Councils and Charters and Clauses – oh my! Doug Ford and Section 33 (September 2018)

Tweet It’s been a week. On Monday, Sept 10, a Superior Court Justice, Edward Belobaba, found unconstitutional Bill 5, which had reduced the size of Toronto City Council from 47 to 25 wards.  He struck down the law as a violation of freedom of expression both of the candidates as well as the voters. Then, ...

CBC Radio Sunday Edition June 24: TWU vs LSUC and LSBC

Tweet I was invited to chat with Michael Enright about the TWU decisions released by the Supreme Court of Canada on June 15.  The cases arose after TWU challenged the refusals of two law societies (in BC and Ontario) to accredit its law program.  TWU has long faced controversy over its mandatory Community Covenant which ...

Bridging Divides | Panel on Good Public Policies for Canada – June 6, Calgary

Tweet (I’ve decided to put conference presentations under “media”, since they’re basically public engagement albeit of a different sort). Here’s a really enjoyable panel I participated in, in Calgary in June.  Sponsored by the Ecofiscal Commission, it was part of a half-day symposium entitled “Bridging Divides” meant to spur honest and, hopefully, productive discussions about ...

CBC Sunday Scrum – April 29 2018

Tweet As a devotee of Sunday political shows, I was chuffed to join the regular crew on CBC Sunday Scrum!  With John Ibbitson, Susan Riley and host John Northcott, I participated in a wide-ranging conversation on everything from pot to NAFTA.  Here are links to all of them. Pipelines NAFTA LGBT Pardons  Marijuana Bill  

“Free the Beer”? Comeau v NB – April 19 2018

Tweet A couple of media interviews on the unanimous Supreme Court decision upholding a New Brunswick law that makes it an offence to possess more than a certain amount of alcohol not purchased from provincial liquor stores.  This decision has been absolutely lambasted by profs and pundits alike.  I thought that some of the reaction ...

So…..I got an award (LSM)

Tweet This week, the Law Society of Ontario formally announced their selection of recipients for a number of annual honours, including the Law Society Medal.  I am excited and deeply honoured to be among this group of highly distinguished legal professionals. Here is a link to the official news release, as well as the Law Faculty ...

CBC The House – Feb 9 2018: Trans Mountain

Tweet Here’s a link to a recent interview with Chris Hall on the CBC The House.  I discussed the constitution’s division of powers in the wake of a nasty interprovincial battle between Alberta and British Columbia, which each take diametrically opposed positions with respect to the propose expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline.  The spat ...