Seeking the Court’s Advice
Can Parliament legalize same-sex marriage? Can Quebec unilaterally secede from Canada? Can the federal government create a national firearms registry? Each of these questions is contentious and deeply political, and each was addressed by a court in a reference case, not by elected policy makers. Reference cases allow governments to obtain an adviso …
Bootstraps Need Boots
For more than four decades, Hugh Segal has been one of the leading voices of progressive conservatism in Canada. A self-described Red Tory warrior who disdains “bootstrap” approaches to poverty, he has always promoted policies, especially a basic annual income, to help the most economically vulnerable. Why would a life-long Tory support somethi …
Crossing Law’s Border
Resettlement – the selection and transfer of refugees from the state where they seek asylum to another state – is considered a tool of refugee protection. In this nuanced account of Canada’s resettlement program from the Indochinese crisis of the 1970s to the Syrian crisis of the 2010s, Shauna Labman examines the role that law plays in resett …
Governing the Social in Neoliberal Times
Neoliberalism is most commonly associated with free trade, the minimal state, and competitive individualism. But in this latest stage of capitalism, it is not simply national economies that are being neoliberalized – it is us. Inspired by Michel Foucault and other governmentality theorists, the contributors to this volume reveal how neoliberalism …
Putting Family First
When migrants reach their new home, we often interpret their settlement and integration as an individual process driven largely by the labour market. But family plays a crucial role.
Putting Family First is the fruit of a four-year academic–community partnership to investigate the experience of immigrant families settling in Greater Toronto. Cont …
Culture and the Soldier
Countries have instituted policies to make their armed forces more inclusive, and soldiers now undergo cultural awareness training before seeing active duty. Policy makers and military organizations agree that culture is important. But what does “culture” mean in practice, and how is it important? Culture and the Soldier answers these questions …
Culture and the Soldier
Countries have instituted policies to make their armed forces more inclusive, and soldiers now undergo cultural awareness training before seeing active duty. Policy makers and military organizations agree that culture is important. But what does “culture” mean in practice, and how is it important? Culture and the Soldier answers these questions …
Doing Politics Differently?
Women have reached the highest levels of political office in Canada’s provinces and territories, but what difference has their rise to the top made? In Doing Politics Differently? leading researchers from across the country assess the track records of eleven premiers, including their impact on policies of particular interest to women and their in …
Health Advocacy, Inc.
Health activist, scholar, award-winning journalist, and cancer survivor Sharon Batt investigates the relationship between patient advocacy groups and the pharmaceutical industry as well as the contentious role of pharma funding. Over the past several decades, a gradual reduction in state funding has pressured patient groups into forming private-sec …
Political Ideology in Parties, Policy, and Civil Society
Ideology is a ubiquitous, continuously innovating dimension of human experience, but its character and impact are notoriously difficult to pinpoint within political and social life. Political Ideology in Parties, Policy, and Civil Society demonstrates that the reach and significance of political ideology can be most effectively understood by employ …
Condo Conquest
When condominiums first emerged in North American cities in the 1960s, they were a new kind of housing governed by boards of resident owners volunteering in a community. Condo Conquest shows how the condo and its inner governance have since become something else entirely, taken over – or conquered – by an assemblage of commercial interests spec …
Identities and Interests
Identities and Interests offers an entirely new perspective on the role of racial and ethnic identities in Canadian elections. Using a series of experiments, as well as candidate and census data, Randy Besco demonstrates that self-identification matters far more than self-interest, ideology, or policy. The largest minority groups – Chinese and So …
Delivering Policy
Are assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) a medical issue or a matter of public policy, subject to restrictions? Francesca Scala employs the concept of boundary work to explain the protracted debates that ensued when Canada appointed a royal commission in 1989 to settle the issue. She reveals that both sides of the debate attempted to secure th …
A Human Rights Based Approach to Development in India
Over the last twenty years, India has enacted legislation to turn crucial goals such as food security, primary education, and employment into legal rights for its citizens. But enacting laws is one thing and implementing them through an imperfect institutional structure is another. A Human Rights Based Approach to Development in India examines a di …
Resisting Rights
From 1948 to 1966, the United Nations worked to create a common legal standard for human rights protection around the globe. Resisting Rights traces the Canadian government’s changing policy toward this endeavour, from initial opposition to a more supportive approach. Jennifer Tunnicliffe takes both international and domestic developments into ac …
Postsecondary Education in British Columbia
The literature about postsecondary education in British Columbia has largely focused on public colleges and universities, while paying less attention to vocational colleges, apprenticeship, continuing education, and private institutions. Robert Cowin addresses that gap. He provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the contemporary provi …
Reassessing the Rogue Tory
The years when John Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservatives were in office were among the most tumultuous in Canadian history. Coming to power on a surge of optimistic nationalism in 1957, the “Rogue Tory” had stirred up more controversy than any previous prime minister by the time he was defeated in 1963. This was nowhere more apparent than …
Thinking Differently about HIV/AIDS
Almost four decades after the discovery of HIV/AIDS, the world continues to grapple with this public health challenge. Thinking Differently about HIV/AIDS explores the limits of mainstream approaches to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and challenges readers to develop alternate solutions, emphasizing the value of critical social science perspectives. The con …
Flawed Precedent
In 1888, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in the St. Catherine’s case. This precedent-setting decision would define the legal contours of Aboriginal title in Canada for almost a hundred years. In Flawed Precedent, preeminent legal scholar Kent McNeil examines the trial and its context in detail, demonstrating how erroneous assump …
Vancouverism
Until the 1980s, Vancouver was a typical mid-sized North American city. But after the city hosted Expo 86, something extraordinary happened. This otherwise unremarkable urban centre was transformed into an inspiring world-class city celebrated for its liveability, sustainability, and competitiveness. This book tells the story of the urban planning …
Grey Zones in International Economic Law and Global Governance
Since the 2008 economic meltdown, market-driven globalization has posed new challenges for governments. This volume introduces the concept of “grey zones” of global governance, where state policy and market behaviour interact with respect to trade, the environment, food security, and investment. Grey zones allow for the bending of international …
Enforcing Exclusion
In Canada’s liberal dream, the law extends its benefits to everyone. But the law also determines who is included in that “everyone.” Migrant workers, long welcomed in Canada for their labour, are often excluded from both workplace protections and basic social benefits such as health care, income assistance, and education due to their lack of …
Revisiting the Duty to Consult Aboriginal Peoples
Since the release of The Duty to Consult (Purich, 2009), there have been many important developments on the duty to consult, including three major Supreme Court of Canada decisions. Governments, Aboriginal communities, and industry stakeholders have engaged with the duty to consult in new and probably unexpected ways, developing policy statements o …
Gambling with the Future
Many First Nations in Canada run casinos and other gambling enterprises, which have become a visible part of the Canadian landscape and foster economic development. Although early legislation was designed to control gambling, events in the US stimulated First Nations leaders to persevere and eventually capitalize on the gradual relaxation of the ru …
