Six Degrees of Dialogue: A Response to Hogg and Bushell

In Viend v. Alberta,l Justice Frank Iacobucci devoted several paragraphs of his judgment to defending the democratic character of the Supreme Court of Canada's judicial review function under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 2Justice Iacobucci defended the Court's role as the product of a "deliberate choice of our provincial and federal legislatures" 3 that "promotes democratic values." 4 In his view, the Court's contemporary function is to serve as the "trustee" of the Charter and to "scrutinize the work of the legislature and the executive not in the name of the courts, but in the interests of the new social contract that was democratically chosen."sAt the core of this conscious redefinition of Canadian democracy, according to Iacobucci J., is the creation of a "more dynamic interaction among the branches of governance." 6For Iacobucci J., and the Court as a whole, the growth of this interactive dynamic demands more active participation by the judiciary in a dialogue with legislatures and executives about the proper balance