Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens

Frank Iacobucci as Constitution Maker: From the Quebec Veto Reference to the Meech Lake Accord and the Quebec Secession Reference

Former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci has played a major role, in various capacities, in the constitutional debates that have shaken the country in the past three decades. Drawing on Iacobuccis own perspective on the events, this paper co-authored by Sujit Choudhry and J-F Gaudreault-DesBiens explores the links between the Quebec Veto Reference, the failed Meech Lake Accord, and the famous Quebec Secession Reference, a case in which the Court was thrust into the heart of the national unity dispute.

Cooperative Federalism in Search of a Normative Justification: Considering the Principle of Federal Loyalty

At first sight, federal loyalty does not mean much in Canadian constitutional law, if it means anything at all. However, as we will see in this paper, there are already some aspects of Canadian constitutional law which can be said to enshrine obligations pertaining to federal loyalty. Ultimately, what federal loyalty can bring to the debate in Commissioner of Firearms is a springboard from which to reflect on how and when the principle of cooperative federalism could be brought to bear in a consistent manner in division of powers cases.