U of A law profs to head to major Constitutional Law conference

A University of Alberta Faculty of Law professor is hoping to aid the legal community in traversing new and emerging issues in Canadian Constitutional Law through a large, national conference.

Called Evolving Approaches to Constitutional Interpretation in Canada, it runs Nov. 8 - 10 at the University of Ottawa and consists of more than 10 events such as moderated talks between speakers and others.

Gerard Kennedy, an expert on the role of courts, including constitutional law, at the U of A, is co-organizing the event with Vanessa MacDonnell, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, and Benjamin Berger, a professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.

“Theories underlying how and why constitutions should be interpreted in particular ways have profound impacts,” Kennedy says.

The conference aims to inform lawyers, judges, law students, scholars and other members of the legal community about these issues and provide a wide range of perspectives on them, according to Kennedy. Additionally, it hopes to “bring together linguistically, ideologically, geographically and otherwise diverse scholars from across the country to discuss different theories on constitutional interpretation.

“We have an enormous diversity of scholars coming from across the country,” Kennedy says, adding that the speakers’ expertises span a large variety of disciplines as well.

“By bringing scholars together, we hope to contribute to a greater understanding on this important issue,” he says.

The conference spans a multitude of topics including interpretation, principles, values, federalism, economics, feminism, critical race theory, the rights of Indigenous peoples, and more. According to Kennedy, some notable issues — such as those surrounding the federal Impact Assessment Act — can have “profound impacts” on Canadian governance, and other areas, such as reconciliation efforts.

Several members of the U of A’s Faculty of Law are speaking at sessions throughout the conference. Kennedy, for instance, is chairing a panel and presenting on another.

Additionally, Tamara Pearl, an assistant professor with the Faculty of Law, is one of three speakers in a session on federalism, Indigenous constitutional orders and Indigenous rights. Professor Malcolm Lavoie is one of four speakers in a talk on theoretical approaches in constitutional interpretation. Associate Professor Jessica Eisen will speak on values relevant to constitutional construction.