Verdicts & Voices

How should Canadian courts incorporate Indigenous cultural and legal practices? Why might some judges be reluctant to do so? And are we moving toward a tri-jural system in which Indigenous legal orders exist alongside civil and common law? To mark National Indigenous Peoples Day, we’re replaying a discussion from June 2025 with two chief justices for whom these questions are front and centre: Leonard Marchand of the BC and Yukon Courts of Appeal and Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.  Notes: Chief Justice Joyal’s Announcement of the Court of Queen’s Bench’s Trust, Reconciliation and Access to Justice Committee British Columbia Court of Appeal Reconciliation Framework CBA submission to the BC Supreme Court’s Reconciliation Working Group Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this final episode of the spring, three law students discuss their reasons for studying law, their first forays into law firms, and their impressions of a changing profession and a tumultuous world. See you in September! Maria Kalapurayil just graduated from the University of Alberta. Sophie Poitras has one year under her belt at the Université de Moncton. And with one year to go at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, Justine Morin-Laporte chairs CBA Quebec’s student section. Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1976, when Harvey Brownstone told his mother he was gay, she became “volcanic” and kicked him out of the house. He spent five years on welfare, without stealing – much. Somehow, though, he got a law degree from Queens, clerked for a young Rosalie Abella, and became Canada’s first openly gay judge in 1995. Now, in retirement, his celebrity interview show has 70 000 YouTube subscribers, and the memoir he just released is being made into a movie starring David Arquette. As Pride season begins, Harvey joins the pod to discuss his cinematic life, the clubby Canadian legal world of the late 20th century, and the role of the judge as public educator. Notes: Without Prejudice: My Life as a Gay Judge by Harvey Brownstowne Harvey Brownstown Interviews… Find out about CBA Pride initiatives and the CBA’s Sexual and Gender Diversity Alliance Section (SAGDA)   Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Supreme Court of Canada issued a landmark decision earlier this month that created a new tort of family violence. This means people who have suffered harm due to intimate partner violence will be able to seek damages. The 6-3 decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia was more than a year in the making. What will it mean for victims and legal professionals?     Shelley Hounsell is a family law lawyer and senior counsel at Presse Mason in Halifax. Vanessa Lam provides specialized legal advice and research to other family law practitioners through her firm, Lam Family Law, in Markham, Ontario. Both previously appeared on the podcast in February 2025 to talk about this issue. Notes: 2026 SCC 16 (CanLII) | Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia | CanLII Verdicts and Voices: The use of AI at the Federal Court, the tort of family violence, and R v. Drybones | Verdicts & Voices   Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Since the Supreme Court’s 1999 Gladue decision, sentencing judges in Canada are supposed to consider the “unique systemic or background factors” that bring Indigenous people in contact with the law. The idea is to reduce Indigenous overincarceration and promote alternative sanctions. But how does this work in a place like Nunavut, where the trauma of colonialism affects just about everyone, and scarce infrastructure exists for non-carceral penalties? In cases of gender-based violence, in particular, are Inuit women being sacrificed on “the altar of reconciliation?” After a career in criminal law as both a prosecutor and defence counsel, Neil Sharkey spent 15 years as a judge, including eight as Nunavut’s Chief Justice. Qajaq Robinson is a Nunavummiuq human rights lawyer and workplace investigator who served as a commissioner on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. In the inquiry’s final report, Call to Action 5.17 urged a thorough evaluation of Gladue principles as they relate to violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. Notes: The Path is the CBA’s Indigenous cultural awareness course. It addresses topics including Gladue principles and alternative justice systems. The CBA’s Gladue and Beyond Resource Guide is a free resource designed to accompany the module of The Path that covers Indigenous Peoples and the Criminal Legal System. In December 2025, the Supreme Court heard R. v. Cope, which deals with the application of Gladue principles in a case of gender-based violence.   Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For two years, much of the BC legal community has been warning that changes to the regulation of lawyers in that province risk making them answerable to the state rather than their clients. Last week, the BC Supreme Court upheld the changes as constitutional, despite noting the government’s “inability, or failure, to justify overturning 150 years of self-regulation.” Connor Bildfell is First Vice President of the Canadian Bar Association’s BC Branch. He was part of a team from McCarthy Tétrault that argued against the changes on behalf of the CBA. On this episode, he discusses why the BC court’s recognition of the independence of the bar as an unwritten constitutional principle is an important silver lining. Notes: CBA responds to BC Supreme Court decision on Legal Professions Act   Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Everyone is supposed to be entitled to their day in court. But how should we weigh that principle against the reality of litigants who misuse court processes, tying up resources and subjecting other parties to harm? What approaches exist to identify vexatious or abusive litigation at an early stage and nip it in the bud?  