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May 21, 2026
Newfoundland and Labrador has tapped a veteran lawyer to conduct a review of the province’s privacy and access to information laws. It was announced May 20 that Keri-Lynn Power will commence a statutory review of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
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May 20, 2026
The spectre of police surveillance has long occupied an uneasy place in Canadian constitutional law. Wiretaps, tracking warrants, production orders and covert searches have traditionally been constrained by judicial authorization and Charter scrutiny.
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May 20, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark decision recognizing a new tort of intimate partner violence may have consequences extending well beyond tort law. Combined with British Columbia’s recent expansion of virtual family court appearances, the ruling significantly strengthens the argument that Canadian courts must continue modernizing remote hearing infrastructure to better protect vulnerable litigants.
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May 19, 2026
Criminal defence counsel frequently find redactions in disclosure material. Sometimes large passages are obscured or “highlighted in black,” as I used to say. In November 2025, the Federal Court gave us some insight as to why and when such deletions are appropriate. That decision was Canada (Attorney General) v. Majcher, 2025 FC 1777.
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May 15, 2026
This column is quite different from most of my previous ones in that it focuses on something other than my own experience. However, it grows entirely out of that experience. To reassure readers (beyond the many citations in the text), when I was arrested I had an extensive background in reading and analyzing social science research. In the years since my arrest, I have read and made notes on more than 1,000 books, reports and research studies in this field. I have talked with dozens of experts — lawyers, criminologists and community leaders — and even given presentations at conferences. Every claim in this column can be verified by looking at reputable sources in the field, including the reports of Canada’s Correctional Investigator.
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May 15, 2026
In R. v. Ordonio, 2025 ONCA 135, the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA), as intervener, argued that Reid technique-induced statements from an accused person should be treated as presumptively inadmissible. The Court of Appeal thought otherwise, opining that the determination of whether (or not) the technique had been used would be a labour-intensive misuse of resources. The decision surveyed some of the criticisms of the practice from the criminology literature. It also considered how some Canadian courts have viewed the procedure. A more comprehensive and contemporary review might have given rise to a different result.
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May 14, 2026
Three members of British Columbia’s legal community were recognized by the Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch (CBABC) on May 9 for their dedication to the profession and to supporting others.
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May 14, 2026
During my more than 20 years as a member of the parole board, it was normal (not required) that after a hearing had ended (no further questions from the panel members), the chair of that panel would ask the parole officer who had presented the case whether they had any comments that flowed from the hearing process.
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May 13, 2026
Case planning conferences and judicial management conferences in civil and family proceedings in British Columbia will now, by default, be held by videoconference, according to a May 13 release.
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May 13, 2026
Practising in rural Ontario and the North gives me a perspective on the access-to-justice crisis we are currently facing. Many vulnerable people face child protection proceedings while also dealing with addiction, poverty, mental health challenges and isolation. These are real, human stories, families at risk of being separated, children caught in uncertainty and communities trying to help with fewer resources.
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May 13, 2026
Bernie Herman, a married man and a 30-year RCMP officer, was charged with the first-degree murder of Braden Herman, his intimate same-sex partner.
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May 12, 2026
The choice in the expression “Fear has two meanings: Forget everything and run, or face everything and rise” could underpin two different approaches taken by the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal in assessing a dangerous driving charge resulting in a death.
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May 11, 2026
Ontario’s Justice Centres are being recognized with the Ontario Bar Association’s (OBA) President’s Award for their innovative community court model.
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May 11, 2026
Three and a half years ago, I wrote in this column about the dangers of forcing treatment on people with serious mental health issues as a condition of keeping them living in the community.
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May 08, 2026
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) has elected K. Jay Ralston as its president for the 2026–27 term.
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May 08, 2026
Spoiler Alert: The following contains plot details from Better Call Saul. Charles McGill, the decorated senior partner in the TV series Better Call Saul, is everything the legal profession tells itself it stands for: principled, authoritative, a guardian of the rule of law. His younger brother Jimmy — the poor, hustling, desperate Saul Goodman — represents everything the profession looks down on. But as artificial intelligence dismantles the gatekeeping function that long justified the legal profession’s self-image, it is worth asking: which one of them is a more accurate reflection of a lawyer?
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May 07, 2026
Saskatchewan has passed new provincial prison legislation that will have justices of the peace decide on “major disciplinary matters” involving inmates.
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May 07, 2026
There may be a new sheriff in town. The provincial government in Ontario plans to introduce regulations designating transit special constables as “officers” under the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, 2025 (RPCISA). This move will grant them sweeping powers to arrest and detain individuals and to search, seize and even destroy property.
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May 07, 2026
A recent report by Global News, drawing on freedom-of-information materials obtained by Donna Power and the Humane Initiative, adds an important and deeply troubling dimension to concerns I raised several weeks ago about Ontario’s animal welfare regime.
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May 07, 2026
Substantive law defines what constitutes a crime, while procedural law dictates how the case is handled. A conviction requires both evidence proving guilt and adherence to proper procedure to ensure a fair trial. Sometimes, the substance is so glaring that the focus on trial fairness can take a back seat.
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May 06, 2026
New Brunswick has proposed legislation aimed at improving patient safety and “quality of care” through the establishment of an advisory committee, the clarifying of what is meant by “safety incidents” and improving the use of data in tracking trends.
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May 06, 2026
The Government of Alberta is investing $8.9 million to build Western Canada’s “first provincial forensic DNA laboratory to speed up investigations and support prosecutions.”
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May 05, 2026
Last week, as I write this on May 4, 2026, I watched part of a press conference that made me want to puke.
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May 04, 2026
Sometimes it is not a defence lawyer who is responsible for an acquittal. Sometimes an acquittal may result from police actions.
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May 04, 2026
Let’s start with the burdens of proof in the 2021 amendments which I discussed in my October 2025 article (“Bill C-223: Bad ideas on child relocation”). The burdens of proof are intended to give structure to the analysis of the best interests of the child, based upon what we do and don’t know about the impact of relocation upon children.