Reference no: EM133495246

All laws of Canada, both provincial and federal, must conform to the Constitution. They can be challenged, however.

You will be reading about and responding to a Constitutional challenge to one of Canada's laws which was in the courts in the fall of 2017 and settled in 2019. There were two appeals in 2020 that have been settled.

The law under review had to do with being able to keep prisoners in "administrative segregation." This was challenged by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association which charged that administrative segregation amounts to indefinite solitary confinement, which is not legal in Canada.

Step 1 - Gather Information

Look at this link for administrative segregation to get a sense of what this means.

Administrative Segregation

Do a search on the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to find out what they do. You should know that there is also a BC Civil Liberties Association.

Step 2 - Interpret Real World Account

Read the article from the Toronto Sun below.
Constitutional challenge to Canada's segregation laws begins

Take some notes on what you see going on in the news story. You might want to print out the article to take notes in the margins.

Step 3 - Analyze the situation

You will then write a composition of one to three paragraphs in which you address all of the following points:

Why did the CCLA challenge this law? Based on what you have read, explain why you either think that the law was unconstitutional or not. Next, how important do you think it was for this law to be challenged?

In your response, be sure to reference the course readings in 1.1. In particular, be sure to address the point that Canadian law is designed to protect the rights of Canadians.