Thursday, January 14, 2016
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
CRN 207

Professor Dave Snow offers a “meta-commentary” on the academic scholarship surrounding the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2010 Reference re Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which struck down the federal government’s attempt to create a national policy for assisted reproductive technologies. He use the concept of jurisdictional framing—describing a policy field as properly belonging to one particular level of government—to explain how federalism frustrated Canadian policymaking efforts. In this presentation he will argue that Canada’s failure to institute a national policy can ultimately be traced to how multiple federal policymakers failed to align their substantive framing strategies with the procedural requirements of the Canadian Constitution. Focusing on the interaction between substantive and jurisdictional framing shows how the language used to justify legislative authority can shape policy outcomes in unexpected ways.

Dave Snow is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. His research and teaching interests include assisted reproductive technologies, public policy, constitutional law, and federalism. Prior to moving to Guelph, he completed his PhD in political science at the University of Calgary, and was a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University from 2014-2015. His current research examines clinical regulation of embryonic research and possibilities for biobanking human reproductive material in Canada. He is also researching the regulation of assisted reproductive technologies in Canada, Australia, and the United States.

For further information, please contact Zachary Spicer.