Mary Anne Waldron, QC, Wins CLSA Book Prize
Congratulations to UVic Law Professor and Associate Vice-President Faculty Relations and Academic Administration Mary Anne Waldron, QC, for winning the Canadian Law and Society Association (CLSA) book prize for her 2013 book, Free to Believe: Rethinking Freedom of Conscience and Religion in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013).
The book investigates the first of the “fundamental freedoms” listed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – the protection for freedom of conscience and religion – and its interpretation in the courts.
Free to Believe discusses the role that freedom of conscience and religion play in our society and examines a wide range of cases that touch on the most preeminent issues of our day, such as abortion, same-sex marriage and minority religious practice.
In addition, the book offers insight into the impact of the law on contemporary social policy issues and expands the debate about this fundamental freedom and the influence of public opinion on what is often a misrepresented and misunderstood issue.