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Professor Johanne Poirier, surrounded by members of the 2022-2023 MacKell Chair team to celebrate the end of the academic year.
听On this page:
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
Julian Clarenne - Postdoctoral Researcher
Project: Parliamentary Oversight of Cooperative Federalism. A Comparative Law Perspective: Belgium-Canada听(2024 - 2025)
In all federal democracies, there are more or less institutionalized forms of intergovernmental consultation. This logic of cooperation reinforces the executive鈥檚 dominance over the management of public affairs, with Parliament playing only a secondary role. It is sometimes referred to as "executive federalism." As the executive management of societal issues becomes increasingly complex, the issue of parliamentary oversight of these cooperative decision-making processes becomes more pressing. The purpose of this research is to examine the role of federal and federated parliamentary assemblies in the democratic legitimation process of cooperative federalism, through a comparative study of the tools of oversight and direction of intergovernmental relations in Canada and Belgium. The aim is to assess to what extent these means allow parliaments to fulfill their functions, particularly their roles in legitimation and policy-making, within the realm of intrafederal cooperation.
Lucien Carrier 鈥� doctoral candidate
Project: Le recours aux classifications des formes politiques pour d茅coder l鈥檕rdre constitutionnel britannique : processus utile ou obstacle 茅pist茅mologique ? (Classifications of Political Entities as a Means of Understanding British Constitutional Order: Useful Process or Epistemological Barrier?) (2019听鈥撎�)
Representation of the world through taxonomies is not automatic, or necessary. Starting from the hypothesis that certain legal cultures resort less to classification than others, I intend to explore the actual meaning of the act of classification. Based on the study of the British constitutional order鈥檚 specific case, my research aims to explain and analyze different possible decoding methods. In so doing, I will confront representations of political entities produced by French, British and Canadian scholarly discourse.
Atag眉n Mert Kejanl谋o臒lu 鈥� doctoral candidate
Project: Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments : an Example of Abusive Constitutionalism? (2018听鈥撎�)
In a world where populism is on the rise, constitutions are also increasingly under attack. The reason is simple: constitutions include legal mechanisms designed to protect the values of constitutional democracy. Yet, unlike many other authoritarian regimes, populists play the game by its rules and amend the constitutions by methods that seem to be constitutional. This tendency is one of the main threats to constitutionalism, and therefore to the protection of democracy, human rights and diversity. As populists see the 鈥減eople鈥� as a unity that can express its will without any limits and directly through referenda, one needs to decipher the role of the 鈥減eople鈥� in constitutional amendments.
This research intends to explain to what extent the authority of the 鈥減eople鈥� to amend the constitution is restricted contrary to populist claims. I mainly argue that there are limits regarding how the will of the 鈥減eople鈥� can be expressed. Contrary to what populists assert, I contend that the will of the 鈥減eople鈥� cannot be easily determined solely through a referendum process. I use examples from international human rights law, critical constitutionalism, and federalism to illustrate this argument.
Current research assistants
Professor Poirier has the pleasure of working with a number of dedicated and highly effective research assistants.
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M茅lisande Charbonneau-Gravel (2018-2020, 2023 - 2024), BCL/LLB鈥�19 received the Stephen A. Scott Award in Constitutional Law as well as the J.S.D. Tory Writing Award. She participated in a research seminar in constitutional law which aimed to rewrite a modern version of the Canadian Constitution. M茅lisande was a research assistant for various centres and professors. In 2020-2021, she clerked for Justice Martin at the Supreme Court of Canada.
