Pulse
-
April 09, 2025
Indigenous rights in Canada: So, so many questions
Canada stands at a pivotal moment in its relationship with Indigenous Peoples. Landmark court rulings and policy shifts have signalled a move toward stronger legal recognition of Indigenous land claims and self-governance. Yet, many argue that progress remains slow, uneven and often hindered by government inertia and corporate interests. The stark reality leaves the lingering question: is Canada truly committed to reconciliation, or are these developments in Indigenous jurisprudence merely incremental steps in a system that continues to resist meaningful change?
-
April 09, 2025
Pro Bonzo
A brave articling student once quipped about me that “if you say ‘pro bono’ near Murray, you’d better be talking about Sonny & Cher.” Now that was a tad unfair. It was not that I was against our firm doing pro bono work, but I did want us to be doing it for people who could not afford a lawyer, as opposed to people who were just cheap and did not value what we did.
-
April 09, 2025
Viability of private prosecutions in hate-motivated crimes
Section 504 of the Criminal Code permits anyone to initiate a criminal proceeding by laying an information in writing, under oath before a justice. In R. v. Mivasair, 2025 ONCA 179, the Ontario Court of Appeal reviews the law respecting private prosecutions including the role and duty of the Crown and the remedies available to an informant where the Crown has intervened and terminated a private prosecution.
-
April 08, 2025
Caroline Healey takes helm at Ship and Rail Compensation Canada
The new administrator of Ship and Rail Compensation Canada, Caroline Healey, has taken office for a five-year term.
-
April 08, 2025
The truth about burnout | Norm Bowley
“I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.” — Anna Quindlen
-
April 08, 2025
University of Calgary names director of new Centre for Transformation
The University of Calgary has announced the appointment of Diana Lowe as the inaugural director of its newly established Centre for Transformation.
-
April 08, 2025
State-ordered executions topped 1,500 globally: Amnesty International | Aubrey Harris
Canada long ago abolished the death penalty. However, many of us were abruptly reminded of our connection to the human rights of those in other countries when we learned last month of the execution of four Canadians in China this year.
-
April 08, 2025
The sounds of court | Norman Douglas
I am retired and miss the sounds of the courtroom. I say “strangely” because until retirement, I never gave any thought to them.
-
April 07, 2025
A critique of Ontario’s Civil Rules review | Allan Rouben
Excessive cost and delay have become so endemic to our civil justice system that the authors of the Civil Rules Review consider that the only remaining solution is to redesign the rules “from the ground up.” The fault for this is placed squarely at the feet of lawyers who, aided and abetted by the existing rules, adopt a “maximalist” approach to documentary and oral discovery.
-
April 07, 2025
Leading digital justice transformation: New Brunswick puts users at centre | Daniel J. Escott
In August 2023, I had the distinct privilege of co-organizing the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice’s (CIAJ) New Brunswick Access to Justice Summit at the University of New Brunswick’s Faculty of Law. Our final report on this groundbreaking summit, aptly titled Digital Transformation: Putting People at the Heart of the System, was a watershed moment for New Brunswick and Canada. It marked an essential commitment to ensuring digital transformation serves as a catalyst for genuine, meaningful access to justice, rather than merely institutional modernization.