The Limits and Legitimacy of Referenda

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Story and Photos By Katelin Everson, JD/MBA student and research assistant to Prof. Richard Stacey

Conference: The Limits and Legitimacy of Referenda

Writing shortly after the Brexit vote, Kenneth Rogoff decried the use of referenda in modern constitutional democracy: “This isn’t democracy; it is Russian roulette for republics.” Beyond Brexit, many recent majoritarian decisions have concerned matters of real constitutional importance, in Colombia, Hungary, Italy, Crimea, Turkey and Thailand, for example. Referenda are sometimes exalted as the closest we can come to the exercise of popular sovereignty, but few of the world’s most influential constitutions have been ratified by a referendum.

Prof. Yasmin Dawood appears on CBC TV's "Power and Politics" to discuss what could happen after the election

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Prof. Yasmin Dawood appeared as a guest on CBC TV's "Power and Politics" to discuss what could happen after the Oct. 19 election if no party gains a majority ("Coalition conversation," Oct. 13, 2015).

Watch the 8-minute clip below.

Top 5 most viewed faculty op-eds of 2014

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Our faculty comment regularly in the media on current issues. The five faculty op-eds that were most viewed on our website over the past year addressed some of the most immediate and controversial topics of 2014, ranging from citizenship to prostitution, terrorism, high-frequency trading and elections.

Attack Ads, Copyright, and Collusion: Have Canada's Major Broadcasters Violated the Competition Act?

Ariel Katz
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Canada's first (and the world's first) competition act: the Combines Act of 1889
Originally posted on Prof. Katz's blog. 

Last week reports emerged that the Government is considering a new copyright exception for political advertising. The reports suggested that the exception would permit the use of news content by political parties without authorization. While most of the media coverage of this story focused on the copyright issue and the phenomenon of attack ads, documents that Sun Media obtained from the CBC (under an Access to Information request) reveal an even more interesting and more important story, both politically and legally. These documents, offering a rare glimpse behind the scenes of Canada's major media organization, reveal a picture of a concerted action between the majority of Canada's news outlets, action that might run afoul the Competition Act. 

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