Donald Netolitzky, K.C., was complex litigant management counsel for the Alberta Court of King’s Bench. He argues that abusive litigation is often linked to mental health problems, and that letting it proceed unimpeded harms other parties, the courts, and the abusive litigants themselves. Notes: Stashin v. Van Norman, 2026 ABKB 297 Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Masuhara may have been the first judge in Canada to encounter AI-generated fake citations. As he wrote at the time, “generative AI is still no substitute for the professional expertise that the justice system requires of lawyers.” Two years later, the phenomenon certainly hasn’t gone away. So, there could hardly be a better guest for a discussion about the frequency of hallucinated citations, strategies for identifying them, and ways of dealing with lawyers and self-represented litigants who rely on them in court. Check out these CBA resources designed to help lawyers use AI responsibly:  AI Academy AI In Practice   Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canadian law societies require licensed lawyers to be of good character. But what does that mean? How is the requirement enforced? And can a person who sexually abused multiple children, and lied about it for years, still meet this standard? Nadia Liva practices regulatory and disciplinary defence at Liva Freeman Dent LLP, with additional experience in criminal law. Ben Kates chairs the Regulatory Practice Group at WeirFoulds and previously acted as Discipline Counsel for the Law Society of Ontario. Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Justice Minister Sean Fraser unveiled the federal government's latest bill to reform the criminal justice system last December, he said Bill C-16 would confront the rise in coercive control and intimate partner violence, and “keep kids safe from predators.”  But will it actually live up to that goal? The bill includes new mandatory minimum sentences, creates new criminal offences, and increases penalties for sexual crimes. It also seeks to avoid situations where charges get stayed due to excessive delays, but in a way that critics say could make delays even worse.  For a discussion about the pros and cons of Bill C-16, Alison is joined by Melanie Webb, Chair of the CBA Criminal Justice Section and a criminal trial and appellate lawyer at Webb Barristers; and Simona Jellinek, senior counsel at Gluckstein Lawyers with 30 years of experience representing survivors of childhood abuse and adult assaults. Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Quebec’s secularism law finally has its day at the Supreme Court next week, it will be a case for the ages. There will be dozens of interveners, six provinces and the federal government will be represented, and Ontario’s Attorney General will even make his argument personally. At issue are fundamental questions of individual liberties, religious freedom, gender equality, minority language rights – and whether pre-emptive use of the Charter’s notwithstanding clause bars the Court from wading into any of it. For a preview of this potentially seismic legal reckoning, Alison is joined by the University of Alberta’s Eric Adams; the Université de Montréal’s Karine Millaire, who will be participating in the case on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists’ Canadian chapter; and Sahar Talebi of Lenczner Slaght in Toronto, who is representing the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. Notes: English Montreal School Board, et al. v. Attorney General of Quebec, et al.   Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Corinne Sparks of Nova Scotia was Canada’s first black woman judge. She was also the object of a racial bias complaint that reached the Supreme Court and stunted her career. To mark the International Day of Women Judges, we’re replaying this July 2025 interview about it with Constance Backhouse, a legal historian at the University of Ottawa. Her latest book is Reckoning with Racism: Police, Judges, and the RDS Case. Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2016, when the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in R. v. Jordan, it called out a “culture of complacency” toward delays in Canadian court proceedings. The decision revolutionized Canadian criminal law, imposing strict timelines for bringing cases to trial: 18 months for provincial court, 30 months for superior court. If the timelines aren’t met, charges are stayed, and the accused can be released. A decade later, some are pushing back, arguing Jordan is undermining trust in the justice system by causing guilty people to go free. And new federal legislation proposes to limit stays by having judges consider (undefined) alternative remedies, while taking into account factors such as impact on the victim. One of the lawyers on the Jordan case was Tony Paisana, a partner at Vancouver’s Peck and Company and a former chair of the CBA’s Criminal Justice Section. In this episode, he recalls the history of the case, explores what’s happened since, and contemplates whether new legislative measures could make the culture of Canada’s criminal courts complacent once again.  Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Notes: CBA submission about Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cops and lawyers are famously “separate but equally important groups” within the criminal justice system. Police officers often encounter the practice of law – lawyers, warrants, the witness stand – but what makes some of them join it? How do they manage the transition? And how does their policing background help or complicate their legal careers?Louis-Philippe Thériault is a lawyer with McInnes Cooper in Moncton whose practice focuses on commercial and corporate law. He spent 12 years with the RCMP, working on patrol, general investigations, and financial crimes, and he’s a Major in the Canadian Army Reserves.Alain Babineau spent 30 years in law enforcement, including with the Ontario Provincial Police, the Military Police, and the RCMP. Now, he's articling at the Ontario Bar Association. He has also done anti-discrimination work in Montreal, notably with the Office of the Commissioner for the Fight against Racism and Systemic Discrimination, the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, and the Red Coalition.