THE EFFECTS OF THE CANADIAN SUPREME-COURT CHARTER INTERPRETATION ON REGIONAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL TENSIONS IN CANADA

Canada's adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 had a number of unexpected consequences. Many Canadians holed that the Chart er's adoption would help unify the country by creating a shared set of civil liberties; yet, it was also feared that the Charter would tip t he balance of federal power in favor of the federal government because it allowed the national Supreme Court to oversee provincial policymak ing. Neither of these predictions has come to lass. In its Charter cas es, the Supreme Court has neither made the national government its con stitutional favorite nor helped to unify Canadians. The Court's langua ge-rights cases helped catalyze Quebecois resentment toward the rest o f Canada. Its preferential treatment of laws and court decisions from Ontario has the potential to increase Canada's regional antagonisms as well. These findings demonstrate that judicial power can have signifi cant political effects that are not anticipated by constitutional refo rmers or the constitutions they adopt.