Forging Alberta's Constitutional Framework

Edited by Richard Connors & John M. Law
Categories: History, Canadian History
Publisher: University of Alberta Press
Hardcover : 9780888644572, 576 pages, November 2005
Paperback : 9780888644589, 576 pages, November 2005
Ebook (PDF) : 9781772125351, 576 pages, November 2005

Description

Forging Alberta's Constitutional Framework explores the nature and development of Alberta's constitution by examining a number of celebrated cases and themes that have shaped and altered legal, social, economic, political, and cultural rights and responsibilities within Alberta and Canada. Contributors from across Canada include historians, lawyers, political scientists, and politicians writing on themes that illustrate how Alberta's constitution is the product of decades, even centuries, of contest, debate, division, and negotiation.

Reviews

"...at its heart, this volume provides a historically informed exploration of Alberta's constitutional history, rooted in the notion that the province, its peoples, and the manner in which they viewed the law and the constitution were products of a historical process of moving through time together as Albertans. These notions and perspectives were not happenstance, and recognizing this historical dynamic and the manner in which it necessarily informs the way that Albertans will continue to view these issues is a critically important insight that raises our understanding of a province that has occupied such a prominent role in the nation's affairs." Jonathan Swainger, University of Toronto Quarterly, Winter 2008

"Yet there's plenty here to stimulate and entertain. If you're looking for a fireside read in the gathering days of winter and you've decided on substance, this could be the ticket. Among the most intriguing of the 16 chapters is Richard Connors's opening look at where law sprang from in the Canadian colonies. Entire books have been written on colonial legal theory and Connors provides a nice summary." Mark Lisac, The Edmonton Journal, December 11, 2005