process by which citizenship is obtained by a foreign national)…. Read More ›
Reading Time: 6 minutesDisponible en français. The year 2025 marks several significant anniversaries for international gender equality mechanisms. These include the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (the Beijing Declaration), the 25th anniversary of United Nations (UN) Security Council… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Section 33(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter) permits Parliament or the legislature of a province to adopt legislation to override certain rights and freedoms for a limited period, subject to renewal. Such a use… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. The preamble to the Lobbying Act states that free and open access to government is an important matter of public interest, that lobbying public office holders is a legitimate activity, that it is desirable for public office holders and… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Measuring Democracy examines three widely used democracy indexes: those produced by Freedom House, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Varieties of Democracy (V‑Dem). This HillStudy explains how these indexes work, how each index evaluates the state of democracy in Canada, how they differ from each other and some possible limitations of… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. The Supreme Court of Canada (the Court) has consistently interpreted this right as protecting substantive equality. This means that laws – as well as government activities and policies – must not simply treat people the same. Instead, the effect… Read More ›