In Mighty Judgment Philip Slayton describes the important issues the Supreme Court decides for individual Canadians and for Canada as a nation, and the surprising and dramatic ways in which these decisions shape our future. In the Morgentaler case (1988), the court struck down laws restricting abortion, leaving Canada the only Western country without any abortion laws. In the Same-Sex Marriage Reference (2004), it decided that gays and lesbians could marry. In the Secession Reference (1998), it laid down the conditions under which Quebec could secede from Canada. In the Patrick case (2009), the court decided that the right of privacy does not stop the police from rifling through our garbage. More recently, the court administered a tongue-lashing to the federal government over its treatment of Canadian youth Omar Khadr, accused by the United States government of fighting with the Taliban. Mighty Judgment makes clear that the Supreme Court of Canada is a political institution, and that judges are politicians. But, unlike other politicians, judges cannot be voted out of office. Slayton discusses reforms that will be needed, particularly in the way judges are chosen, once we recognize that the court decides policy and plays a pivotal role in governing Canada.
