Access to Information at a Crossroads: Implications of the Long-gun Registry Case
Webinar presented jointly by the CBA National Constitutional and Human Rights Law Section, Administrative Law Section, Privacy and Access Law Section and the Public Sector Lawyers Forum.
A recent challenge to the constitutionality of retroactive legislation has important implications for access to information, freedom of expression, the rule of law, and parliamentary sovereignty.
In 2015, the federal government retroactively amended the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act (ELRA) to exclude the application of the Access to Information Act to Long-gun Registry records, and immunize those involved in the destruction of records against any administrative, civil or criminal proceedings.
In the Long-gun Registry case, the federal Information Commissioner challenged the constitutionality of these retroactive amendments on the basis that that they infringe Charter rights and the derivative right of access to information, and that they violate the constitutional principle of the rule of law.
To date, neither the derivative right of access to information, nor the principle of the rule of law have ever been used to invalidate legislation. This webinar will examine these constitutional principles in the context of the Long-gun Registry case, and the implications for future cases that deal with access to information.
Topics covered in this webinar include:
- Arguments advanced by the Information Commissioner in the Long-gun Registry case
- Relationship between parliamentary sovereignty, freedom of expression, and the rule of law
- Differing conceptions of the rule of law and its place in the Canadian constitutional framework
- Derivative right of access to information – the legacy of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Ontario v. Criminal Lawyers’ Association
Register today!
Presenters:
Suzanne Legault, Information Commissioner of Canada
Dr. Vincent Kazmierski, Associate Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University
