Working Groups
U. of T. law students can become involved in the Centre’s work through volunteering with one of our Working Groups. The Working Groups for 2009-2010 are as follows:
Emerging Constitutional Issues Working Group
Students will, through monitoring appellate level cases, drawing upon the up-to-date research from faculty and developing new and innovative ideas for the Asper Centre website, assist the Centre in being the expert resource on constitutional rights in Canada. Specific projects include case summaries for the website, articles for the Centre’s newsletter and assisting in the development and organization of workshops and symposia on the emerging constitutional issues of the day.
Faculty Support: Cheryl Milne & Advisory Group
The Internet Surveillance Working Group
This working group will examine how the Charter applies to the proposed C-46 bill and C-47 bills, which received their first reading in the House in June 2009. In short, these bills would require ISPs to install new surveillance capabilities, disclose subscriber information (name, address and email address) without a court order and grant police far-reaching powers to obtain Internet transmission data. While academics recognize the gap in Canada’s existing privacy framework with regards to modern technologies, they also contend that the subscriber information could be “the key to unlocking much of the very information that they would require a warrant for”. Students in this working group will produce a brief regarding the constitutionality of the bills and the impact of those bills on the s. 8 privacy rights of Canadians. Students will research the relevant jurisprudence (e.g. Ontario Court of Appeal case law in the area of child pornography investigations) and conduct an in-depth analysis of the legislation. Students will also consider how C-46 and C-47 may conflict with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Students will also assist in the organization of a workshop on the issue.
Faculty: Lisa Austin
The Charter and Canadian Citizens Abroad Working Group
This working group will examine two aspects of how the Charter applies outside Canadian soil. First, we will consider how the Charter applies to the actions of Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents abroad. The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) recently released a report criticizing CSIS’s actions in the Omar Khadr case. A similar probe will be conducted by SIRC with regards to the Abousfian Abdelrazik situation. Second, we will address the issues raised by several recent cases where Canadian citizens have been detained abroad, such as the high profile case of Suaad Mohamud. These citizens have received little to no assistance from the Canadian government. Students in this working group may complete projects such as:
- A position paper discussing a) the applicability of the Charter to the actions of CSIS agents and b) the alleged Charter violations in the Abdelrazik affair, considering the recent Federal Court and Supreme Court jurisprudence (e.g. Khadr, Abdelrazik, Almrei).
- A brief regarding the constitutionality of the federal government’s new statement of procedure on clemency interventions. Students will research the engaged Charter rights (e.g. s. 6, 7, s. 32(1)), case law (e.g. Hape) and international law (e.g. diplomatic protection, policies of other countries such as the U.S.).
- Assist in the organization of a workshop on the issue (see Workshop Descriptions).
Faculty Support: Sujit Choudhry, Audrey Macklin