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scale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particularlyintheSupremeCourtof

Canadaisthe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thatmeritsalegalprocessthatis

enhancedandrenderedmoretransparentbytheparticipationofpublic

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

 UrselPhillipsFellowsHopkinsonLLPSusanUrselisapartnerKristenAllenisan

associateandAlecStromdahlisanarticlingstudent

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

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

 Bythiswemeantheclassicbranchesofdemocraticgovernmentlegislativeexecu

tiveandjudicialalthoughitispossibletoconceiveofmanyotherinstitutionsthat

arebothnecessaryandintegraltoafunctioningdemocracysuchaseducational

policingandbureaucraticinstitutions

Five More Minutes

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

publicdiscourseintothecourtroom

HoweverbythelatestheCourtbegantorecognize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objectivityandembracedfor

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

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

HoweverinrecentyearstheCourthasfacedanincreasinglyam

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theirfacta

havebeensignicantlycurtailed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institutionalarguments

justifyingthebroadparticipationofpublicinterestintervenersinCharter

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

abilityofintervenerstofulllthesefunctionsThechapterisbrokeninto

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

cationssupportingthebroadparticipationofintervenersinCharter cases

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

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

NewDirectionsinThirdPartyIntervention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Interveners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AcceptanceOsgoode Hall Law Journal

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

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

 IbidSOR

 IbidSOR

 SupremeCourtofCanadaNoticestotheProfessionMarchAlloingTime

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

engaspxSCCAlloingTimeforOralArgument