Canadian Constitution Foundation held its Third Annual Law Conference on Race, Religion, Equality and Freedom: Current Canadian Legal Controversies.

The first panel was titled, Is there a human right to be free from offence?

Debating the restrictions on free speech in human rights legislation
Grant Huscroft, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law
Richard Moon, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
Philippe Dufresne, Canadian Human Rights Commission, Ottawa

The second panel on Intellectual property law featured Howard Knopf of Macera & Jarzyna, and  Richard Owens of Stikeman Elliot LLP.

The third panel addressed, The legal status of polygamy

Debating whether polygamy should be a Criminal Code offense
Martha Bailey, Queens University, Faculty of Law
Nicholas Bala, Queens University, Faculty of Law
Lorraine Weinrib, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law
Bradley Miller, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law

Keynote speaker over the lunch was Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louis LeBel.

Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada

An afternoon panel looked at the recent decision in R. v. Kapp,  Racial equality, aboriginal rights, and Section 15

Dwight Newman, University of Saskatchewan, College of Law
Bryan Finlay, Weir Foulds LLP, Toronto
Craig Jones, Office of the Attorney General, British Columbia
Jonathan Kay, National Post, Toronto

The kenynote speaker over dinner was George Jonas of the National Post.

Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada

Omar Ha-Redeye attended the Canadian Constitution Federation Conference’s 2nd Annual Law Conference Days Inn Downtown Toronto, from October 17 – 19, 2008.

The theme of the conference was Individual Freedom and the Common Good – Defining Human Rights in a Free Society.

Speakers included:

• Alan Borovoy, Canadian Civil Liberties Association
• Albert Koehl, Ecojustice
• David Frum, American Enterprise Institute
• Elizabeth Brubaker, Executive Director, Energy Probe Research Foundation
• Eugene Meehan, Q.C., Lang Michener LLP, Ottawa
• Eugene Meyer, President, Federalist Society
• Kent Roach, University of Toronto Law School
• Philippe Dufresne, Canadian Human Rights Commission
• Randy Barnett, Georgetown University
• Ran Hirschl, author of Towards Juristocracy
• Ramani Nadarajah, Canadian Environmental Law Association
• Tom Isaac, McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver

Although some valid concerns were noted in advance, overall the conference provided a reasonable debate over the issues.  Topics covered by the panels included:

Aboriginal Rights in the 21st Century: can equality and aboriginality be reconciled?
Protecting the environment through private property rights: is legislation the best solution?
Freedom of expression under attack: do human rights need to be redefined?
Judicial Activism in Canada: Myth or Reality?

The Canadian Constitution Federation Conference has previously come under criticism for advancing a far-right agenda in the realm of health care services.  Their current characterization of administrative tribunals as “Kangaroo Courts” is questionable under the Code of Ethics of many Canadian jurisdictions, and is not likely to create an open climate for serious review of concerns that may be raised.

A number of law students were also in attendance, including Daniel Simard of Law is Cool, Shane D’Souza, Ori Reuben, Jamil Sawani, Mohamed Al-Ghamdi, and many others.