Preface to the seventh edition

• Author: Robert J. Sharpe; Kent Roach
• Pages: 17-18

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PREFACE

To the Seventh Edition

This seventh edition includes the most m ajor change since the book was

f‌irst published in 1998. We have included a new chapter on Aboriginal

and treaty right s that are recognized and ar med under section 35(1) of

the Constitution Act, 1982. We hope that this chapter will make t he book

more useful to students and that its addition ref‌lects greater attention

being given to issues aecting Indigenous people in this country. The

new Chapter 17 recognizes both similarities and dierences in the way

Canadian courts have interpreted section 35 and Charter rights.

The book continues to attempt to provide comprehensive-yet-suc-

cinct coverage of all major Charter issues and includes many new

developments since the sixth edition was published i n 2017. This edition

highlights a minority-language education rights decision refusing to

accept that controlling the cost of implementing the Charter guarantee

can justify limiting the right under section 1. This case — Conseil sco-

laire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique v British Columbia — also

refused to extend qual if‌ied immunities from Charter damage awards to

government policy decisions. We discuss developments in the section

2(b) right to freedom of religion: the Ktunaxa NationvBritish Columbia

(Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations) decision rejecting the

claim of an Indigenous group that a development project would infringe

their right to freedom of religion and the Trinity Western decisions deal-

ing with a religiously motivated covenant that discriminated against

prospective LGBTQ law students. With regard to freedom of expre ssion,

we discuss ca ses on election spending and requiring jour nalists to reveal