Queen's University to Prove Constitutional Prowess at Upcoming Symposium

Photo By Daniel Chodos

Professor Hoi Kong is a co-organizer of the Open Federalism and the Spending Power Symposium hosted by Queen's Law and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations on January 25-26, 2008.

On January 25 and 26, 2008, Queen's Law and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations will be hosting a conference highlighting emerging areas of Canadian federalism. Entitled "Open Federalism and the Spending Power: A Symposium on Constitutional and Political Federalism," the conference will expose delegates to a diverse range of scholars and policy-makers, and to their expertise in these areas.

The conference provides a forum to facilitate discussion of complex and important issues among leading Canadian academics in constitutional law, public policy and political science and government officials. Representatives from the federal and provincial governments, business, academia and students will be attending the conference, which will be held at Queen's University.  

"I know I learned an immense amount as a law student from attending conferences and visitors' talks that my professors organized and I hope that some of our students will similarly benefit from this opportunity," said Queen's Law professor Hoi Kong, who is a co-organizer of the conference and will be presenting a paper on judicial interpretation and the division of powers.

The keynote speaker for the conference is Professor Emeritus John Whyte, Law ‘68, a former Dean of Queen's Law and one of Canada's seminal experts on constitutional law. Currently, he is the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. "Professor Whyte's writing on federalism exhibits his extraordinary understanding of long-standing historical narratives about Canada and of various groups' claims to recognition and justice in Canada," said Kong.

In addition to Whyte and Kong, some of the school's current group of constitutional and public law scholars whose primary work focuses on other important issues will be participating in the conference by moderating panels. Some of the topics that will be discussed at the symposium include: fiscal federalism; the spending power; the governance of communities within the Canadian federation; and the relationship between constitutional law and the day-to-day practices of federalism.
    
 "Queen's Law has an incredible history of constitutional law scholarship and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations is Canada's leading research centre on issues related to federalism and intergovernmental relations.  I think this makes Queen's an ideal forum for the conference," said Kong.

For more information about the Open Federalism and the Spending Power Symposium and to register, please see http://www.queensu.ca/iigr/conf/spendingpower.html