David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights celebrates tenth anniversary
From R v Conway to Barton v Her Majesty the Queen, the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, more commonly known as the Asper Centre, has made its mark on Canadian law since its founding in 2008.
The Centre celebrated its tenth anniversary on October 17, 2018 at the Jackman Law Building with a moderated conversation featuring former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Thomas Cromwell and two of the Centre’s former Constitutional Litigators-in-Residence, Mary Eberts and Joseph Arvay.
The Making of a Mission
David Asper, a criminal defence lawyer turned businessman, conceived the idea for his eponymous centre in 2006, while completing his LLM at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. The Canadian government had just cancelled the Court Challenges Program (CCP), but Asper saw a continuing need for the services that program had provided.
The CCP had been created in 1978 to to provide funding for official minority language cases based on sections 93 and 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867. Its mandate was gradually expanded to include challenges to federal laws, policies or practices based on sections 15 (equality), 27 (multiculturalism) or 28 (sex equality) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Asper donated $7.5 million to the University to launch the Centre and support the construction of the Jackman Law Building—then the largest individual donation in the history of the Faculty of Law.
Professor Mayo Moran, the current Trinity College Provost and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the time of the Centre’s founding, said the impetus for the Centre’s creation was two-fold.
“[W]e wanted to elevate the constitutional conversation in this country by bringing the academy and its expertise in constitutional matters directly into the court. When we were doing the research to create the centre, we looked at the best of what was happening elsewhere and wanted to set a new standard for the world here in Canada,” Moran said.
According to Moran, it was also important to find ways to ensure that law students would have an opportunity to work on cases shaping the law.
“The clinical aspect of the Centre was right at the heart of what we wanted to do,” she added.
Cheryl Milne, Executive Director of the Centre, expressed her gratitude to Asper for his continued support for the Centre’s work. “He has been the ideal benefactor, with high expectations of the work of the Centre coupled with trust in our expertise and efforts,” said Milne.
When the Asper Centre was created, no organization had yet taken up the CPP’s mantle of bringing constitutional challenges. Its planning, which took one year, involved decisions on topics like faculty and student involvement.Today, introducing students to constitutional advocacy remains a key focus of the Centre.
Brittany Cohen (2L), who has worked with the group on Police Oversight, said that volunteering with the Asper Centre was one of the highlights of her law school experience.
“I have had the opportunity to expand and strengthen my legal skills in a meaningful context and gained exposure to areas of law that fall outside the first-year curriculum. Currently, we are educating the public about police complaints processes by providing the necessary information and assistance to victims of police misconduct in an accessible manner,” said Cohen.
A Legacy of Advocacy
“The ideal of a rights-based society doesn’t just happen. History shows it only happens if you’re prepared to fight for it, and to continue to look for evolving trends in the meaning of rights.”
David Asper
Since its founding, the Centre has led twenty interventions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Aside from its advocacy work, the Centre has also organized forty-six constitutional roundtables and ten conferences and symposia, while supporting twenty-one student working groups and seven Constitutional Litigators-in-Residence.
“The ideal of a rights-based society doesn’t just happen,” said Asper on the occasion of the tenth anniversary. “History shows it only happens if you’re prepared to fight for it, and to continue to look for evolving trends in the meaning of rights.”
Asper, whose involvement with the Centre remains arms-length, cites his favourite intervention as Henry v Her Majesty the Queen.
For her part, Milne cited Canada v Bedford, which spoke to the role of stare decisis in constitutional litigation, as the case that has made the biggest impact thus far. “The Court explicitly adopted our submissions in this case—a moment of particular pride for me,” said Milne.
The Next Ten Years
Going forward, Milne said that the Centre will hold a strategic planning session to engage stakeholders in decisions about the direction of the Centre over the next 10 years.
“We wish to continue to play a role in the constitutional law landscape in Canada and will definitely be looking at how best to do that,” said Milne.
She added that, aside from its current focus on the Supreme Court of Canada, the Centre will be looking at ways to engage other levels of court.
“There are…other effective ways to both engage government and the public to educate and uphold constitutional rights. I would like to see us diversify our efforts,” added Milne.
Moran echoed Milne’s sentiment. “I applaud the Centre’s role beyond litigation alone and its determination to have a voice in other forms of advocacy as well as the larger public role in convening timely discussions of pressing constitutional issues,” she said.
This work is likely to continue for years to come. At the tenth anniversary celebration, the Faculty of Law announced a further $2.5 million donation from Asper to continue supporting the work of the Centre and launch the David Asper Bursary.
However, one question that remains is how the Asper Centre’s role might change once the CCP is fully revived. Since 2016, the federal government has been working to re-establish the Program; its mandate will be to “provide financial support to Canadians to access the courts for the litigation of test cases of national significance, to help clarify and assert certain constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language rights and human rights in Canada.” This mandate potentially overlaps with the Asper Centre. It will be interesting to see how these two organizations develop in response to each other.
