Multiculturalism and the Canadian Constitution
Multiculturalism and the Canadian Constitution
Canada has often been cited internationally for its success as a multicultural society and for its ability to manage this diversity through a federal constitution. The strands of diversity include the constitutional relationship between English and French Canada, federalism more generally, the status of Aboriginal peoples, Canada’s immigration and integration strategies, affirmative action, and a general guarantee of equal protection for men and women. Together they tell a complex story of pluralism, consolidated through a long and incremental period of constitution-building.
Multiculturalism and the Canadian Constitution brings together scholars of cultural diversity from backgrounds in law, political science, and history to address key components of the changing Canadian story: the evolution over time of multiculturalism within Canadian constitutional law and policy; the territorial dimension of Canadian federalism; and the role of constitutional interpretation by the courts in the development of Canada as a multicultural state. Wide-ranging and provocative, the essays illustrate how deeply multiculturalism is woven into the fabric of the Canadian constitution and the everyday lives of Canadians.
It will be of interest to students and scholars in law, political science, and public policy.
This collection of wide-ranging essays will be of interest to students and scholars in law, political science, and public policy.
Stephen Tierney’s Multiculturalism and the Canadian Constitution is one of the more conventional histories that I would choose as a course text or recommend to a colleague seeking a one-stop primer on multiculturalism. […] As fiddling and quibbling as some of these legal analyses may seem to the layperson, they provide a tangible demonstration of how, in practical terms, policy, as an expression of communal values, is translated into concrete rules and practices.
Stephen Tierney is professor of constitutional law at the University of Edinburgh.
Contributors: Daniel Bourgeois and Andrew F. Johnson, Marc Chevrier, Robert J. Currie, Jameson Doig, Katherine Eddy, Hugh Donald Forbes, Hugh Kindred, Will Kymlicka, Ian Peach, Joan Small, and Michael Temelini.
Introduction: Constitution Building in a Multicultural State / Stephen Tierney
Part 1: The Evolution of Multiculturalism and Federalism in the Canadian Constitution
1 Trudeau as the First Theorist of Canadian Multiculturalism / Hugh Donald Forbes
2 Multicultural Rights, Multicultural Virtues: A History of Multiculturalism in Canada / Michael Temelini
3 The Canadian Model of Diversity in a Comparative Perspective / Will Kymlicka
4 The Death of Deference: the Implications of the Defeat of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords for Executive Federalism in Canada / Ian Peach
5 Federalism in Canada: A World of Competing Definitions and Views / Marc Chevrier
Part 2: The Management of Pluralism in Canada through Constitutional Law and Policy
6 Repositioning the Canadian State and Minority Languages: Accountability and the Action Plan for Official Languages / Daniel Bourgeois and Andrew F. Johnson
7 Making International Agreements and Making them Work within a Multicultural Federal State: The Experience of Canada / Hugh Kindred
8 New Constitutions and Vulnerable Groups: Brian Dickson’s Strategies in Interpreting the 1982 Charter / Jameson Doig
9 Whose Reality? Culture and Context before Canadian Courts / Robert J. Currie
10 Multiculturalism, Equality, and Canadian Constitutionalism: Cohesion and Difference / Joan Small
11 Welfare Rights as Equality Rights? Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada / Katherine Eddy
Appendix
Index