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On November 21, 2025, a Divisional Court judge ruled that the Black Legal Action Centre could intervene in a case before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The only problem? Twenty-four hours earlier, a different judge had made the opposite ruling.How did that happen? How was the situation resolved? And what can we learn from it about different approaches to third-party intervention in Canadian courts?Demar Hewitt is Executive Director and General Counsel of the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC), a community legal clinic that is intervening at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in Dosu v. York University.Claire Boychuk practices labour, employment, and public law at RavenLaw in Ottawa. She is the author of Intervening in Canadian Courts.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s been a rocky twelve months for the idea that countries’ actions should be governed by rules. Does that mean international law is dead? Was it ever alive? Or is it more relevant than ever?Join two of Canada’s leading experts for a conversation that runs the gamut from tariffs to the ICC to Greenland to Davos to Venezuela and Caribbean drug boats, even a callback to Huawei and Meng Wanzhou, as they make the case that international law is real and necessary, whether it’s followed or not.Gib van Ert practices public law and civil litigation at Olthuis van Ert in Ottawa and Vancouver and is an expert on the application of international law in Canadian courts. Joanna Harrington is Vice-Dean of the University of Alberta Law Faculty, a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Council on International Law, and a former member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.Links:Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at DavosCBA letter about responding to U.S. ICC sanctions with the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures ActVerdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canada’s Supreme Court will have a lot on its docket in the coming months, and friend of the pod Nadia Effendi is back to talk us through it. Among the highlights:Will the Court recognize a tort of family violence? (Kuldeep Kaur Ahluwalia v. Amrit Pal Singh Ahluwalia)Are the findings of Parliament’s Ethics Commissioner subject to judicial review? (Democracy Watch v. Attorney General of Canada)Can your dad be your lawyer? (Maxime Bergeron v. Assemblée parlementaire des étudiants du Québec inc., et al.)Was a Bloc Québécois candidate who lost by one vote entitled to a do-over? (Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné v. Directeur général des élections du Canada, Directeur du scrutin de la circonscription de Terrebonne, et al.)Who exactly do lawyers in class actions represent? (Québec Major Junior Hockey League, now doing business as Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Inc., et al. v. Lukas Walter, et al.)What do tenants who back out of leases owe their landlords? (Aphria Inc. v. Canada Life Assurance Company, et al.)Has Facebook failed to get users’ meaningful consent to disclose their personal information to third parties? (Facebook Inc. v. Privacy Commissioner of Canada)How will the judges view Quebec’s secularism law and the province’s use of the notwithstanding clause? (English Montreal School Board, et al. v. Attorney General of Quebec, et al.)Can courts rule on a law’s constitutionality even if the notwithstanding clause has been pre-emptively invoked? (Government of Saskatchewan as represented by the Minister of Education v. UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity)Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It was a long year, but you made it! Time to put on your fuzzy socks, curl up with some cocoa, and dig into a good book. We’ve assembled an elite Canadian legal brain trust… to give you reading recommendations for the holidays. Want ideas for fiction? Non-fiction? True crime? Children’s lit? Narrative verse about a rescue at sea by a teenage girl in 19th-century Newfoundland? Between University of Ottawa law professor Adam Dodek, Toronto freelance lawyer Erin Cowling, Halifax family lawyer Shelley Hounsell, K.C., and Vancouver technology lawyer Jacob Kojfman, this episode has you covered.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why can’t lawyers and judges just say what they mean? Legal documents – statutes, contracts, court decisions – are infamous for being dense and full of jargon (not to mention Latin). But a growing community of legal professionals is advocating plain language as a way to make the law more accessible, build trust in the justice system, and ensure that ordinary litigants can read a decision and, you know, understand whether they won or lost.Karen Jacques is a Vice-Chair of Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal and the Canadian representative of Clarity International. Paul Aterman is a former Chair of the Social Security Tribunal of Canada and a board member of the Center for Plain Language.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.Plain language resources:Clarity InternationalCenter for Plain LanguagePlain InternationalWriting for Dollars, Writing to Please by Joseph KimbleMr. Mouthful children's books by Joseph KimbleSimon Fraser University's Plain Language Certificate  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the coming days, Quebec’s National Assembly will hear testimony about a proposed new provincial constitution, known as Bill 1. Alexandre Forest, President of the Canadian Bar Association’s Quebec Branch, will attend and argue that the legislation should be withdrawn in its entirety for reasons of substance and process. Meanwhile, Professor Stéphane Beaulac of the Université de Montréal is staying away to avoid legitimizing what he fears will be belated, token consultations; instead, he’s off to the United Nations, leading an effort by the Quebec chapter of the International Commission of Jurists Canada to challenge the bill on the global stage. First, though, they both joined Verdicts & Voices to explain their concerns and their approaches.