Watertight Compartments Sir Montague Smith defined the federal and provincial powers of economic regulation so that they did not overlap, they did not conflict. He made any conflict that might otherwise have resulted from overlapping powers of economic regulation disappear. Other judges are not so happy with the notion of watertight compartments and no conflict. The courts had no hesitation about engaging in the judicial review of Ontario s Insurance Act. In other words, the courts acted as if it was self-evident that they were entitled to interfere in the legislative process even to the point of declaring legislation ultra vires, although in the case itself the legislation was upheld.
Judicial review is now a long-standing judicial principle in Canadian federalism jurisprudence.
But what would happen to judicial review if Quebec were to secede and, as a consequence, the rest of Canada were engaged in a re-structuring of our constitutional relationships.