Rights in Real Life: Justice Abella’s Legacy in Constitutional and Human Rights Law (Recording)

Presented by the CBA Women Lawyers Forum 

Cost 
CBA members: $75
CBA Young Lawyer Members (<5 years): $65
CBA Student members: $25
Non-members: $165
Government: $105
Plus applicable taxes

Group rates available. Please contact pd@cba.org.

This is the 1^st webinar in the CBA Leadership Online Symposium for Professional Women. Registrants will receive an on-demand recording following each webcast. You can purchase the full online symposium at a package rate.

This session will be presented in English and French with simultaneous translation available. This presentation will be presented with Closed Captioning.

Presentation materials will be displayed in the language as submitted by the speakers.

Thursday, October 7, 2021 | 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ET

 
11:30 am - 1:00 pm Rights in Real Life: Justice Abella’s Legacy in Constitutional and Human Rights Law (Recording)

Justice Abella’s many constitutional and human rights decisions, in addition to her ground breaking Royal Commission work on employment equity, have significantly shaped our understanding of our rights. This panel will address her legacy in several key areas, including religious freedom, free expression and substantive equality.

Justice Abella’s decades-long work on substantive equality culminated in her 2020 majority decision in Fraser v Canada, which found that the RCMP pension plan unjustifiably infringed section 15(1) of the Charter by discriminating against women members.

Justice Abella has also made important contributions to the Court’s jurisprudence on Indigenous rights and reconciliation, writing Daniels v Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development) which declared that Métis and non-status Indians are “Indians” under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, and concurring in Mikisew Cree First Nation v Canada (Governor General in Council), where Justice Abella would have found that the Crown’s duty to consult applies to legislation.

The panel will also discuss how Justice Abella’s reasoning often incorporated the concepts of proportionality and balancing (in cases like Doré v Barreau du Québec, R v NS and AB v Bragg) to resolve conflicting rights in practice. How will these concepts inform Charter and human rights case law going forward?

Speakers:
Carissima Mathen, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Pam Hrick, Executive Director and General Counsel at Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)

Moderator:
Reakash Walters, Associate, Addario Law Group