Five More Minutes: Representing Public Interest Interveners Thirty-Five Years after the Charter

• Author: Susan Ursel, Kristen Allen, & Alec Stromdahl
• Pages: 596-617



FiveMoreMinutes

REPRESENTINGPUBLICINTEREST

INTERVENERSTHIRTYFIVEYEARS

AFTERTHECHARTER

Susan Ursel, Kristen Allen, & Alec Stromdahl*

A. INTRODUCTION

Onalegal timesc aletheCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms could

besaidtobeinitslateadolescencehoveringonthebrinkofadulthood

anappropriatetimeto reviewandtake stocktoconsiderpastdevelop

mentsa nd to looka headT he evolutionof the involvement ofpublic

interestintervenersinthiscontextpart icularlyintheSupremeCourtof

Canadaist hefocus ofthispaperInitwe considersomeof theissues

facingtheCourtwithrespecttothefullandmeaningfulparticipationof

intervenersinthecontextofCharterlitigation

Todayitiswellacceptedthat theCourtwhen disposingofCharter

cases is engaging in an exercis e that is deeply integral to our demo

cratic institutionsandprocessesandt hatmeritsalegal processthat is

enhancedandr enderedmoretransparentbythe participationofpublic

interestintervenersThiswasnotalwaysthecaseWhentheCharterwas

 UrselPhillipsFellowsHopki nsonLLPSusanUrselisapartnerKr istenAllenisa n

associateandAle cStromdahlisana rticlings tudent

 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom s PartIoftheConstitutionActbeing

ScheduleBtotheCana daActUKc

 Bythiswemeanthec lassicbranchesofdemoc raticgovernmentlegi slativeexecu

tiveandjudicialalt houghitispossibletoconceiveofma nyotherinstit utionsthat

arebothneces saryandinteg raltoafunct ioningdemocracysuchaseducatio nal

policingandbu reaucraticinst itutions

Five More Minutes

rstintroducedt heCourtwas extremelyhesitant toinviteelements of

publicdiscourseintothecourtro om

Howeverbythe late sthe Court began torecog nize the use

ful role that interveners could playas it created the bu ilding blocks

uponwh ich the Charter of Rights and Freedomswouldbeinterpreted



Intervenerswerevalued fortheir relativeobjectivit yandembracedfor

theirabilitytorepresentinterestsreectiveofthebroadersociopolitical

dynamicsthatunderliethelawsbeinginterpretedbyt heCourt

Howeverinrecent yearst heCourt has faced ani ncreasinglya m

bitious docketand it has soughtout new waysto balance competing

demandsforitstimeWhiletheCourtremainspermissiveaboutgrant

ingleavetointervenesincetherehasbeenaurryofamendments

to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canadat hat haveimposed sig ni

cantconstraintsonthescopeofinterventionInaspanoftenyearsthe

lengthofintervenersfactahavebeencutinhalfthescope ofth eirfa cta

havebeen signicantly curtai ledand interveners ndtheir allotment

oftime fororalargumentwhen indeeditis grantedat allto amount

toveminutes

This chapter revisits the sociopolitical and inst itutional arguments

justifyi ngthebroadpart icipationofpublicinterestinterveners inCharter

casesandquerieswhether thelatestruleson interventionjeopardizet he

abilityofinterveners tofulll thesefu nctionsThec hapterisbrokeninto

foursectionsSectionBoutlinesthesociopoliticalandinstitutionaljusti

cationssupportingthebroadpart icipationofintervenersinCharter cases

  IanBrodieFriendsoftheCourtT hePrivilegingofInterestGroupLitigantsinCanada

AlbanyStateUniversityofNewYorkPressJohnKochMaki ngRoom

NewDirection sinThirdPar tyInterventio nUniversity of Toronto Faculty of

Law Reviewat

  JusticeFrankIacobuccia squotedinanintervieww ithThe Globe and MailSeeKirk

MakinInter venersHowManyareTooManyThe Globe and M ailMarch

A

  SupremeCourtofCanadaSt atisticstoFebruaryonline

wwwscccsccacasedossierstatcatengaspxcata

  BenjaminAla rieAndrewGreenInterve ntionsattheSupremeCourtofCanada

AccuracyAliationandAccep tanceOsgoode Hall Law Journal 

  Rules of the Supreme Court of CanadaS ORasamendedbySOR

SORSORSORRules

  IbidSOR

  IbidSOR

 SupremeCourtofCan adaNoticestotheProfes sionMarchAlloingTim e

forOralArgument Marchonlinewwwscccsccaarlrnoticesavis

enga spxSCCAlloingTimeforOralArgu ment