This Friday, October 22 at 7pm, my partner Penny and I are hosting a virtual screening of The Rankin File: Legacy of a Radical, a documentary film about my hero and mentor, Harry Rankin. You can register to join us and see this wonderful film here, which will be followed by a political panel and…
Category: justice system
The legacy of residential schools is not history
Content warning: This story has disturbing details about Indian residential schools. Survivors and their families can call the toll-free National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline at 1-866-925-4419. On Thursday, May 27, Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation announced that they had located the unmarked burial sites of 215 children on the site…
This is not justice for Dr. Hassan Diab!
Just a few days ago, the French court of appeal directed Dr. Hassan Diab, (not to be confused with Lebanon’s prime minister of the same name) — a sociology professor in Ottawa who’s been a Canadian citizen since 1993 — to be committed to trial yet again. I’m outraged, and here’s why. Dr. Diab is…
Our legal system needs many more RBGs and Beverley McLachlins
On Friday, September 18, my attendant, Cory Wilson, gave me the bad news — he’d just received a text from his wife that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had passed away. RBG was an icon in the American legal community, and far, far more. Before being appointed to the US Supreme Court by then-president Bill Clinton, she’d…
No justice; no peace; no racist police
From Beverly Hills to Brooklyn, America is burning. The gruesome police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has understandably reignited the fear, anger and concern about centuries of systemic racism — not just in the U.S. but also here at home in Canada, where racism has been embedded in society all the way back to…
ICBC changes are no laughing matter
On April 1, it was no joke when the provincial NDP’s attorney general, David Eby, introduced sweeping new rules limiting compensation for victims of motor vehicle accidents in BC. But before I get into the details, two important points. First, full disclosure: I’ve been practising law since 1984, representing the victims of motor vehicle accidents….
SNC-Lavalin and the conflicting federal justice roles
The SNC-Lavalin affair has highlighted the urgent need for a fresh look at the pros and cons of separating the current dual roles of attorney general and minister of justice at the federal level in Canada. Currently, the two responsibilities rest with one person. This creates a very awkward situation, as the attorney general is…