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Notes:CBA-Québec’s written brief (in French): https://abcqc.qc.ca/Notre-impact/Memoires/PL1-sur-la-Constitution-du-Quebec-L-ABC-Quebec-reagitBill 1, Québec Constitution Act, 2025 - National Assembly of Québec Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The taboo once associated with Section 33 (the notwithstanding clause) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms seems to be fading. In recent months, Alberta has used it to end a teachers’ strike and pass bills affecting transgender youth and adults. Saskatchewan invoked it in 2023 to prevent students from changing names or pronouns without parental consent. In Quebec, where the taboo was never as strong, legislation related to secularism and the French language were respectively exempted from Charter compliance in 2019 and 2022. And the federal Conservatives have called for the clause’s use to protect tough-on-crime measures such as mandatory minimum sentences.Is this a troubling trend that suggests a need for new safeguards, as argued by the Canadian Bar Association in a 2024 letter to the federal Justice Minister? Or a legitimate rebalancing of power toward the people’s elected representatives?Marion Sandilands is a partner at Conway Litigation in Ottawa, teaches part-time at the University of Ottawa, and served on the Canadian Bar Association’s Working Group on the Notwithstanding Clause. Geoffrey Sigalet teaches political science at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus and leads the UBC Research Group for Constitutional Law.This episode first aired in January 2025.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Passing the bar exam has long been accepted as a natural step for new lawyers. But in Canada, that seems to be changing. The Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP) has already replaced bar exams in PEI, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Nunavut. British Columbia is set to make the switch soon, and the Law Society of Ontario is considering doing the same. What’s driving this transformation, and what does it mean for lawyers, aspiring lawyers, and their clients?Jennifer Pink is the Interim Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. Jordan Furlong is an Ottawa-based legal sector analyst, author, and advisor with an online newsletter about how to build a better legal system. Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

NYU professor Margaret Satterthwaite has been monitoring threats to the rule of law on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council since 2022. She has seen autocrats around the world unleash assaults on their legal systems, but now she finds herself writing to the government of her own country about attacks on judges and lawyers in the United States. And she has plenty of advice for Canadians and people everywhere about how to identify and respond to early warning signs that the rule of law may be at risk.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. For more Canadian legal news, read CBA National, the CBA's bilingual online magazine. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When the Government of Canada launched its AI Strategy Task Force on September 26, 2025, Dr. Gideon Christian noticed a significant omission: Black people. Three weeks later, he was among 60 signatories of an open letter warning that Canada’s Black community “bears some of the greatest harms from AI bias and automated decision-making systems,” and calling for the inclusion on the task force of Black Canadians with relevant expertise.In this episode, Dr. Christian and another signatory, Jake Effoduh, describe how AI systems can exacerbate systemic biases, and how to mitigate the risks.Dr. Gideon Christian is University Excellence Research Chair (AI and Law) at the University of Calgary. Jake Effoduh is an Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On October 23, 2025, Canadian Justice Minister Sean Fraser introduced Bill C-14, the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act. The legislation notably aims to make bail “stricter and harder to get” and impose harsher sentences on repeat offenders. While some, like the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Retail Council of Canada, have welcomed the new bill, the Canadian Bar Association has argued that our bail system needs more capacity, streamlined procedures, and better social services – not new legislation.Melanie Webb chairs the CBA’s Criminal Law Section; she’s a Toronto-based criminal trial and appellate lawyer at Webb Barristers. Daniel Lerner is a former Crown Attorney who now practices criminal law at Lerner Law in Toronto.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is a panel discussion with Anita Szigeti of Anita Szigeti Advocates, a Toronto firm that focuses on mental health and the law; Hamna Anwar, a criminal lawyer at Lindsay Law in Toronto; and Kyla Lee, who specializes in impaired driving cases at Acumen Law in Vancouver. They are all members of Women in Canadian Criminal Defence (WiCCD), an organization Szigeti founded to support and advocate for female and gender-non-conforming criminal defence lawyers.Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.In this episode, Toronto lawyer and Supreme Court expert Nadia Effendi highlights some of the cases and issues the justices will be dealing with for the rest of 2025. These include matters involving:Disclosure of police misconduct records (Chief of the Edmonton Police Service v. John McKee, et al.)Medical patents (Pharmascience Inc. v. Janssen Inc., et al.)A disappeared man believed to be alive by his insurance company (Deborah Carol Riddle v. ivari)A dispute between a former Alberta MLA and the province’s Chief Electoral Officer (Glen L. Resler v. Joseph V. Anglin)The bilingualism of the New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor (Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick v. The Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada)Sentencing considerations when an Indigenous perpetrator commits violence against an Indigenous woman (His Majesty the King v. Harry Arthur Cope)Overlapping Indigenous territorial claims (Nisga’a Nation v. Malii, aka Glen Williams, et al.; Skii km Lax Ha, aka Darlene Simpson, et al. v. Malii, aka Glen Williams, et al.) