Hello Readers! Here at the Dominion we are happy to be back writing to you about important constitutional topics relating to the British North America Act. After a brief hiatus from the blogging world during our Christmas Break we are back better than ever here in 2017! Thank you for all your support and readership in 2016; we hope to continue to provide you with some insight into important and pressing constitutional issues this semester.
Our team has changed a bit since we last posted. Deirdre Fleming has left for exchange in New Zealand (lucky her!), and Allison Numerow has joined the project in her place. We wish Deirdre all the best on her exchange and we are sure she is having a blast across the pond! Allison will be providing you with a brief introduction later in the week so that you can learn a bit more about her.
Enough about us, now back to the project itself. Did you know that the year 2017 marks Canada’s 150th birthday? Crazy! In honour of this historic year, our law and social media project will be focussing the content exclusively on topics relating to the British North America Act and events celebrating Canada’s sesquicentennial. If you are interested in Canada 150 events on the University of Alberta campus click here! The link will be continuously updated as more events are finalized. We will also be posting links to some Faculty of Law events relating to important constitutional questions! This Thursday the Centre for Constitutional Studies is presenting a discussion entitled “I wanna talk to my lawyer” regarding the right to seek counsel under section 10(b) of the Charter. If you have ever wanted to learn more about the right to counsel from the faculty’s own Professor Steven Penney, come check it out. Click here if you are interested in attending, the location, date and time are listed.
Although majority of our content this semester will focus on Canadian topics, the United States presidential inauguration this upcoming Friday is too important to ignore. With Trump’s inauguration approaching, issues involving freedom of speech are a popular topic within mainstream and social media. Should a president elect be able to say whatever he desires on his own personal social media? Do any regulations exist that prevent such a prominent figure from spewing out hate-filled comments? Is there a difference between regulating mainstream media and personal social media? All of these questions are currently contentious and pressing. To address the controversy surrounding the future United States president, this week we will be focussing on freedom of speech and how the Canadian Charter regulates speech. Check back this week to see what barriers to free speech exist in Canadian society, and whether these barriers would change how Trump is able to present himself in the media.
