Islamophobia on Canadian Campuses: Why and What to do?

In a recent column in the Toronto Star, Tonda MacCharles highlighted what she saw as an inconsistency between the argument currently being made before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Bill 21 case, that governments should remain neutral in religious matters, and the assertion by Prime Minister Carney in a recent speech that “religious values can and should frame how politicians act”.&nbsp

Occasionally, governments introduce legislation that gets things wrong. That certainly is the case for the Liberal Government’s Bill C-9: The Combatting Hate Act. Every aspect of it is flawed.This is a special concern because it is a bill that restricts free expressive rights. Expressive freedom is never without limits, but our courts have been very clear that any restrictions must minimally impair our fundamental democratic freedoms. 

CFE Intervener Factum in the Supreme Court of Canada - In this factum, CFE submits that citizens’ access — and particularly, public interest litigants’ access — to judicial review remedies is a fundamental feature of the democratic dialogue in Canada. Absent a robust remedial comparison, judicial review applicants are at risk of being rerouted to inadequate alternative processes, including political processes with which they cannot meaningfully engage.