Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-2025

Source Publication

Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella : A Life of Firsts. Edited by Vanessa MacDonnell et al., University of Toronto Press, 2025.

Abstract

Justice Abella’s legendary aspirations for human rights all but defined her jurisprudence, and under s,2 she earned praise elsewhere for her opinions on religious freedom (s.2(a) of the Charter) and the right to strike under s.2(d)’s guarantee of associational freedom. Apart from Doré v. Barreau de Québec, her s.2(b) jurisprudence on freedom of expression has attracted less scholarly attention. This article highlights Justice Abella’s leadership under s.2(b) in protecting expressive freedom’s democratic values, developing a more robust form of proportionality balancing under s.1, and advocating for doctrinal recognition of freedom of the press and media as an independent entitlement. Her jurisprudence also reveals a duality in her conception of expressive freedom and a reluctance to protect s.2(b) when it might undermine human rights values such as equality and dignity of the person. Two of Justice Abella’s most forceful s.2(b) opinions, both in dissent and each near the end of her tenure at the Supreme Court – City of Toronto v. Ontario and Ward v. Québec (with Kasirer J.) speak to an embed that duality in her s.2(b) legacy.

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