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.In this episode, Hon. David Brown draws on his 18 years of experience as an Ontario Superior Court and Court of Appeal judge to explain why justice in Canada can move so slowly. He argues a big part of the problem is a lack of transparency about how long cases actually take and where the holdups are. And he proposes “some cracking of eggs and bumping of heads” – for instance, can financial incentives be used to extract more data and speed things up? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.In this episode, writer and documentarian Karin Wells discusses her new book, Women Who Woke up the Law: Inside the Cases that Changed Women’s Rights in Canada. The conversation notably focuses on the cases of Jane Hurshman, who killed her abusive husband in 1982, and R v Ewanchuk, a landmark case about consent that featured a testy exchange between Justice John McClung of the Alberta Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, Canadian-American political analyst David Frum joins host Alison Crawford before a live audience in Toronto at an event jointly presented by the Canadian and American Bar Associations as part of the American Bar Association’s annual meeting. They discuss public attitudes toward democracy and the rule of law, the implications of the Safe Third Country Agreement governing migration between Canada and the U.S., and the role of lawyers in the prevention of democratic decline.If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes professor and historian Constance Backhouse to discuss her 2022 book Reckoning with Racism: Police, Judges, and the RDS Case, about the first time the Supreme Court of Canada considered a complaint of judicial racial bias. Ironically, the judge in question was Corrine Sparks, the country’s first Black female judge. (18:30 to 34:44)For a look at the lighter side of legal practice, we talk with two lawyers, Michael Currie and Nadia Halum, who litigate by day and self-deprecate by night, performing stand-up comedy in their spare time, and we learn about the Fantasy Courts league run by lawyer Thomas Slade that turns guessing how the Supreme Court will rule on decisions into a game. (34:44 to 57:57)We also take a look at the Safe Third Country Agreement. Our guests are immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman and Anwen Hughes, Senior Director of Legal Strategy, Refugee Programs at Human Rights First in NYC. (01:42 to 18:30)If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes David Parry, Chair of the CBA Criminal Justice Section, and Deanna Okun-Nachoff, partner at McCrea Immigration Law in Vancouver, to discuss the proposed new Strong Borders Act, or Bill C-2. (01:19 to 14:29)As June is Indigenous History Month, we hear from Chief Justice Leonard Marchand of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia and of the Court of Appeal of Yukon and Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of King's Bench. They share their experiences incorporating Indigenous cultural and legal practices into proceedings. (14:33 to 45:21)We also take a look at the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on publication bans, Dagenais v CBC. Our guest is retired senior counsel for the CBC, Daniel Henry. (45:26 to 1:04:36)If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford talks about a troubling but increasingly common scam, where people impersonate trademark lawyers. Our guests are Gavin Manning, an experienced intellectual property lawyer at Oyen Wiggs, and Brent J. Arnold, a partner at Gowling WLG who specializes in privacy and cybersecurity law. (01:32 to 15:42)We welcome Amy Salyzyn, an author, legal ethicist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, to talk about a recent case of AI hallucinations in documents that were submitted at the Ontario Superior Court. (15:46 to 32:24)We also take a look at a one of the most consequential cases in the history of the Supreme Court of Canada: the 1998 Secession Reference. Our guest is Warren Newman, who served as co-counsel on the Secession Reference. (32:28 to 53:31)If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario Geoffrey Morawetz for a conversation about the Civil Rules Review and its bold Phase 2 Report. (01:58 to 25:34)As far fewer Canadians are now traveling to the United States, we talk about the current realities of crossing the US-Canada border with Gabriela Ramo, former Chair of the CBA Immigration Law Section and Partner at EY Law. (25:42 to 38:19)We also take a look at landmark immigration cases at the Supreme Court of Canada with one of Canada’s most respected and influential immigration, refugee and human rights lawyers, Barbara Jackman. (38:22 to 54:08)If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we delve into legal news, landmark cases and feature expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this special election edition, host Alison Crawford welcomes two of Canada’s top criminal lawyers Matthew Gourlay, from Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP, and Daniel Lerner from Lerner Law, as we take a closer look at the federal parties’ criminal justice platforms. (01:35 to 24:44)Anne McLellan and Peter MacKay, who both served as Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General, have a lively discussion on major legal issues that have been missing from the political debate during the campaign. (24:47 to 46:20)We also hear from CBA President Lynne Vicars, who talks about