Education
LL.M. (2021), McGill University.
JD (2019), Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
B.A., Hons (2016), University of Waterloo.
Courses
- Introduction to Law (POL-307)
About
Kristopher Kinsinger received his Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2019, where he was the recipient of several scholarships and prizes, before completing his articles of clerkship with a national law firm in Waterloo, Ontario. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 2020, and received his Master of Laws from McGill University in 2021 on a SSHRC scholarship and with the Pilarczyk Graduate Award in Law. Since 2021, he has served full-time as the national director of the Runnymede Society. Kristopher’s writing regularly appears in periodicals such as The Supreme Court Law Review, Constitutional Forum, the National Post, and The Hub. In 2021, Kristopher was selected to join the inaugural cohort of the prestigious NextGen Fellowship with the Cardus think tank, and served two terms between 2017 and 2023 on the board of directors of Christian Legal Fellowship, Canada’s national association of Christian lawyers and law students. He currently serves as the chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Constitutional and Human Rights Section and as a member and deacon of Hespeler Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario. In his free time, Kristopher can be found reading, writing, drinking coffee, listening to vinyl, or mapping out his next backcountry camping trip.
Research Interests
- Fundamental freedoms
- Constitutionalism and the rule of law
- State religious neutrality
- Constitutional methodology and doctrine
- Legal interpretation
- Canadian legal history
Recent Publications
Articles and Chapters
“Justiciability, Religious Tenets, and Private Law Causes of Action: Towards a Predictable Framework” (w/ Gerard Kennedy) (2024) 114 SCLR (2d) (forthcoming)
“To Entrench or Not to Entrench? Canadian Constitutionalism and the Bill of Rights Debate” (Review of Constitutional Studies, 2024; peer reviewed; forthcoming)
“The Evolving Debate Over Section 33 of the Charter” in Peter Biro, ed., The Notwithstanding Clause and the Canadian Charter: Rights, Reforms and Controversies (Montreal-Kingston McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024; peer reviewed; forthcoming)
“Constitutional Exegesis, Animating Principles and City of Toronto” (w/ Brian Bird) (2023) 110 SCLR (2d) 31
“Bringing About a Reformation? Religious Freedom and Canadian Constitutionalism, 1759-1774” (2022) 105 SCLR (2d) 395
“Quebec’s Bill 21 and the Secular Conceit of Religious Neutrality” IJRF Vol 13:1/2 2020 (peer reviewed)
“Restricting Freedom of Peaceful Assembly During Public Health Emergencies” (2021) 30:1 Const Forum Const 1
“Positive Freedoms and Peaceful Assemblies: Reenvisioning Section 2(c) of the Charter” (2020) 98 SCLR (2d) 377
“Inclusive Religious Neutrality: Rearticulating the Relationship Between Sections 2(a) and 15 of the Charter” (2019) 91 SCLR (2d) 219
Edited Collections
Private Rights and the Rule of Law (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2024), w/ Malcolm Lavoie and Gerard Kennedy (forthcoming; symposium held in July 2023; to be concurrently published as a special volume of the Supreme Court Law Review)
Unwritten Constitutionalism (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2023), w/ Maxime St-Hilaire and Ryan Alford (symposium held in March 2022; concurrently published as volume 110 of the Supreme Court Law Review)
Research Funding
- Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (SSHRC), 2021; awarded for pursuit of LLM research project supervised by Professor Colleen Sheppard at McGill University, titled “Putting the ‘Fundamental’ Back in Fundamental Freedoms (or How to Solve the Problem of the Notwithstanding Clause)”
Awards and Certifications
- NextGen Fellow (2021-2022, Cardus)
- Pilarczyk Graduate Award in Law (2021, McGill University)
- Barrister & Solicitor (2020, Law Society of Ontario)
- Bora Laskin Prize (2019, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University)
- Hon. Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Award (2017, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University; awarded for internship w/ Christian Legal Fellowship)
- Hon. William G.C. Howland Award of Excellence Entrance Scholarship (2016, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University; renewed in 2017 and 2018)
- Departmental Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in History (2016, University of Waterloo)
- Dean’s Honours List Graduate (2016, University of Waterloo
