Recent Developments at the Supreme Court of Canada on the Use of Parliamentary Debates
(2000), 63 Sask. L. Rev. 581-616
40 Pages Posted: 5 May 2017
Date Written: 2000
Abstract
The Supreme Court of Canada has become much more permissive with respect to the use of parliamentary debates in statutory interpretation. This study starts with a detailed review of the twelve cases in which references were made to legislative history in 1999. They show a lack of consistent practice by the Court and that some aspects of the question remain unsettled. The discussion that follows focuses on important issues pertaining to the consultation of such materials: (i) the purpose for which they are used, (ii) the preliminary requirement of legislative ambiguity, (iii) whether they constitute an interpretative means per se, and (iv) the relevant factors to determine their proper weight.
In addition to the 1999 decisions, the paper examines the previous case law on the subject, the situation in other common law jurisdictions, and the rationales underlying the traditional exclusionary rule. The background of the analysis includes the principle of the rule of law, the bygone plain meaning rule of construction, and the modern purposive and contextual interpretative method. Throughout the discussion, the author puts forward certain suggestions to remedy the remaining shortcomings regarding parliamentary debates; his main contribution consists of a set of guidelines to assess their persuasive force in the process of ascertaining the intention of Parliament.
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