听Past Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows
Dave Gu茅nette 鈥� post-doctoral researcher
After his doctoral studies in Quebec (Universit茅 Laval) and Belgium (Universit茅 catholique de Louvain), Dave Gu茅nette joined the Peter Mackell Chair in Federalism as a postdoctoral fellow. His past and present work focuses on federalism, constitutional change and multinational states. He is the author of about thirty scientific articles and book chapters, and coedited the publication of two collective books (R茅-imaginer le Canada - Vers un 脡tat multinational?, Presses de l'Universit茅 Laval, 2019 and Cinquante d茅clinaisons de f茅d茅ralisme - Th茅orie, enjeux et 茅tudes de cas, Presses de l'Universit茅 du Qu茅bec, 2020). Since 2023, Dave Gu茅nette is an assistant professor at the Universit茅 de Sherbrooke's Law Faculty.听听
Project: Le consociationalisme, principe structurant du f茅d茅ralisme coop茅ratif au Canada? (Is Consociationalism a Structuring Principle of Cooperative Federalism in Canada?) (2020 鈥� 2023)
My postdoctoral research project proposes to examine the extent to which the theory of consociationalism (or consociational democracy) could serve as a structuring principle for understanding cooperative federalism in Canada. By methodically examining different materializations of cooperative federalism, I will seek to determine the degree to which the main consociational pillar, which is the search for accommodation between political elites, allows for a better understanding of the dynamics that animate executive federalism between the partners of the federation, as well as the interpretation that the courts make of the different norms that apply to cooperative federalism.
Catherine Mathieu 鈥� Doctoral Student
Catherine Mathieu holds both a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Public Affairs and International Relations and a Bachelor of Laws from Universit茅 Laval. After completing a master鈥檚 degree in Constitutional Law while working as an advisor at the Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat, she clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Right Honourable Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. Catherine completed her doctorate in law at McGill University in 2023 under the supervision of Professor Johanne Poirier and is a recipient of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. She is currently a professor at the D茅partement des sciences juridiques of the Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al.听
Project: F茅d茅ralisme et protection du consommateur au Canada 脿 la lumi猫re du droit europ茅en (Federalism and Consumer Protection in Canada in Light of European Law) (2018 鈥� 2023)
My thesis examines the issues raised by the interrelationship and overlap between federal and provincial consumer laws. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the impacts of Canadian federalism on the protection of consumer rights. It also seeks, by studying the specific case of consumer law, to analyze the evolution of the jurisprudential conception of federalism and of the doctrines guiding the interpretation of the division of powers.
Past Research Assistants
F茅lix-Antoine Lestage (2022- 2024) completed a BCL/JD at McGill University's Faculty of Law with a minor in philosophy. His interests include political philosophy and constitutional law, particularly in respect of intergovernmental cooperation and interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. During his studies in law, he has been a volunteer at McGill's Legal Information Clinic and has been involved in the Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers. He has also completed research in the areas of property and family law.
Andrea Pavaluca (2022 鈥� 2024) completed a BCL/JD at the Faculty of Law and was the coordinator of the Baxter Family Competition. During her studies in law, she has implicated herself in the Runnymede Society, an associated dedicated to the promotion of constitutionalism and fundamental freedoms. She has contributed to the Quebec-Rome comparative Civil code project, run by McGill's Roman Law Association, and is a volunteer at McGill's Legal Information Clinic. Finally, Andrea has also worked as a tourist guide. It is her undying passion for history which led her to constitutional law.
David D'Astous (2021 - 2023) was a BCL/JD student at McGill's Faculty of Law. He holds a Certificate from Universit茅 Laval's Great Books Program. During his legal studies, he notably acted as a tutorial leader for the first-year Legal Methodology course and as a student law clerk at the Quebec Court of Appeal. He also volunteered at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill. In 2021, he won the Louis-Philippe-Pigeon Chair in Legal Writing's essay competition. In 2023-2024, David will clerk under Justice C么t茅 at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Olivier Henripin (2022 - 2023) completed his BCL/JD at McGill University's Faculty of Law, where he served as group assistant for Professor Poirier's 2022-2023 Constitutional Law course. Before studying law, Olivier was an assistant professor of political science and holder of the Helen H. Rigali Chair at Loyola University Chicago, where he taught international relations and specialized in international security and Chinese foreign policy. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a visiting scholar at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. He holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University. In 2024, Olivier will clerk at the Quebec Court of Appeal.
