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Research Themes

The Commission intends to pursue its strategic direction by structuring its research around four complementary themes: personal relationships; social relationships; economic relationships; and governance relationships. These Strategic Themes were distilled from ideas suggested by the broad spectrum of groups and individuals initially consulted by the Commission. They were then confirmed by the Advisory Council.

Personal Relationships

Many of the basic building blocks of the law are institutions that regulate close and intimate personal relationships. Canadian law now rests on a number of assumptions about how people organize their private lives, and how they relate to their partners, parents and children. These assumptions are frequently out of touch with the facts. Consequently, the legal policies and procedures derived from them tend to be obsolete or counter-productive.

Here the law is in need of comprehensive examination. Today, many social programmes do not reach their intended beneficiaries because of the evolution of different forms of family life and personal relationships. The socio-economic impact of an aging population requires adaptations to income-support programmes, and pension and housing policy. The possible correlations between early childhood conditions and encounters with the youth justice system will be explored. The impact of the law related to family breakdown on the economic and social security of children demands careful study. Canadian law seems inadequate to respond to physical, economic, psychological and sexual abuse in a wide variety of situations involving children, domestic partners and the elderly. This requires an understanding of how exploitation occurs in situations of unequal power.

The Commission will look closely at how the legal system deals with relationships of dependence and interdependence.

• Beyond Conjugality
• Does Age Matter?: Law and Relationships Between Generations

Social Relationships

Society is becoming more diverse in every socio-demographic dimension. Increasingly, Canadians are identifying themselves as members of multiple groups, yet the law currently is based on several unexamined and potentially questionable assumptions about which of these group identities are legitimate. Only rarely does it recognize group identity as an element of personal identity.

The way the law addresses social relationships and organizes relationships between groups deserves close consideration. Many of these relationships have been influenced by a widening gap between rich and poor. The situation of First Nations peoples continues to challenge traditional conceptions of social justice. Not all Canadians have equal access to knowledge about the law or equal opportunity to benefit from its application. The conditions that have enabled certain persons and groups to succeed are not well understood. Some laws and institutions rest on values that are no longer widely shared. This is particularly true where new technologies challenge conventional understandings of how to protect human life and the environment. The capacity of the criminal justice system to express and reinforce shared values, to rebuild fragile communities, and to control international and Internet crime also requires re-assessment.

The Commission will undertake research on how the legal system recognizes diverse social relationships in a changing socio-demographic context.

• Order and Security
• From Restorative Justice to Transformative Justice
• Communities Project

Economic Relationships

The changing character of the workplace, the evolution of Canadian industry, the creation of new forms of property and wealth, the recognition of the significance of both paid and unpaid work, new methods of doing business, and the emergence of a knowledge-based economy have important consequences both for those entering the labour market, and for those whose current employment is threatened. The globalization of trade and developing arrangements of international commerce and finance have affected many of Canada's basic economic and social arrangements. Few legal institutions and regulatory practices are insulated from these currents.

Technological innovations permit significant crossborder transactions which are facilitated by international agreements. These have an impact on business practices and on Canadian policy related to financial institutions, labour markets, pensions, bankruptcy, the environment, immigration and social welfare. This challenges the law to finds ways to regulate economic transactions fairly, to protect the value of a worker's labour, and to address disparities in market power without undermining Canada's international competitiveness or the efficiency of its capital markets. The increasing urbanization of Canada, the apparent depletion of certain natural resources and the vulnerability of communities dependent upon them, and the enormous power wielded by managers of capital pools and pension funds put into question the capacity and limits of the law in the economic sphere.

The Commission will explore how best to structure law to enhance the country's economic strength while protecting fundamental social values.

• The Vulnerable Worker
• Federal Security Interests

Governance Relationships

The capacity of citizens to participate meaningfully in the democratic process poses challenges for the design of public institutions. Canadians are disengaging from these institutions, are more sceptical about their capacity to respond to legitimate expectations, and have less confidence in their justice than they once had.

The judicial and administrative systems are pressured to provide expedient, accessible and equal justice attuned to current social needs and are stretched to respond. But increased recourse to adversarial processes to solve interpersonal conflict and larger issues of social justice has contributed to a crisis of legitimacy. The framework of regulations and administrative agencies, the use of commissions of inquiry and the methods of appointing judges and other officials need to be assessed. Some Canadians hope that the law can be adjusted to give better expression to their aspirations for greater control over governance. Exploring the changing roles and responsibilities of non-governmental institutions and identifying best practices complements this inquiry.

The Commission will study public decision-making and governmental institutions and make proposals about optimal processes for effective governance in a framework of openness and accountability.

• Indigenous Legal Traditions
• Governance Beyond Borders
• What is a Crime?
• Electoral Reform
• The Governance of Health Research Involving Human Subjects

Ministerial References

• Institutional Abuse of Children