The recent ruling by the Alberta Court of Appeal that the federal government’s Impact Assessment Act (IAA) is unconstitutional may show that the court has a “principled approach” toward federalism that’s more consistent with earlier jurisprudence, says a constitutional law expert.
“Other courts are approaching federalism in Canada a little bit differently today, and the Alberta Court of Appeal may have a different approach than some other courts,” Dwight Newman, a law professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said at a webinar hosted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute on May 26.
“I wouldn’t describe it so much in terms of the Alberta Court of Appeal standing for provincial rights, so much as the Alberta Court of Appeal standing for a very principled approach to federalism in line with a lot of prior jurisprudence.”…