成人VR视频
The Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism
The Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism aims to reflect on the foundations, potential, risks and concrete incarnations of the 鈥渇ederal phenomenon鈥� understood broadly. The inaugural holder of the Peter MacKell Chair is Professor Johanne Poirier.
Recent media mentions
, opinion letter signed by Dia Dabby, Noura Karazivan, David Koussens, Louis-Philippe Lampron and Johanne Poirier,听La Presse, 17听November 2025.
, opinion letter signed by Genevi猫ve Nootens, Martin Papillon, Louis-Philippe Lampron, Dominique Leydet, Na茂ma Hamrouni, St茅phanie Tremblay, Luc Turgeon, Chedly Belkhodja, Noura Karazivan, Alain-G. Gagnon, Dia Dabby, David Koussens and Johanne Poirier,听Le Devoir, 16听November 2025.
What's new?
Conference:听Les trois dimensions du 芦 droit intergouvernemental 禄 : un nouvel outil pour d茅crypter le f茅d茅ralisme ?
Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 4:30 p.m. 鈥� 6:00 p.m.
On site: Faculty of Law, A-3421 鈥� Multipurpose Room
Online: Zoom
The Centre de recherche en droit public at Universit茅 de Montr茅al is organizing a lecture by Professor Johanne Poirier, in collaboration with the Peter MacKell Chair on Federalism.
Entitled 鈥淭he Three Dimensions of 鈥業ntergovernmental Law鈥�: A New Tool for Understanding Federalism?鈥�, the lecture will present the three dimensions of Intergovernmental Law (IGL). 鈥淯pstream鈥�, the constitutional rules and principles that govern interaction between members of the federation. 鈥淒ownstream鈥�, the rules and institutions that aim to ensure the accountability and responsibility of public actors when they act in a coordinated manner. Finally, and most importantly, between the two, the 鈥渕idstream鈥� DIG refers to the set of legal techniques that make it possible to build normative bridges between levels of government that cooperate, but which in principle must always legislate and regulate 鈥渆ach for itself.鈥�
Registration is mandatory to obtain a continuing education certificate. For more information and to register, please visit the .
Imagining 鈥渢he People鈥�: Towards a Democratic and Non-Populist Theory of Constituent Power
Doctoral thesis defense by听Atag眉n听Mert听Kejanl谋o臒lu听
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, Atag眉n听Mert听Kejanl谋o臒lu will defend his doctoral thesis written under the supervision of Professor Johanne Poirier. His thesis, entitled听鈥淚magining 鈥渢he People鈥�: Towards a Democratic and Non-Populist Theory of Constituent Power鈥�, develops an alternative to the populist instrumentalization of the constituent power by reimagining the foundation of a constitution as a representational act by a part of the population for the whole population (鈥渇or each other鈥�) rather than a direct act by 鈥渢he people鈥� for 鈥渢he people.鈥� Join us in Room 202, New Chancellor Day Hall, at 10:00 a.m. to congratulate Atag眉n on his doctoral defense!
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Le Projet de Conseil constitutionnel du Qu茅bec 脿 la lumi猫re du droit compar茅: L鈥檈xp茅rience catalane
With Prof. Joan Vintr贸 Castells, member and former president of the Council of Statutory Guarantees
When: Monday, February 9, 2026 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Where:
In Bill 1 (Quebec Constitutional Act, 2025), the Quebec government proposes the establishment of a Constitutional Council for Quebec. The mandate and composition of the advisory council鈥攁s well as its relationship with the judiciary responsible for reviewing constitutionality in Quebec and Canada鈥攔aise many questions. To better understand the potential of such an institution and the issues it raises, we turn to comparative law.
This virtual seminar will focus on the role of the constitutional advisory council established in Catalonia: the (CGS).
The CGS is an advisory council responsible for issuing opinions on the conformity of Catalan legislative initiatives with the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (its 鈥榗onstitution鈥�) and the Spanish constitution at the request of the Catalan government or minority groups in the Catalan Parliament. The CGS must also issue a preliminary opinion before Catalan authorities refer a matter to the Spanish Constitutional Court (for example, to challenge the constitutionality of a Spanish bill).
Professor Joan Vintr贸 Castells of the University of Barcelona, former President of the CGS and still a member of the Council, will outline its role and achievements. He will also discuss the similarities and differences with comparable institutions elsewhere in Europe.
Biography
Joan Vintr贸 Castells (Barcelona, 1953) is Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Barcelona. He holds a PhD in Law and a degree in Arts (Modern History) from the University of Barcelona and a postgraduate degree in Political Studies (DEA) from the Paris Institute of Political Studies.
A lawyer at the Parliament of Catalonia (1981-2006), he was also legal advisor during the drafting of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. He was a member of the Council on the National Transition of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia (2013-2015). Prof. Vintr贸 Castells served as an expert for the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (1992-2002) and carried out missions in Azerbaijan, Moldova and Romania.
Since 2019, Mr Vintr贸 Castells has been a member of the Council for Statutory Guarantees of Catalonia for a term ending in 2028. He was president of this institution from 2022 to 2025.
Call for Papers: Ron Watts Young Researcher Award
In 2014, the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies (IACFS) established the Young Scholar Award, an annual prize for the best article or paper on an aspect of federalism by a young researcher. In 2015, this award was renamed in honor of Ronald L. Watts.
Eligibility
All researchers endorsed and nominated by an IACFS member centre are eligible. This includes full-time researchers, master鈥檚, doctoral, and postdoctoral students, as well as former students. The age limit is 35 years at the time of submitting the application.
