Asper Centre Constitutional Roundtable with Professors Kerri Froc and Jean-Christophe Bédard-Rubin on Hak v. Attorney General of Quebec

The Asper Centre's Constitutional Roundtables are an annual series of lunchtime discussion forums that provide an opportunity to consider developments in Canadian constitutional theory and practice.The series promotes scholarship and aims to make a meaningful contribution to intellectual discourse about Canadian and comparative constitutional law.

Asper Centre 15th Anniversary Celebration

The David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights is celebrating 15 years of advocacy, research, and education with a special anniversary event taking place on November 15th, 2023. 

Oliver Chan

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Laying the Administrative Foundations for a Constitutional Right to Adequate Housing in Canada
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Oliver is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law with research interests in public law, political and legal theory, and comparative legal studies. His thesis explores the interpretation and enforcement of positive rights globally as well as the moral purposes of public law and the administrative state. He argues that the constitutional rights to life and equality place obligations on the state to provide safe and affordable housing. Oliver is a graduate of the combined BCL/JD program at McGill University where he received a Lieutenant Governor's Youth Medal from the Honourable J. Michel Doyon for his high academic standing and his work towards improving access to justice in the greater Montréal community. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Oliver completed an LLM at Queen's University and worked as the Director of Research for a legal information clinic in Montréal.

Education
LLM, Specialization in Political and Legal Thought: Queen’s University (2023)
BCL & JD: McGill University (2022)
BA (First Class Honours) Political Science & Philosophy: McGill University (2018)
Awards and Distinctions
The Mary And Louis Anisman Fellowship In Law And Fairness (2023-2024)
Lieutenant Governor of Québec Youth Medal (2022)
Fern Gertrude Kennedy Prize in Jurisprudence (2021)
Allan Neil Assh Memorial Award in Business Associations (2021)
Michael L. Garmaise Prize in Political Science (2018)
Maldoff Family Arts Research Internship Award (2017)
Research Group on Constitutional Studies Student Fellow: Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds (2016-2019)
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Judicial Decision-Making
Legal Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

What Counts As Evidence in the Polarized Euthanasia/Assisted Dying Debate: Lessons from a Belgian Criminal Case

In the context of the rapidly expanding, largely unbridled, #euthanasia #MAID practice in Canada, some MAID expansionists continue to deny that there are problems, notwithstanding accumulating reports of euthanasia for lack of social support and adequate health care. They often employ the rhetoric of 'anecdotes are not evidence', with some even naively pointing to a lack of successful prosecution. A critical analysis of a unique Belgian criminal case involving euthanasia by colleagues Marc De Hert, Sien Loos, Sigrid Sterckx,  Eric Thys, and Kristof Van Assche of the Universities of Leuven, Antwerpen, and Gent, is in that context uniquely valuable. See hereafter my JOTWELL review discussing why it should be read, particularly also in the context of the Canadian debate:

Parliament is not forced by the courts to legalize MAID for mental illness : Law Professors' Letter to Cabinet

Justice Minister David Lametti announced today the introduction of a bill which would delay by one year, until March 2024, the scheduled implementation of MAID for sole reasons of mental illness. Until today, the federal government had repeatedly suggested it was bound by 'the courts' to expand MAID and to make MAID also available for persons whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness. Minister Lametti even stated in an interview for a recent investigative documentary of CBC's The Fifth Estate, which revealed troubling components of the current MAID practice, that the Supreme Court had recognized 'a right to suicide' and that MAID was a 'species of suicide'. He made similar statements in an interview for a podcast with Althia Raj of the Toronto Star. With some colleagues of other law faculties, we drafted a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau, Ministers Lametti, Duclos, Qualtrough and Bennett, to challenge this problematic and in our view unfounded rhetoric of 'our hands are tied by the courts'.

Asper Centre presents Careers in Constitutional Law

Asper Centre Careers in Constitutional law panel March 15, 2023Are you a U of T Law JD Candidate with a passion for promoting and advancing Charter rights and Constitutional law? Do you want to learn about the numerous career paths that exist for lawyers wishing to practice constitutional law/litigation or constitutional-adjacent law?

Kate Mitchell

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Comparing the Levers of Prison Law Reform in Canada and the United States
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Tel:
236-334-6034
Education
Master of Laws - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (2021-2022)
Juris Doctor - Queen's University (2014-2017)
Master of Public Administration - Queen's University (2014-2015)
Bachelor of Arts - Dalhousie University (2011-2014)
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2022-2025)
C. David Naylor University Fellowship (2022-2023)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics Doctoral Fellow in Ethics (2022-2023)
UCLA Dean's Tuition Fellowship (2021-2022)
Torkin Manes LLP Academic Excellence & Community Service Award (2017)
Fred S. Fountain Scholarship (2011-2014)
Lockward Scholarship (2011-2014)
H.C. (Kip) Roberts Scholarship (2014)
Margaret Nicholl Pond Memorial Award (2014)
Professional Affiliations
Member, Law Society of Ontario
Member, Canadian Prison Law Association
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Criminal Law 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Judicial Decision-Making
Supervisor
Committee Members

Megan Pfiffer

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Administrative Law as a Source of Rights
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Megan Pfiffer is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law with research interests in public law, and legal, political, and moral philosophy. She is also the managing editor of the University of Toronto Law Journal, and a co-editor of the third edition of Edward Elgar's Comparative Administrative Law. During the 2024-2025 school year, Megan is a Visiting Doctoral Researcher at New York University's School of Law. Her thesis explores the idea of justification in administrative law and will reframe contemporary debates on substantive review. Megan received her JD from Queen's University where she was awarded the Silver Medal in Law for achieving the second highest academic standing in her graduating class, as well as the Dean's Key Award for best embodying the signature values of Queen's Law. She then articled at a leading Toronto litigation boutique and clerked for Justice Rosalie Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Megan completed the BCL at the University of Oxford with distinction. 

 

Education
BCL, University of Oxford (with distinction)
JD, Queen's University
BA (Hons), Queen's University
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2023-2026)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics - Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2022-2023)
The Mary And Louis Anisman Fellowship In Law And Fairness (2022-2023)
Onora O'Neill Prize in Philosophy, Law and Politics (2022)
Faculty of Law and Brasenose College Scholarship for the BCL (2021)
Medal in Law – Second Highest Standing (2019)
Dean's Key Award (2019)
Denis Marshall Contribution Award (2019)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2019)
Christopher Riggs Administrative Law Scholarship (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Administrative Law (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Legal and Political Philosophy (2019)
Dean's Gold Scholar Award (2018)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2018)
Queen’s Law Prize in Law and Poverty (2018)
Dean’s Silver Scholar Award (2017)
Aird & Berlis LLP Student Award for Overall Academic Achievement (2017)
R.W. Leonard Scholarship in Law (2017)
McCarthy Tétrault LLP Scholarship (2017)
David Sabbath Scholarship (2017)
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Prize in Torts (2017)
Queen’s Law Prize in Constitutional Law (2017)
Queen’s University Entrance Scholarship in Law (2016)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Selected Publications

Megan Pfiffer, "Administrative Law as a Source of Rights" (2024) Modern Law Review (forthcoming). 

Megan Pfiffer, "What's the Problem with Substantive Review?" (2024) 69:3 McGill Law Journal (forthcoming). 

Research Interests
Administrative Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Legal Theory
Moral Philosophy
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

Pages