the Canadian Bar Association’s priorities for this federal election campaign. (46:25 to 52:50)If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes two international law experts, Gib Van Ert from Olthuis van Ert and Miriam Cohen from Université de Montréal, to evaluate the current state of the international rule of law.As its tax season in Canada, we talk tax reform with Heather Evans, CEO of the Canadian Tax Foundation. A timely conversation as the governor-general has called a federal election.We also take a look at some landmark Supreme Court decisions on access to abortion with University of Calgary law professor Jennifer Koshan.If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes Federal Court of Canada Chief Justice Paul Crampton, who explains how the court is swamped with an unprecedented number of cases and how virtually no one is declaring the use of AI in their filings.We talk with two family law experts, Shelley Hounsell, K.C. from Pressé Mason and Vanessa Lam from Lam Family Law, about the recent Supreme Court hearing into the proposed new tort of family violence.We also dive into R v. Drybones, the first case the Supreme Court decided under the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights. Alison Crawford take a look at this landmark 1969 case and its impacts with Naiomi Metallic, a Mi'kmaq lawyer who teaches law at Dalhousie University, and Brian Purdy, the lawyer who represented the appellant, Michael Drybones.If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes Marion Sandilands, a practicing lawyer, part-time law professor and member of the CBA’s Working Group on the Notwithstanding Clause, and Geoffrey Sigalet, director of the UBC Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies, for a lively discussion on the notwithstanding clause and how provincial premiers are using it.In an exclusive interview with Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner about the court’s milestone 150th anniversary, he explains how the court has started to explore the possibility of offering judicial mediation to expand access to justice.With Ryan Manucha, research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and expert on interprovincial trade in Canada, we take a good look at Gold Seal Ltd. v. Alberta, a prohibition-era judgment that, even 100 years later, continues to affect interprovincial trade. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nadia Effendi joins us again to review the output of the Supreme Court last year, shares her thoughts regarding Chief Justice Richard Wagner’s recent comments about the high number of judicial vacancies as well as comments about restricting interveners to virtual appearance. We discuss some recent judgments rendered (Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Ontario (Attorney General) v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner) and the Reference re An Act respecting First Nations). She also weighs in on cases to watch that were recently granted leave, including AGO v. Working Families Coalition, a rare section 3 Charter case, and Sanis Health, which deals with the BC law that allows recovery of health-care costs from opioid providers.Effendi is a partner at BLG, based out of Toronto and Ottawa, a member of the CBA’s Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee. She is also the chair of BLG's Appellate Advocacy and Public Law Group. Before joining the firm, she served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada to then-Justice Michel Bastarache.To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine hits the two-year mark – 10 years since the invasion of the Crimean Peninsula – the situation is dire. The ground battle had become mostly deadlocked until Ukrainians retreated earlier this month from the town of Avdiivka. Support from Western democracies has been skittish of late. Republicans in the U.S. Congress have stalled sixty billion U.S. dollars' worth of defense aid for Ukraine. Still, there is some hope for the resistance: the unblocking of $ 54 billion in European Union aid; Sweden has announced it will give $682 million worth of military equipment. Canada is promising to donate $70 million worth of drones from already announced spending dating back to the summer. The word we hear a lot these days is that the conflict in Ukraine is reaching an inflection point of sorts, though shifts in momentum are notoriously hard to read in times of war. What hasn’t changed in all of this is that the invasion of Ukraine remains a war of aggression – in violation of the United Nations Charter and customary international law. It’s also an international crime under the Rome Statute. Over a fifth of Ukrainian territory is currently under occupation by Russian troops. Arguably, it should be possible to prosecute a war of aggression committed by Russia's leadership before the ICC, as it should not be difficult to prove.  But that isn’t the case. Although the ICC can charge individuals for war crimes, it doesn’t have jurisdiction over Russian crimes of aggression. Our guest today will discuss why that is and what a core group of members of the international community and Ukraine are trying to do about it. Dr. Anton Korynevych is the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. He’s a lawyer specializing in public international law, international humanitarian, and international criminal law. He’s the Agent of Ukraine before the International Court of Justice, where he has been arguing the case that Russian President Vladimir Putin abused the U.N. Genocide Convention by using an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine as a pretext for invasion).  