Courts and health policy: judicial policy making and publicly funded health care in Canada.

The 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provided political actors with the opportunity to make rights-based challenges to public policy decisions. Two challenges launched by providers and consumers of health care illuminate the impact of judicial review on health care policy and the institutional capacity of courts to formulate policy in this field. The significant impact of rights-based claims on cross-jurisdictional policy differences in a federal regime is noted.

Expressive freedom and tobacco advertising: a Canadian perspective.

In 1989, Canada enacted the Tobacco Products Control Act (TPCA), which prohibited tobacco advertising, required health warnings on tobacco packaging, and restricted promotional activities. Canada's tobacco companies challenged the TPCA's constitutionality, arguing that it infringed on freedom of expression. Although it seemed likely that the Canadian Supreme Court would uphold the legislation, in 1995 the court declared the impugned provisions to be unconstitutional. The decision is testimony to the constraining force of liberalism on tobacco regulation, but it is also evidence of the power of political will. While the Canadian government could have used the decision to justify withdrawing from further confrontations with powerful commercial interests, it chose instead to enact new tobacco control legislation in 1997.