Applicants are invited to submit a journal-length article (8,000 鈥� 10,000 words) on a topic related to any aspect of federalism. The topic does not need to be linked to the theme of the IACFS annual conference. The paper must be an original work and written in English. It may have already been submitted for publication or published within the past twelve months preceding the submission.
Process
The applicant submits their paper to the director of an IACFS member centre, who may nominate up to three candidates. The director then submits the nominations and papers via email to ronaldwattsaward [at] eurac.edu by 30 April 2026.
Award
For 2026, the award comprises a return flight to the IACFS annual conference in Ottawa, Canada, in October 2026, plus three nights of accommodation, and a certificate. The award winner will be invited to present their paper at the conference.
For further information and queries, please visit and contact evamaria.belser [at] unifr.ch (Professor Eva Maria Belser)听or听ronaldwattsaward [at] eurac.edu.听
Participation in the听annual conference of the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies
Professor Johanne Poirier and master's student Chloe Bell had the pleasure of participating in the annual conference of the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, held in Mexico City on September 25 and 26, 2025. They presented a paper entitled 鈥淐ompeting Provincial Conceptions of Federalism in Canada: Intergovernmental Relations and Housing Policy in Montreal and Toronto.鈥� This presentation focused on the influence of Quebec and Ontario's conceptions of federalism on the trajectory of federal government public policy on housing.
Intergovernmental Law Seminar
On May 26 and 27, 2025, the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism hosted a two-day Intergovernmental Law Seminar, gathering scholars from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxemburg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The opportunity to work together in person yielded rich discussions on how intergovernmental relations operate in vastly different federations. The knowledge shared over these two days will be seminal to this new international comparative project.
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Winners of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism 2025
Federalism: Thinking Outside the Box
成人VR视频's Faculty of Law and the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism are delighted to announce the winners of the 2024-2025 Baxter Family Competition on Federalism. Organized by Professor Johanne Poirier, this international essay Competition was open to students and recent graduates in law and political science.
Visiting Professor,听Mugambi Jouet
Mugambi Jouet, professor at the Gould School of Law in California, will be at the 成人VR视频 Law Faculty for two events organized by the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism in March 2025.
Monday March 17, 16h00-17h30, Room 312
Prof. Jouet will contrast the interaction between federalism and abortion policy and politics in Canada and the USA in Prof. Johanne Poirier鈥檚 Comparative Federalism class. You are more than welcome to join us!
Tuesday March 18, 16h00-18h00, in the Caren and Jordan Waxman Common Room
Prof. Jouet will lead an informal discussion on 鈥淎merican Exceptionalism in a Changing Western World鈥�. In these times of unpredictable attacks on democracy, this also promises to be a very lively discussion.
Please RSVP to the new Chair coordinator, Ms Caroline Homet, before March 14,2025: caroline.homet [at] mail.mcgill.ca.
Publication of听Beyond intergovernmental relations in federal systems: the concept of intergovernmental law
In federal systems, irrespective of the official division of powers, the development and implementation of public policy increasingly require the input of various orders of government. Concerted action is an everyday phenomenon in wide ranges of domains, such as health care, immigration, transportation, environmental protection, public safety, and pandemic management. Countless studies have explored intergovernmental interaction in federal systems, both from a political science and policy perspective. Faced with federal realpolitik, law is often considered to be 鈥榖eside the point鈥�. While constitutional law provides a backdrop (particularly the division of powers, courts, and second chambers), law is otherwise largely a blind spot of federal studies. Yet, in democracies founded on the rule of law, all public action must, at some point, be grounded in law, or at least accountable to law. This is also true of federal democracies. The production and implementation of law in complex intergovernmental contexts are oddly understudied, as are the processes of accountability for intergovernmental executive action.
To shed light on the various ways through which legal norms, principles, processes and institutions shape federal governance, this paper introduces the concept of Intergovernmental Law (IGL). Professor Poirier posits that IGL has three main components. Upstream, it is composed of constitutional norms and institutions that shape intergovernmental action. Downstream, IGL includes processes of judicial review and parliamentary scrutiny of administrative and executive actions taken in an intergovernmental context. Midstream, it comprises specific toolboxes of legislative and executive law-making devices that help structure interactions and create complex normative networks.
Cheryl Saunders鈥� scholarship in domestic and comparative constitutional law informs almost every aspect of the overarching concept of intergovernmental law. This article is a tribute to Cheryl鈥檚 invaluable contribution to federal studies, notably her efforts in shedding light on the role of law in shaping federal theory and practice.
About the Chair
The Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism aims to reflect on the foundations, potential, risks and concrete incarnations of the 鈥渇ederal phenomenon鈥� understood broadly. The inaugural holder of the Peter MacKell Chair is Professor Johanne Poirier.听The Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism was created at the Faculty of Law thanks to a generous bequest from Peter R.D. MacKell.
About Peter R.D. MacKell
After his law studies at 成人VR视频, he was admitted to the bar in 1951. He began his career with Duquet听MacKay, later moving to Martineau听Walker, today known as Fasken. He led the firm as Chairman for several years, before retiring in 1995.
Peter MacKell handled many significant litigation and commercial briefs in the course of his career, representing major Canadian and foreign clients. He was also a highly sought-after corporate director, and a member of the board of Goodfellow inc. for many years, as well as a director of the R茅gie de l鈥檃ssurance-d茅p么ts du Qu茅bec.
Photo at top: In September 2021, when we could finally return to campus, after a year of "online learning", a group of students and Prof. Poirier met for the first time, on the steps of Old Chancellor Day Hall! Photo by Lysanne Larose.
Chair Events
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