Lecture 1 - September 4th, 2025
● Office hours 4-5 on Thursdays, 7th floor Sprott Office
○ Walk past the desk, make two left turns
● In collectivist cultures, personal bonds and informal agreements are more binding
than formal contracts
● In Western (individualistic) cultures, more emphasis/importance is placed on precise
language and the exact document that lays the foundation
● Canada’s legal system is the result of English and French legal traditions (falls into the
Western mentality)
● Since our economy is globalized, we have to understand how other cultures interpret
things to produce the best relations
● A society’s culture influences its philosophical framework
○ Philosophy comes from Greek and means “love of wisdom”; looks at the
fundamental questions of how we should live our lives
○ We rarely, if ever, consciously think about philosophy, but we innately perceive
the world through the lens of our philosophies
○ Canada’s philosophical history:
■ In the 5th century BC, only free adult males could vote
● Direct democracy at this point
■ Aristotle thought that societies should be governed by the rule of law
● Principle is foundational to Western society/democracy
● Nobody should be above the law
■ Plato rejected democracy because his teacher, Socrates, was killed by
a mob
● Thought there should be a “Philosopher King” who guided the
people (somebody well-read, benevolent, with good leadership
skills)
■ These philosophers were the precursor to today’s democracy vs
authoritarian debates
● Canada was founded on the oppression of the Indigenous people by Britain and
France
○ A global war involving European powers and their colonies around the world
(7 year war) resulted in the conquest of North America by the British in 1760,
creating British North America (4 original provinces of Canada and 13 states
of the USA)
, ■ The 13 American colonies revolted in 1775 against British rule,
declaring independence in 1776 and achieving it with the end of the
war in 1782-1783
■ Many loyalists fled to Canada and settled in Ontario, New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, and Quebec
● Significant French population required Britain to accommodate
them in Quebec (Quebec Act of 1774 guaranteed the French Civil
Code in Quebec, as well as Catholicism)
● Most countries have written or codified constitutions (basically the Ace; ultimate law)
○ The UK (Britain) has an unwritten constitution based on court precedents and
political culture (rare)
■ Common law system
■ No legal document should supersede the elected representatives of the
people (sovereignty of Parliament)
○ France has a codified law, with little scope for courts to go beyond Code
parameters
○ England has some codification, especially when they were part of the EU, but
relies heavily on common law
■ Unwritten constitution based on rule of law and sovereignty of
Parliament
○ USA has heavy French influence; extensive codification of laws coupled with
active common law court system
■ Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness
■ Extensive checks and balances to prevent abuse of authority and right
to bear arms to revolt against abusive government
■ Mistrustful of the government due to its origins (revolution)
○ Canada peacefully evolved out of the shadow of the monarchy and remains
there symbolically
■ Other than Quebec, uses the common law system
■ Defers to the government
■ Moved closer to the USA/France with the patriation of the Constitution
(BNA Act) in 1982 when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was
adopted (notwithstanding clause)
■ Canada continued as a British colony until 1867 when the British North
America Act was passed (statute of the British Parliament)
● Office hours 4-5 on Thursdays, 7th floor Sprott Office
○ Walk past the desk, make two left turns
● In collectivist cultures, personal bonds and informal agreements are more binding
than formal contracts
● In Western (individualistic) cultures, more emphasis/importance is placed on precise
language and the exact document that lays the foundation
● Canada’s legal system is the result of English and French legal traditions (falls into the
Western mentality)
● Since our economy is globalized, we have to understand how other cultures interpret
things to produce the best relations
● A society’s culture influences its philosophical framework
○ Philosophy comes from Greek and means “love of wisdom”; looks at the
fundamental questions of how we should live our lives
○ We rarely, if ever, consciously think about philosophy, but we innately perceive
the world through the lens of our philosophies
○ Canada’s philosophical history:
■ In the 5th century BC, only free adult males could vote
● Direct democracy at this point
■ Aristotle thought that societies should be governed by the rule of law
● Principle is foundational to Western society/democracy
● Nobody should be above the law
■ Plato rejected democracy because his teacher, Socrates, was killed by
a mob
● Thought there should be a “Philosopher King” who guided the
people (somebody well-read, benevolent, with good leadership
skills)
■ These philosophers were the precursor to today’s democracy vs
authoritarian debates
● Canada was founded on the oppression of the Indigenous people by Britain and
France
○ A global war involving European powers and their colonies around the world
(7 year war) resulted in the conquest of North America by the British in 1760,
creating British North America (4 original provinces of Canada and 13 states
of the USA)
, ■ The 13 American colonies revolted in 1775 against British rule,
declaring independence in 1776 and achieving it with the end of the
war in 1782-1783
■ Many loyalists fled to Canada and settled in Ontario, New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, and Quebec
● Significant French population required Britain to accommodate
them in Quebec (Quebec Act of 1774 guaranteed the French Civil
Code in Quebec, as well as Catholicism)
● Most countries have written or codified constitutions (basically the Ace; ultimate law)
○ The UK (Britain) has an unwritten constitution based on court precedents and
political culture (rare)
■ Common law system
■ No legal document should supersede the elected representatives of the
people (sovereignty of Parliament)
○ France has a codified law, with little scope for courts to go beyond Code
parameters
○ England has some codification, especially when they were part of the EU, but
relies heavily on common law
■ Unwritten constitution based on rule of law and sovereignty of
Parliament
○ USA has heavy French influence; extensive codification of laws coupled with
active common law court system
■ Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness
■ Extensive checks and balances to prevent abuse of authority and right
to bear arms to revolt against abusive government
■ Mistrustful of the government due to its origins (revolution)
○ Canada peacefully evolved out of the shadow of the monarchy and remains
there symbolically
■ Other than Quebec, uses the common law system
■ Defers to the government
■ Moved closer to the USA/France with the patriation of the Constitution
(BNA Act) in 1982 when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was
adopted (notwithstanding clause)
■ Canada continued as a British colony until 1867 when the British North
America Act was passed (statute of the British Parliament)
