1 post published by Philippe Lagassé during July 2025| Philippe Lagassé
It’s “everywhere.” In emails. In op-eds in reputable newspapers. In reports, statements, and press releases. It’s completely taken over Linkedin. Balkan, who’s cited above, finds …| Philippe Lagassé
What authority does the federal government have the power to protect public order? This is a question worth asking considering the Federal Court’s judgement on the use of the Emergencies Act to deal with the 2022 Convoy protest. As Justice Mosley’s ruling in the Federal Court case highlights, the invocation of the Emergencies Act should […]| Philippe Lagassé
Is Canada planning to cut defence spending? On the one hand, the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) must find about $900 million in cost savings over the four years. That certainly sounds like a cut. On the other hand, the defence minister insists that the defence budget is not being cut, […]| Philippe Lagassé
Back in 2013, Lawrence Martin accused Canadian political scientists of fiddling while Stephen Harper burned down our democracy. He lamented that we were busy writing about narrow academic subjects instead of warning about the impending doom that threatened our institutions under the Conservatives. I thought that was a ridiculous argument for two reasons. First, academic […]| Philippe Lagassé
We’re having the debate about who gets to govern after election again. Yes, again. Let’s break it down one more time. 1) A serving first minister isn’t asked to ‘form government’ after an election, regardless of the result. They are still the head of government. The election has no effect on this legal situation. 2) […]| Philippe Lagassé
A few Canadian government twitter accounts have stated that King Charles III is Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. Is this correct? It depends what we mean. What are the arguments for the idea that the Sovereign is the Commander-in-Chief? All command authority in Canada flows from the Crown, which indicates that the King is […]| Philippe Lagassé
Well, what can I say: you can’t win ‘em all. Canadian monarchists had a good week overall. The King met with Indigenous leaders. The RCMP were front and centre in the procession. The Canadian government finally announced that the King’s effigy would not only be on coins, but that his image will replace Queen Elizabeth […]| Philippe Lagassé
Yesterday I argued that the Lieutenant Governor shouldn’t withhold royal assent for the so-called Alberta Sovereignty Act. Both supporters and critics of the proposal agree that it’ll be unconstitutional by design. The whole point is to provoke confrontation, confusion, and chaos. If that’s the idea, why wouldn’t the Lieutenant Governor be justified in withholding assent? […]| Philippe Lagassé
Canada’s vice-regal representatives certainly know how to keep the Crown interesting. Today, Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor mused that she might need to check if a proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act is constitutional before granting it royal assent. She further noted that her role is one of a constitutional fire extinguisher and implied that refusing assent to unconstitutional […]| Philippe Lagassé
Boris Johnson won’t be the British prime minister for very much longer. He’ll either resign in the coming days or in a few months. We’ll see. I’m not here to write about Johnson’s tenure, nor will I wade into a hypothetical discussion of whether the Queen would have dismissed him had he not resigned after […]| Philippe Lagassé