Access to Justice
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August 01, 2024
Political dangers of confirmation bias | John L. Hill
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, focus on and remember information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions. In today’s politically polarized climate, confirmation bias often leads us to oversimplify complex situations. I was recently criticized by my local member of provincial parliament (who also happens to be a cabinet minister) for taking him up on his Facebook posting that said the blame for injury experienced by a community member caused by a person out on bail should rest entirely with the federal government.
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July 31, 2024
Federal political parties collecting sensitive voter data in a regulatory void, warns report
In a British Columbia courtroom this past May, the country’s three main political parties came together in common cause: to maintain unregulated access to sometimes sensitive voter information collected by a mushrooming industry of political consultants.
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July 31, 2024
Attention Premier Ford: Call me | Norman Douglas
Dear Premier Ford: I think your heart is in the right place. I think maybe your head is not. Who is giving you their advice on the judicial system? I’m guessing it doesn’t include any judges or justices of the peace. What “you are hearing on the street” must be the voices of folks who read headlines and have never sat through one day in an Ontario courtroom.
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July 31, 2024
Parliamentary liability for Charter infringing laws | Catherine Latimer
The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Power, [2024] S.C.J. No. 26, once again showed that it would “act as vigilant guardians of constitutional rights and the rule of law.” Chipping away at dated concepts of Parliamentary inviolability, the court found that there was no absolute Crown immunity for damages when the government enacts legislation violating Charter rights. In this case, Joseph Power suffered damages by the retroactive application of unconstitutional restrictions on relief under the Criminal Records Act.
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July 30, 2024
Yukon, First Nations group sign agreement of ‘shared priorities’
Yukon has signed a 10-year “government-to-government” accord with a First Nation community to cement “shared priorities” of wellness, development, education and training.
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July 29, 2024
5 Ontario judicial appointments announced
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani announced in a July 24 news release the appointment of five judicial appointees in Ontario: Renee M. Pomerance, E. Ria Tzimas, Michelle Flaherty, Brian DeLorenzi and Jacqueline A. Horvat.
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July 29, 2024
Vehicle search examined in B.C appeal court drugs decision
Defence counsel are sometimes accused of following the adage, “If you can’t argue the facts, argue the law.” But it doesn’t always work.
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July 29, 2024
Ontario (Attorney General) v. Restoule: What it means to Indigenous beneficiaries | Rob Louie
Within minutes of Canada’s top court rendering a unanimous decision regarding a potentially multi-billion-dollar case involving the Red Rock First Nation Band of Indians, the Whitesand First Nation Band of Indians and members of the Ojibewa (Anishinaabe) Nation, who are beneficiaries of the Robinson‐Huron Treaty of 1850, major media outlets were vying to have their story rolled out first.
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July 26, 2024
SCC’s 9-0 judgment on interpreting historic treaties a big win for First Nations, their counsel say
Live up to the honour of the Crown and its “sacred” treaty promises — or the courts will step in. That might sum up the message from the Supreme Court of Canada to the defendant governments of Ontario and Canada in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit by Anishinaabe First Nations, who ceded by treaty 174 years ago a huge swath of their traditional Northern Ontario territories only to have successive federal and provincial governments “dishonourably” flout that treaty by barely compensating the cash-strapped Indigenous communities while the Crown and big business reaped billions over the decades from the mineral, timber and other resources of the ceded lands.
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July 26, 2024
Appeal court decision addresses problems with repeat offender
When a cloistered group of nuns had a member of the group unable to fit into their society, the musical The Sound of Music had them break into song, singing “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” The City of Calgary also had a problematic resident who did not fit into its society but was much more dangerous than Maria von Trapp.