Race, Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada

Racial tolerance and a dedication to principles of justice have become part of the Canadian identity, and are often used to distinguish our historical character from that of other countries. "Race," Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada challenges this image.

Four cases in which the legal issue was "race," drawn from the period between 1914 and 1955, are intimately examined to explore the role of the Supreme Court of Canada and the law in the racialization of Canadian society. Walker demonstrates that Supreme Court Justices were expressing the prevailing "common sense" about "race" in their legal decisions.

He shows that injustice on the grounds of "race" has been chronic in Canadian history, and that the law itself was once instrumental in creating these circumstances. The book concludes with a controversial discussion of current directions in Canadian law and their potential impact on Canada's future as a multicultural society.

"Race," Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada illustrates the rich possibilities of using case law to illuminate Canadian social history and the value of understanding the context of the times in interpreting court decisions.