Dr. Korynevych is also in charge of gathering international support to establish a special tribune that could try Putin and his inner circle for the alleged crime of aggression — which no international court, including the International Criminal Court, has jurisdiction to do right now. To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest today is Arif Virani, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada who has kindly agreed to share with our listeners the status of several pressing issues. We discuss criminal justice reform, the recent pause on the expansion of medical assistance in dying and plans to introduce online harms legislation. He also addresses judicial vacancies and the increasing resource challenges that our courts are facing. Arif Virani was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Parkdale—High Park in 2015. Throughout his career, he has served in various roles, including as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism), and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Before entering politics, he practised law for 15 years, starting his career as a civil litigator at Fasken Martineau and subsequently working as a constitutional litigator at the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, advocating for human rights and access to justice. Minister Virani previously worked as an analyst with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Ottawa, an investigator at the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse in Montréal, and an Assistant Trial Attorney prosecuting genocide at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.  To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the field of law, there are several crucial areas where generative AI demonstrates considerable promise – namely in the efficiencies it can create in contract generation, document review, legal research, and predictive analytics. So it’s expected to become an indispensable productivity tool across the legal profession The question then arises: how can this technology be effectively integrated into a legal practice or department? Amanda Chaboryk joins us for the second time on the show. She’s the Head of Legal Data and Systems within Operate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. Having started  her career in legal project management, she now focuses on the operational delivery of complex managed legal programs and helps clients navigate emerging technologies. We're also joined by Alex Hawley, an ESG regulatory solicitor for PwC in London. Having started her career as a commercial litigator, she now collaborates with clients new ESG developments and helps them incorporate emerging technologies, including Generative AI. Last year, PwC announced an exclusive partnership with the legal startup Harvey, a platform built on AI technology from OpenAI.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We've been talking a lot about AI on the podcast and on CBA National, and one of the issues that keeps coming up is the challenge for a country like Canada in selecting the right approach to regulating AI risk. It's not as if there's a single model out there. The EU is trying to set the gold standard for the world, much as it did with its GDPR privacy regulation. The US is contemplating various bills, but for the most part, it is applying existing laws and regulations through regulators like the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Board, and the US Department of Justice. These agencies have been instructed by the White House's executive order in October to follow eight guiding principles for AI safety. Meanwhile, China's approach is to ensure that all information generated by AI aligns with the state's interest. All are key players to watch as we try to understand where the future of global AI governance is headed. And today, we are going to take a closer look at a perspective coming from the US.International privacy expert Woodrow Hartzog discusses the state of AI regulation in the U.S., his thoughts on the global dynamics at play, and his concerns surrounding the normalization of surveillance and our reliance on half-measures to save us from the potential harms of AI.Hartzog is a professor at the Boston University School of Law, a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, and an affiliate scholar at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, a non-resident fellow at the Cordell Institute at Washington University, where he's currently working on a project about AI half-measures in collaboration with Neil Richards.Hartzog recently testified before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the importance of substantive legal protections when it comes to AI. He’s been arguing that current AI policies and oversights are far too weak.”To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One of the significant controversies about AI is the impact of generative software on the use and production of cultural works. The fast-growing popularity of these tools raises big questions about the ethics of AI-generated works and whether they amount to a technologically advanced form of plagiarism. Lawsuits have been popping up around the world as artists, as well as corporate interests, claiming infringement of their intellectual property rights. (A U.S. federal court ruled back in August that art created by AI without any human input cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law). The question is whether copyright should be the appropriate regulatory tool to determine these questions. In fact, as listeners will hear from our guest today, the novelty of generative AI raises many questions about the socio-economic dynamics of cultural production – and whether it might not be time to re-examine the role of copyright law in encouraging and incentivizing creativity. Dr. Craig is Osgoode Hall Law School’s Associate Dean of Research, and she’s recently stepped into the role of Director of IP Osgoode, which is the school’s  Intellectual Property Law & Technology program.  She joined the faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School in 2002 and is the is the author of Copyright, Communication & Culture: Towards a Relational Theory of Copyright Law (2011), among other writings. In 2018, she held a MacCormick Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. She teaches JD, graduate and professional courses in the areas of intellectual property, copyright and trademark law, and legal theory.  