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Parliamentarians frequently express a desire to obtain a Supreme Court of Canada opinion on the constitutionality of proposed legislation. For example, recent legislation regarding medical assistance in dying, Bill C-14, met with calls for such an opinion. In this article, the author explores six reference contexts that exist with respect to federal legislation through the lens of a hypothetical Bill C-14 reference: referral prior to introduction, referral concurrent to introduction, referral after introduction, referral after enactment, enactment conditional on referral, and provincial references. He concludes by noting that although legislators may desire judicial pronouncements regarding the constitutionality of legislation, difficulties arise because the executive primarily controls the current suite of reference powers. As such, parliamentarians resort to other means to inform their legislative choices with respect to constitutional compliance.