Emily Michelin (2022 - 2023) completed her BCL/JD at McGill鈥檚 Faculty of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of British Columbia. She transferred to McGill after completing a year of law school at the University of Ottawa. At the Faculty, she became involved with the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law and acted as a Senior Editor. She was also a manager for Contours, a student-run magazine based at the McGill Faculty of Law that aims to highlight the intersection of women, non-binary and gender nonconforming people and law. During her legal studies, she volunteered with the Legal Information Clinic at McGill and the Mobile Legal Clinic.
Gabrielle Genest (2022-2023) completed her BCL/JD at McGill University's Faculty of Law in 2023. After completing a degree in Social sciences (international studies) at Coll猫ge Jean-de-Br茅beuf, she was awarded the Governor General's Academic Medal. During her studies in law, she served as a law clerk at the Municipal Court of Montreal and acted as a tutorial leader for the first-year Legal Methodology course. She served as editor-in-chief of McGill's only francophone newspaper, Le D茅lit. Since 2022, she occupies the role of coordinator of the Peter MacKell Chair in federalism.
Simon Hamel-Genest (2021-2022) completed his BCL/JD at McGill University's Faculty of Law. He holds an Honours BSocSc in Conflict Studies and Human Rights and a Minor in Law from the University of Ottawa. He has held various positions pertaining to official languages in student government and has been working at the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada since 2017. During his legal studies, he acted as Group Assistant to Professor Poirier鈥檚 Constitutional Law class. He also volunteered at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill. Finally, Simon was awarded the Stephen A. Scott Award in Constitutional Law.
Emma Walsh (2021-2022) completed her BCL/JD at McGill University's Faculty of Law and was a research assistant to Professor Johanne Poirier. She holds a BA with Honours in Political Science and Honours in Human Rights from St. Thomas University. She has competed in constitutional and human rights moot court competitions across the United States and in Geneva, Switzerland, where her team placed first. During her legal studies, she co-founded the Wallenberg Advocacy Group at McGill, which engages in legal and social advocacy to promote the causes of political prisoners. She also acted as a Senior Editor on the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law and volunteered with the Legal Information Clinic at McGill.
Etienne A. Gratton (2019-2021) was a BCL/JD student at the Faculty of Law and a research assistant to Professor Johanne Poirier. He holds an MA in History from Queen鈥檚 University, where he worked on the interactions of social and legal norms in the context of the patrician family in late nineteenth-century Qu茅bec. Involved with his community, he has served in different positions in student, municipal and federal politics. He is also an organizer and board member of the Jeune Conseil de Montr茅al, a non-partisan organisation educating young Montrealers to politics and public debate.
Catherine Laperri猫re (2020-2021) was听a BCL/JD student at the Faculty of Law, and the coordinator of the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism. Her interest for communities of all kinds guided听her involvement at various levels: at the Faculty, notably in the Official Languages Committee; in the university, within the Judicial Board of the Student Association; and in the broader community, with the Mobile Legal Clinic, which she coordinated in 2020-2021. She completed a student clerkship, and acted as a group assistant for Professor Poirier's Constitutional Law class. Catherine organized听the third edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism, a writing competition associated with the Chair. After her studies, Catherine will article at the Department of Justice of Canada before clerking at the Federal Court of Appeal.
Jessica Michelin (2020) was a BCL/JD candidate at the Faculty of Law. Previously, she obtained a BA in Honours Psychology from McGill, where she also played for the varsity听rugby team. During her legal studies, Jessica has completed a student clerkship, acted as a tutorial leader for the first-year Legal Methodology course and served as an editor for the McGill Journal of Law and Health. During the summer of 2019, Jessica interned at Human Rights Watch as part of the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism鈥檚 International Human Rights Internship Program, where she worked on numerous comparative law projects. After finishing her law degree, Jessica began working as a clerk at the Qu茅bec Court of Appeal.听
Marie-H茅l猫ne Lyonnais (2017-2019) completed her BCL/JD at McGill鈥檚 Faculty of Law, as a Loran Scholar. She was a research assistant for the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism, coordinated the second edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism, and was a teaching assistant to Professor Poirier鈥檚 Constitutional Law class. Marie-H茅l猫ne spent a summer at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, where she worked on several submissions to the Supreme Court of Canada on constitutional matters. She represented McGill at the Laskin Moot Court Competition in constitutional and administrative law. Outside of school, Marie-H茅l猫ne volunteered at the Mobile Legal Clinic and worked on a consultative committee for the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec.听After her studies, Marie-H茅l猫ne will serve as a Law Clerk to Justice Kasirer at the Supreme Court of Canada and will work at the law firm IMK.