To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mary Moreau of Alberta has been tapped to fill the vacancy left by Russel Brown on the Supreme Court. Nadia Effendi gives us some background on Justice Moreau and what her nomination means.  Effendi also discusses the Supreme Court’s latest rulings in the IAA reference, Mason v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), La Presse inc. v. Quebec, as well as upcoming hearings in AGC v. Power, Yatar v. TD Insurance, and Attorney General of Ontario, et al. v. Mike Restoule. She also weighs in on the SCC’s decision to produce plain-language summaries of oral decisions.Effendi is a partner at BLG, based out of Toronto and Ottawa, a member of the CBA’s Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee. She is also the chair of BLG's Appellate Advocacy and Public Law Group. Before joining the firm, she served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada to then-Justice Michel Bastarache.To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you think that description of our criminal justice system is a bit harsh, well, you should read the latest book by our guest today. Benjamin Perrin is a law professor at the UBC's Allard School of Law. He has served in the Prime Minister of Canada's Office as in-house legal counsel and lead policy advisor on criminal justice and public safety. He's also the national best-selling author of Overdose: Heartbreak and Hope in Canada's Opioid Crisis, and before that Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking. His latest work is Indictment: The Criminal Justice System on Trial – a deep dive into a system that, in theory at least, is supposed to help keep Canadians safe while supporting victims of crime.  We talk a lot about victims in this conversation – and offenders, too – and their struggles. Please keep an open mind as you hear this conversation. And a content warning: There is sensitive material covered in this episode that touches upon substance abuse, police brutality and a lot of discussion around trauma.Benjamin Perrin - Criminal Justice, Overdose Podcast — Myrna McCallum https://indictment.simplecast.com/ https://johnhoward.on.ca/research-topic/incarceration-health/ To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kristen van de Biezenbos, a law professor at California Western, teaches environmental, energy and climate change law and has written extensively about energy justice and electricity regulation. Her research has also brought her to Canada – she taught for several years at the University of Calgary, where she focused on Canada’s energy transmission policy. She continues to serve as an expert on the mitigation panel for the Canadian Climate Institute, which advises the federal government on climate change. To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jordan Furlong is an analyst and forecaster for the legal sector, focused on the most important trends shaping the provision of legal services and the formation and regulation of lawyers. He’s the author of a weekly Substack on a range of critical topics for the legal profession, and of the book Law Is a Buyer’s Market: Building a Client-First Law Firm. To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Yves Faguy catches up again with Nadia Effendi of BLG to brief us on the latest at the Supreme Court of Canada. Effendi is a partner at BLG, based out of Toronto and Ottawa, a member of the CBA’s Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee. She is also the chair of BLG's Appellate Advocacy and Public Law Group. Before joining the firm, she served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada to then-Justice Michel Bastarache.Effendi discusses the Supreme Court’s latest rulings in Canadian Council for Refugees, Deans Knight, and Hansman v Neufeld, as well as recently granted leaves to appeal in AGC v. Power, Yatar v. TD Insurance, York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, and City of St. John’s v. Lynch. She also weighs in on who might fill the top court’s seat, left vacant following the departure of Justice Russell Brown, and the legacy of the late former Justice Louis LeBel. To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

 Yves Faguy speaks with Justin Safayeni, partner at Stockwoods LLP, about defamation law, anti-SLAPP legislation, and their effects on freedom of expression.In today's digital age, information has become a powerful tool, capable of spreading rapidly and influencing public opinion like never before. However, this very same power can also be weaponized. Individuals or groups can engage in targeted campaigns of misinformation, and use online platforms to amplify false narratives and defamatory content. And now there's the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology, which presents new challenges in defamation. Now defamation laws are designed to discourage false claims and, in some circumstances, have proven helpful in combatting disinformation. But taking legal action is lengthy and costly, and it's also possible to use defamation law to shut down speech, and so we must always strike a balance between protecting individuals' reputations and safeguarding freedom of expression. But it's a balance that requires ongoing scrutiny and adaptation to keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital landscape. To discuss the topic with is, we asked Justin Safayeni to come in as a guest. He is a partner at Stockwoods LLP, and his expertise lies in administrative and public law, media/defamation law, and commercial litigation and appeals.  Justin has a particular interest in "anti-SLAPP" proceedings, the legal mechanism designed to protect individuals from strategic lawsuits against public participation. He's written and lectured extensively on the topic. He has also represented interveners before the Supreme Court, offering his expertise on the leading cases in this area. To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected]  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.