One Day in Court: the Importance of Being There
Friday, April 24 was an interesting day. Not that other days are less than interesting, but the opportunity to be engaged with the Supreme Court of Canada on what is literally a matter of life doesn’t present itself too frequently.
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) jointly applied and were granted opportunity to intervene before the court in a constitutional challenge brought by the Attorney-General of Quebec to the legislative authority of the Government of Canada to enact certain sections of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Essentially, Canada argued that the Act had been established under the federal criminal law power as it contained prohibitions, necessary and interrelated regulatory provisions, and penalties for violation. Quebec (joined by Alberta, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan) was arguing that certain of the regulatory sections were within provincial jurisdiction rather than federal because they dealt with the provincial power in regard to medicine. [Continue reading this article here.]
