Andrew Petter's essays in The Politics of the Charter evaluate the Canadian Charter or Rights and Freedoms in practical, legal and philosophical terms.

Choosing not to run for re-election as an NDP MLA in 2001, Andrew Petter returned to academic life as Acting Dean of the UVic law school. He subsequently served as Dean of the University of Victoria Law School from 2002 to 2008.

In 2010, he become president of Simon Fraser University. Not all his achievements are academic or political: While serving as the MLA for Saanich South from 1991 to 2001, Petter helped generate the Galloping Goose Regional Trail for cyclists and pedestrians.

Furthermore, according to MONDOPOLITICO: "Andrew Petter was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was educated at Notre Dame University in Nelson (undergraduate), at at the University of Victoria (Bachelor of Laws degree) and, on a Commonwealth scholarship, at Cambridge University (Master of Laws degree). He was the British Columbia Law Society gold medal winner, having the highest standing in his class at the University of Victoria.

"Petter was a legal advisor to the Constitutional Branch of the Saskatchewan Department of Justice and was an assistant professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario before becoming an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria.

"In the British Columbia general provincial elections of 1991 and 1996, Petter was elected to represent the constituency of Saanich South in the British Columbia legislature. He served as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs from November 1991 to September 1993; as Minister of Forests from September 1993 to February of 1996; as Minister of Health thereafter until June of 1996; as Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations and Minister Responsible for Intergovernmental Relations from June 1996 to February 1998; as Minister of Advanced Education, Training and Technology and Minister of Intergovernmental Relations from February 1998 to February 2000 (he was Minister Responsible for Youth for part of that time); as Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Human Rights from February to November of 2000; and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier thereafter."

BOOKS:

The Politics of the Charter: The Illusive Promise of Constitutional Rights (University of Toronto Press 2010) 978-0-8020-9599-2 $29.95

[BCBW 2010]