What Happens to the Rule of Law During a Pandemic?
Le Centre sur les droits de la personne et le pluralisme juridique et Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg accueillent Michael Bryant, directeur ex茅cutif et avocat g茅n茅ral de l'Association canadienne des libert茅s civiles, pour une conf茅rence opportune et stimulante sur la fa莽on dont COVID-19 a r茅v茅l茅 la pr茅carit茅 du syst猫me de contr么le judiciaire et de litiges d'int茅r锚t public du Canada. La professeure Pearl Eliadis, BCL'85, LLB'85, (脡cole Max Bell) fera office de mod茅ratrice. Le discours d'ouverture sera prononc茅 par Nick Rodrigo, associ茅, Davies.
Nous remercions Davies pour leur appui et leur parrainage.
[la suite en anglais seulement]
Michael Bryant was the 35th Attorney General of Ontario (2003-07), when that province passed its emergency management legislation that initially applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, he has led the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, a premier watchdog of domestic laws and regulations, and a frequent litigator before the Supreme Court of Canada. It is with both perspectives that Bryant critiques our system of judicial review in Canada, particularly during the pandemic, and what happens to the rule of law in an emergency. He argues that the judicial branch is the runt of Canada鈥檚 constitutional litter, permitting governments and legislatures to operate without sufficient constitutional scrutiny.
About the speaker
Michael Bryant was born and raised in B.C., studied at UBC (BA, MA), Osgoode Hall Law School (JD) and Harvard University (LLM). He clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, and then taught at King鈥檚 College, London (UK), U of T and Osgoode Hall. Before and after serving a decade as provincial Member of Parliament in Ontario, he practised law at McCarthy Tetrault LLP and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP. Bryant was recently a public defender and defence counsel to indigent and indigenous people, and has published books on criminal law and public law. Father to a daughter who studies at McGill and a son at high school in Toronto, Bryant was named by Canadian Lawyer in 2019 as a Top 25 Most Influential in Canada鈥檚 justice sector.