Jan Nato (2019) obtained his BCL/LLB from McGill鈥檚 Faculty of Law in 2019. He studied and worked as an opera singer before beginning his legal studies. While at McGill, Jan volunteered at the PINAY Legal Information Clinic, and participated in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. In 2019, Jan鈥檚 paper was awarded first place in the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism. After completing his articles at an international law firm, Jan is currently an assistant legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
St茅phanie P茅pin (2017-2018) is a DCL candidate at McGill鈥檚 Faculty of Law. She has a certificate in political science, an LLB degree with honours in Law as well as a master鈥檚 degree in law from Universit茅 Laval, where she held the positions of law tutor and vice-president of Academic Affairs at the Graduate Law Student Association. Throughout her studies, she also worked as a paralegal at the law firm Stein Monast s.e.n.c.r.l. and as a research assistant and teaching assistant for multiple professors. St茅phanie received a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for her master鈥檚 degree and from the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec - Soci茅t茅 et culture (FQRSC) for her doctoral studies. Her main areas of interests are constitutional law, public institutions and human rights regimes.
Antoine Godin-Landry (2017-2018) holds a BCL/JD (2019) from McGill鈥檚 Faculty of Law, where he worked as a teaching assistant to Professor Poirier's Constitutional Law class. In 2017, he participated in a Constitutional Law Research Seminar to draft a 鈥淐onstitution of Canada 2017鈥�, where he focused on issues of division of powers and international relations. During his legal studies, he was involved with the Mobile Legal Clinic, an organization devoted to improving access to justice for people.听In 2020, he began articling at Woods, a leading firm specialized in civil and commercial litigation.
脡l茅na Drouin (2017-2018) is a BCL/LLB student at McGill's Faculty of Law, where she received the Stephen A. Scott Award in Constitutional Law. She currently is acting Editor-in-chief of the McGill Law Journal for Volume 63. During her law studies, Elena also volunteered with the Canadian Association of Civil Liberties (CCLA) through Pro Bono Canada. She holds a joint degree in Economics and Political Science from Universit茅 Laval, where she made the Dean鈥檚 Honour List. Previously, 脡l茅na worked at the Secr茅tariat du Conseil du tr茅sor du Qu茅bec, as well as at other ministries of the Quebec Provincial Government.
Jesse Hartery (2015-2018) has obtained his BCL/LLB at McGill's Faculty of Law. During his time at the Faculty, he was a group assistant in Professor Johanne Poirier鈥檚 Constitutional Law course, a law clerk to a Justice of the Superior Court of Qu茅bec, and the Program Co-Coordinator of the McGill Chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada. He was also the Co-President of the McGill Runnymede Society.听Jesse was called to the Quebec Bar in 2019 and he served as a Law Clerk to Justice Nicholas Kasirer at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2020-2021. In October 2019, he was awarded the Ronald L. Watts Award by the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies.
Sajeda Hedaraly (2015-2018) completed her BCL/LLB studies at McGill in December 2018, after having previously completing a Bachelor of Arts & Science with a major in cell/molecular biology. During her legal studies, Sajeda volunteered at the Caregivers鈥� Association of Quebec (AAFQ) and at the Legal Information Clinic. She was an editor for the McGill Law Journal, completed a clerkship at the Qu茅bec Superior Court, and participated to the Harold G. Fox Moot in Intellectual Property. Sajeda has worked as a clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2018 and clerked for Justice Gascon of the Supreme Court of Canada in 2019. She now works in litigation at McCarthy T茅trault, a national law firm.
