The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms may only be thirty-five years old but it is an important document for all Canadians. Few today, however, are aware of the extensive work and tumultuous debates that occurred behind the scenes.

In The Charter Debates, Adam Dodek tells the story of the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons on the Constitution, whose members were instrumental in drafting the Charter. Dodek places the work of the Joint Committee against the backdrop of the decades-long process of patriation and takes the reader inside the committee room, giving them access to Cabinet discussions about constitutional reform. The volume offers a textual exploration of the edited proceedings concerning major Charter subjects such as fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, equality rights, language rights, and the limitations clause.

Presenting key moments from the transcripts, carefully selected and contextualized, The Charter Debates is a one-of-a-kind resource for scholars, students, and general readers interested in the Charter and its impact on constitutional politics in Canada.

Adam M. Dodek is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (Common Law Section) where he teaches public law, legal ethics, and a seminar on the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Dodek is a member of the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism, and of the Academic Advisory Board of the University of Toronto’s Centre for the Legal Profession. At the University of Ottawa, he heads up the Professionalism Initiative and coordinates a Professionalism Speaker series. He writes about issues of legal ethics, the regulation of the legal profession, the judiciary, and public law. Recent books include Judicial Independence in Context, co-edited with Lorne Sossin (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2010) and Public Law at the McLachlin Court, co-edited with David A. Wright (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2011).

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