The Most Dangerous Branch: How the Supreme Court of Canada Has Undermined Our Law and Our Democracy

Synopsis

The highest courts are supposed to be guided by reason and principle. But Robert Martin believes that the judges of the Supreme Court of Canada are 'a collection of arrogant and unprincipled poseurs, largely our of control' who 'amend the Constitution at will' with 'capricious, arbitrary, unpredictable, and largely ad hoc' decisions. In a devastating critique of the Supreme Court of Canada and the new orthodoxy that guides it, "The Most Dangerous Branch" argues that the Court has changed from acting on principles to acting on the values of judges - unelected representatives who should not have the authority to set the social agenda, amend legislation or constitution, or attack democracy and democratic institutions.Martin shows that in dealing with abortion, assisted suicide, homosexuality, and Quebec secession, the Supreme Court has adopted an orthodoxy of moral relativism and identity politics that he likens to a secular state religion. He claims that while this view, which denies the possibility of objectivity about human endeavour and regards social reality as 'constructed, purports to be concerned with the plight of the oppressed, it is actually based on profound condescension. He believes that, as a result, the 'theocracy' dominating the Supreme Court of Canada is subverting democracy and the rule of law. In "The Most Dangerous Branch" he calls on Canadians to take back their country.