Maryna Polataiko (2015-2019) holds a BCL/LLB from McGill's Faculty of Law. She co-founded Tech Law McGill, an organization for students interested in law and technology. She was also a finalist at the Copyright Policy Moot hosted by the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa. Maryna received the Bereskin & Parr Prize in Industrial and Intellectual Property.听She was called to the bar in Ontario in 2020 after completing her articles at a national law firm. Most recently, she has been writing on intellectual property in the Internet era.
Lana Rackovic (2015-2018) obtained her BCL/LLB at McGill's Faculty of Law. She holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Political Science and Communication from the University of Ottawa. She received research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Soci茅t茅 et culture (FQRSC), which she used to pursue graduate studies that focused on the rights of European ethnic and linguistic minorities at Universit茅 de Montr茅al. During her time in Ottawa, she worked for Elections Canada and the Parliament of Canada before completing an internship at the Council of Europe. Lana was involved with Contours, a McGill publication aiming to give voices to women in law, and with Bien que chez soi, an organization aiming to fight homelessness in its many forms in Montreal.听Upon leaving the Faculty, Lana was called to the Qu茅bec Bar in 2019 and now practices civil and commercial litigation at Langlois Lawyers. She also works in constitutional and administrative law cases, for which her interest has only grown since her time at the MacKell Chair.
Scott Whitelaw (2016-2017) obtained his LLM from McGill's Faculty of Law in 2017. He holds degrees in history (BA Hons.), civil law (LLL) and common law (LLB) from the University of Ottawa. Scott clerked at the Federal Court of Appeal and has been called to the Bar in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and New York. He has worked as Legal Counsel at the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and as a Legal Intern with the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa. Before relocating to Montr茅al for graduate studies at McGill鈥檚, Scott worked as a Crown Prosecutor in Saskatchewan. His LLM thesis focused on the right to a basic education in both South African and First Nations contexts.听Upon completing his work with the Chair, he worked as a litigation lawyer with Justice Canada in Ottawa Scott served as a federal Crown prosecutor. He has since enrolled as a legal officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Marie Rondeau (2015-2016) has completed her BCL/LLB program in 2016 at McGill鈥檚 Faculty Law. During her time at the Faculty, she led workshops to help first year students with their learning and study skills and acted as a volunteer for the McGill Legal Information Clinic. She was also Managing Editor of the McGill Journal of Law and Health, as well as vice-president of the Law Students鈥� Association. An accomplished athlete, she was a member of the Canadian national synchronised swimming team between 2009 and 2012, and a coach thereafter. In 2014, she interned with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Patrick Baud (2015-2016), BCL/LLB'18, was a member of the Research Group on Constitutional Studies and received the Stephen A. Scott Award in Constitutional Law. A graduate of the University of Toronto鈥檚 Victoria College with great distinction, he holds a Master鈥檚 degree in Political Studies from Queen鈥檚 University. Previously, Patrick worked in the office of the Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario, the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
Scholars in Residence
July-August 2019: Yonatan Fessha, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Cape, South Africa and Marie Curie Fellow at the Institute for Comparative Federalism at Eurac Research. While in Montreal, he pursued his project on intergovernmental relations in divided societies.
May-June 2019: Antonia Baraggia, Associate Professor, Department of National and Supranational Public Law, Faculta di diritto, Universita di Milano. She advanced her research project on comparative fiscal federalism.
July-August 2018: Josep Maria Castell脿 Andreu, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Barcelona, and member of the Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law), Council of Europe.
July-August 2018: N煤ria Gonz谩lez-Campa帽谩, PhD candidate, Oxford, and EU Law Lecturer at ESADE Business and Law School of Barcelona.
March 2016: Nicolas Levrat, Professor, University of Geneva. While in residence, he gave two talks: The Impact of Globalisation on Multinational Federations on March 16, 2016, and Gouvernance europ茅enne et migration on March 31, 2016.
Visiting Students听
2022: Lucien Rigaux, PhD candidate, Universit茅 Libre de Bruxelles. During his stay, he advanced his research project on solidarity in federal systems.听