CBC Ottawa Morning: Judges and Personality Aug 24 2017

Tweet The day after Donald Trump won the election, a Hamilton area judge strolled into the courtroom with a by-then iconic “Make America Great Again” hat on his head.  Bernd Zabel ultimately apologized, but that wasn’t enough to stop dozens of complaints about him being filed with the Ontario Judicial Council. On August 23, the ...

June 16: The continuing saga of trial delays – R v Cody

Tweet On June 16th the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the Charter right to trial within a reasonable time.  This has been a big issue in Canada since the Court’s July 2016 ruling in  R. v. Jordan,  where a starkly divided panel decided to institute numerical caps on trial proceedings, following which any further ...

The retirement of Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin

Tweet On June 12, the Chief Justice of Canada (the longest-serving in Canadian history and the first woman to so serve) announced that she will retire on December 15, 2017.  The date is some eight months prior to her 75th birthday and, while not out of left field, still caught some of us by surprise. ...

Interview with Zoomeradio on Senator Don Meredith: May 3, 2017

Tweet I recorded this interview a few days before Meredith decided to resign. My portion begins around the 14 minute mark. Link

Cross-Country Checkup April 16 2017: Legalizing Marijuana

Tweet The Liberal government introduced Bill C-45 and C-46, which proposes a complex scheme for decriminalizing simple possession of marijuana, along with: new rules for tracking  and distribution, new offences for involving young persons, and a more stringent approach to impaired driving.  On Sunday, April 16, I did an interview on Cross-Country Checkup, the weekly radio ...

CTV Your Morning: How to Oust a Senator (March 23 2017)

Tweet Here’s a link to an interview I did with Ben Mulroney last week about the travails facing two senators: Don Meredith and Lynne Beyak.  Though their situations are very different, both have raised, to a greater or lesser extent, questions about how Senators can be disciplined or, even, removed when they do not meet ...

The Minister of Justice’s “Zombie Law Bill” – CBC Ottawa Morning

Tweet The Minister of Justice has introduced Bill C-39: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (unconstitutional provisions).  The Bill would remove several so-called “zombie laws” that remain listed in the Criminal Code despite having been struck down, in some cases, years ago.  The targeted offences include vagrancy, unlawful object murder, constructive murder and abortion. I did ...