Constitutionalist Ted McWhinney draws on his extensive experience in the workings of our federal system to discuss the need for modernization and updating to meet the radically new demands of the plural, multicultural Canada of the 21st century. His focus is on law-in-action - the "living law" of contemporary intergovernmental practice - rather than the abstract law in books of the Constitution Act of 1867, which was fashioned on imperial, British stereotypes for a colonial society.
Edward (Ted) McWhinney, one of the foremost experts on the Canadian constitution, is often called upon to advise the Canadian government. McWhinney has held professorships at Yale, the Sorbonne, Toronto, McGill, Indiana and Simon Fraser University. The author of many books, he travels frequently to give advice to the United Nations and foreign states. Throughout the 1990s he served two full terms as Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary. He continues his work as legal counsel, governmental adviser and writer from his home base in Vancouver.