Monthly Archives: December 2015

Courts and Character: Reflections on the Work of Walter Berns

Originally posted at the School of Public Policy’s blog on October 8, 2015.

In an earlier SPP post (also posted on this site) I paid tribute to Walter Berns and Harry Jaffa on the occasion of their almost simultaneous passing in January 2015. Subsequently, I was privileged to participate in a roundtable on the work and legacy of Walter Berns organized by the Claremont Institute for the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in San Francisco, Sept. 2-6, 2015. The following is the text of my remarks:

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Appointment Ironies

Originally published on October 5, 2015 in Policy Options as part of a series entitled “Stephen Harper and the Judiciary.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s appointment of seven of the Supreme Court’s nine judges has done his government little good. The high profile clashes between the “Harper Court” and the Harper government are the stuff of legend. But not to worry, the real action has reportedly occurred behind the scenes with the appointment of lower court judges.Roughly three-quarters of federally appointed trial and appeal court judges owe their positions to Harper’s government, and they might promote his conservative agenda in ways that the Supreme Court has not. These lower court appointments, we are told, “are Mr. Harper’s enduring legacy.” Continue reading →

Did the 2015 Alberta and PEI Elections Kill Fixed Election Dates?

Originally posted on the School of Public Policy blog, July 6, 2015.

The Alberta and PEI elections of 2015 were the first early elections called by Canadian majority governments in contravention of fixed-date legislation. Since British Columbia enacted such legislation in 2001, all Canadian jurisdictions except Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Yukon have followed suit. None of the Canadian laws are legally binding, and they were never expected to prevent early elections when minority governments lost the confidence of their elected legislative assemblies. The framers of fixed-date laws did, however, hope they would foster a convention against snap elections called by governments that continued to enjoy confidence. This hope was dashed in minority-government circumstances when the undefeated Harper government called the 2008 election, twelve months before the 2009 date set by its own fixed-date law. Has the hope now also been dashed for majority governments by the recent Alberta and PEI elections? Continue reading →

Walter Berns (1919-2015) and Harry Jaffa (1918-2015): A Canadian’s Appreciation

Originally posted at the School of Public Policy’s Blog on January 15, 2015.

Two intellectual giants died within hours of each other on January 10. Walter Berns and Harry Jaffa, both students of Leo Strauss, wrote prolifically and influentially over very long careers and on a wide range of subjects. This appreciation of their work focuses on their common, lifelong study of American political thought and constitutionalism. I will have somewhat more to say about Walter Berns, one of my teachers and mentors, than about Harry Jaffa, who I met a couple of times but know chiefly through his work on Abraham Lincoln. Continue reading →

Justin Trudeau’s use of Charter hyperbole

Now that Justin Trudeau is Canada’s prime minister, it might be worth revisiting his previous Charter-based critique of Stephen Harper. The op-ed below appeared in the National Post on April 17, 2012; it  is based on a more extended piece — Charter Hyperbole: the New Politics of Heresy — in the c2c Journal.

In 1982, Pierre Trudeau realized his dream of a constitutionally entrenched Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Thirty years later, Trudeau’s son Justin, Liberal MP for Papineau, excoriated Stephen Harper for turning his back on major policies wrought by Charter politics. If Harper had his way, Justin suggested, Canada would be “going against” abortion and same-sex marriage. Fortunately, the real Canada, the Canada defined in part by these policies, had thus far resisted Harper’s reactionary plans. “If I believed that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper,” Justin declared, “I would think of wanting to make Quebec a country.” Continue reading →