Global ETD Search

1	A Moral Reconstruction of Freedom of Association in Canada Talarico, Andrea 26 July 2023 (has links) In 1987, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected arguments that the freedom of association in section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (hereafter, the Charter) protected a positive right to bargain collectively over working conditions. Between 1987 and 2007, the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on freedom of association was marked by certain tensions. In particular, the Court rejected arguments that freedom of association could have a collective dimension. In addition, the Court adopted a so-called negative approach to freedom of association, stating that section 2(d) of the Charter could not be used to create obligations for the state. The idea that freedom of association conferred negative (as opposed to positive) individual protection against state interference is typical of a liberal view of rights and freedoms. However, in 2007, in Health Services, the Supreme Court relied on underlying Charter values (specifically autonomy, liberty, equality, democracy and dignity) to extend constitutional protection to the right to collective bargaining. In 2015, this constitutional protection was extended to the right to strike. The use of moral values in constitutional adjudication is widespread. In Canada, Charter values are used both to interpret Charter provisions and to weigh competing rights, notably in the proportionality exercise under section 1 of the Charter. Using moral reconstruction as a methodological approach, this thesis examines the use of the values identified in Health Services throughout the Supreme Court's body of case law. From these values, the thesis develops a so-called republican reconstruction of freedom of association. While liberalism emphasises the freedom of the individual from the state, republicanism aims to ensure non-domination in both the private and public spheres. Equality, when considered from a republican perspective, becomes relational equality. Republicanism is particularly relevant to labour law, which is based on a relationship of subordination identified by republican theorists as a relationship of domination. The final chapter of the thesis explores alternative models for protecting republican freedom in the workplace. freedom of association collective bargaining right to strike liberalism republicanism moral reconstruction Charter values
2	Private Law & Public Space : The Canadian Privacy Torts in an Era of Personal Remote-Surveillance Technology Thomasen, Kristen 29 June 2022 (has links) As increasingly sophisticated personal-use technologies like drones and home surveillance systems become more common, so too will interpersonal privacy conflicts. Given the nature of these new personal-use technologies, privacy conflicts will increasingly occur in public spaces. Tort law is one area of the Canadian legal system that can address interpersonal conflict and rights-infringements between people with no other legal relationship. However, building on a historical association between privacy and private property, the common and statutory law privacy torts in Canada fail to respond to such conflicts, I argue inappropriately. Privacy is an important dimension of public space, and the social interactions and relationships that arise in public spaces. Failing to recognize public space privacy in tort law leads to an overly narrow understanding of privacy, and can be considered contrary to binding precedent that says that the common law should evolve in line with (or at a minimum, not contrary to) Charter values. The Charter values of privacy, substantive equality, and expressive freedom support various reforms to the judicial understanding of the privacy torts in Canada. Privacy, also understood as "private affairs" or "private facts" in tort, should not be predicated on property, and can sometimes take on greater value in public spaces. Privacy interests should be assessed through a normative lens, with a view to the long-term implications of a precedent for both privacy and substantive equality. Courts should assess privacy through a subjective-objective lens that allows for consideration of the lived experiences and expertise of the parties, their relative power, and their relationships. Adopting these principles into the statutory and common law torts would permit tort law to serve as a legal mechanism for addressing interpersonal, technology-mediated privacy conflicts arising in public spaces. This will be a socially valuable development as such conflicts become increasingly common and potentially litigated. Privacy Tort Law Drones Home Surveillance Systems Charter Values Privacy Torts
3	Lobbying Regulation in Canada and the United States: Political Influence, Democratic Norms and Charter Rights Gold, Daniel 01 September 2020 (has links) Lobbying should be strictly regulated – that is the major finding of this thesis. The thesis presents many reasons to enact stricter regulations. The principle one being that, as lightly regulated as it is, lobbying is corroding democracy in both Canada and the United States. The thesis opens with a deep investigation of how lobbying works in both countries. There are examples taken from the literature, as well as original qualitative interviews of Canadian lobbyists, former politicians, and officials. Together, these make it clear that there is an intimate relationship between lobbying and campaign financing. The link between the two is sufficiently tight that lobbying and campaign financing should be considered mirrors of each other for the purposes of regulatory design and constitutional jurisprudence. They both have large impacts on government decision-making. Left lightly regulated, lobbying and campaign financing erode the processes of democracy, damage policy-making, and feed an inequality spiral into plutocracy. These have become major challenges of our time. The thesis examines the lobbying regulations currently in place. It finds the regulatory systems of both countries wanting. Since stricter regulation is required to protect democracy and equality, the thesis considers what constitutional constraints, if any, would stand in the way. This, primarily, is a study of how proposed stronger lobbying regulations would interact with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 2 (free expression and association rights) and s. 3 (democratic rights). The principal findings are that legislation which restricted lobbying as proposed would probably be upheld by the Canadian court, but struck down by the American court, due to differences in their constitutional jurisprudence. The thesis contends that robust lobbying regulations would align with Canadian Charter values, provide benefits to democracy, improve government decision-making, increase equality, and create more room for citizen voices. The thesis concludes with a set of proposed principles for lobbying reform and an evaluation of two specific reforms: limits on business lobbying and funding for citizen groups. Although the thesis focuses on Canadian and American lobbying regulations, its lessons are broadly applicable to any jurisdiction that is considering regulating lobbying. Lobbying Lobbyist Pressure groups Interest groups Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Charter rights Section 2 Section 3 Freedom of expression Free speech Freedom of association Right to vote Democratic rights Structural rights Right to meaningful participation Guarantee of effective representation Charter values Canada United States Comparative Comparative constitutional rights Regulations Oversight Lobbying reform Reform ideas Code of Conduct Citizen groups Business lobbying Corporate lobbying Union lobbying Campaign finance Campaign finance donations Campaign finance regulations Shadow political parties Corruption Appearance of corruption Disclosure Hydraulic pressure of private influence Separation of business and state Political equality Voter equality

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