Today’s episode of Frum Dialogues features discussion on the precipitous drop in the value of cryptocurrencies, as well as the conservative shift in the U.S. judiciary in the context of a pending Supreme Court decision on abortion rights.
When governments fail to enforce the law consistently and fairly, they simply invite further lawlessness. And even more alarming is that our governments that are themselves obliged to act within the law have been failing to do so.
Russia has made clear that it intends to continue fighting in certain parts of the country and will continue to support separatist militias in the Donbas. But that does not mean that international law has altogether failed Ukraine.
David Frum explains why as a young man he was skeptical that Canada needed a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and, now that it has been enacted for 40 years, Frum outlines the effects the Charter has had on Canada, both the visible and the less visible.
While ideological interest groups have always sought to pursue their agendas in the courts, Canadian judges have largely resisted the lure of partisan adjudication.
The view that Charter rights are for politicians to freely side-step and leave to be adjudicated by the courts later is a misunderstanding of the intention of a constitutional framework and shouldn’t be tolerated.
An independent, fair and balanced judiciary is a cornerstone of democracy. It provides an important check on the executive and legislative branches of government and is the arbiter of the law of the land.
If the framers of 1982 thought that the constitutional changes of that year would bring about constitutional tranquility, they were sorely mistaken. The past forty years have featured intense activity on the constitutional front as governments have learned how to respect the Charter.
This episode of Frum Dialogues reflects on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as it celebrates its fortieth anniversary. Plus, why a national design competition would be a good thing for the country.
Prime Minister Trudeau has the opportunity—for the fifth time during his tenure—to nominate an Indigenous justice to the country’s highest court for the first time in Canadian history. He should take it.
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