Author Archives: J.W.J. Bowden

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About J.W.J. Bowden

My area of academic expertise lies in Canadian political institutions, especially the Crown, political executive, and conventions of Responsible Government; since 2011, I have made a valuable contribution to the scholarship by having been published and cited extensively. I’m also a contributing editor to the Dorchester Review and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law.

Putting the Personal above the Factual: Errol Mendes on Early Dissolution and Fixed-Date Election Laws in 2008 vs in 2021

Posted on 2021/08/14 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction I have chronicled several examples of scholarly inconsistency between how some academics cover and write about Harper versus Trudeau, The four most notable examples come down to the following: tactical prorogation, contempt of parliament, the caretaker convention and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Constructive Non-Confidence, Crown (Powers and Office), Dissolution, Fixed-Date Elections, Reform | 1 Comment

Peter H. Russell Now Agrees With Me: What Happens When a Governor General Rejects a Prime Minister’s Constitutional Advice

Posted on 2021/08/13 by J.W.J. Bowden

For the last eight years or so, I have stated in numerous blog posts, presentations at conferences, my thesis, and several journal articles the basic precepts of the established constitutional position of the governors and prime ministers under Responsible Government. … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Dissolution, Governor's Discretion, Prorogation | 3 Comments

Quebec’s Irredentist Designs on Labrador

Posted on 2021/07/21 by J.W.J. Bowden

Some of you might be interested in my piece in the latest issue of the Dorchester Review on the Labrador Boundary Dispute, Quebec’s continuing irredentist designs on the territory, and the story of the most recent constitutional amendment passed under … Continue reading →

Posted in History of British North America | 3 Comments

The Privileges of Aristocracy: Solicitor-Client Privilege Under the Access to Information Act

Posted on 2021/06/30 by J.W.J. Bowden

“The American aristocracy is at the attorneys’ bar and on the judges’ bench.” In On Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville argued that lawyers had already emerged as the aristocratic class of the United States of America by the 1830s. … Continue reading →

Posted in History of British North America | 2 Comments

The Letters Patent Removing Julie Payette from the Office of Governor General

Posted on 2021/05/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

I’m circling back, as Jen Psaki would say when she has more news to convey, and closing the loop on this saga of the spectacular remnant of Julie Payette’s supernova. On 10 April 2021, the Trudeau government gazetted the letters … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Governor General | 1 Comment