Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, Canadian-American political analyst David Frum joins host Alison Crawford before a live audience in Toronto at an event jointly presented by the Canadian and American Bar Associations as part of the American Bar Association’s annual meeting. They discuss public attitudes toward democracy and the rule of law, the implications of the Safe Third Country Agreement governing migration between Canada and the U.S., and the role of lawyers in the prevention of democratic decline.

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes professor and historian Constance Backhouse to discuss her 2022 book Reckoning with Racism: Police, Judges, and the RDS Case, about the first time the Supreme Court of Canada considered a complaint of judicial racial bias. Ironically, the judge in question was Corrine Sparks, the country’s first Black female judge. (18:30 to 34:44)

For a look at the lighter side of legal practice, we talk with two lawyers, Michael Currie and Nadia Halum, who litigate by day and self-deprecate by night, performing stand-up comedy in their spare time, and we learn about the Fantasy Courts league run by lawyer Thomas Slade that turns guessing how the Supreme Court will rule on decisions into a game. (34:44 to 57:57)

We also take a look at the Safe Third Country Agreement. Our guests are immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman and Anwen Hughes, Senior Director of Legal Strategy, Refugee Programs at Human Rights First in NYC. (01:42 to 18:30)

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes David Parry, Chair of the CBA Criminal Justice Section, and Deanna Okun-Nachoff, partner at McCrea Immigration Law in Vancouver, to discuss the proposed new Strong Borders Act, or Bill C-2. (01:19 to 14:29)

As June is Indigenous History Month, we hear from Chief Justice Leonard Marchand of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia and of the Court of Appeal of Yukon and Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of King's Bench. They share their experiences incorporating Indigenous cultural and legal practices into proceedings. (14:33 to 45:21)

We also take a look at the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on publication bans, Dagenais v CBC. Our guest is retired senior counsel for the CBC, Daniel Henry. (45:26 to 1:04:36)

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford talks about a troubling but increasingly common scam, where people impersonate trademark lawyers. Our guests are Gavin Manning, an experienced intellectual property lawyer at Oyen Wiggs, and Brent J. Arnold, a partner at Gowling WLG who specializes in privacy and cybersecurity law. (01:32 to 15:42)

We welcome Amy Salyzyn, an author, legal ethicist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, to talk about a recent case of AI hallucinations in documents that were submitted at the Ontario Superior Court. (15:46 to 32:24)

We also take a look at a one of the most consequential cases in the history of the Supreme Court of Canada: the 1998 Secession Reference. Our guest is Warren Newman, who served as co-counsel on the Secession Reference. (32:28 to 53:31)

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario Geoffrey Morawetz for a conversation about the Civil Rules Review and its bold Phase 2 Report. (01:58 to 25:34)

As far fewer Canadians are now traveling to the United States, we talk about the current realities of crossing the US-Canada border with Gabriela Ramo, former Chair of the CBA Immigration Law Section and Partner at EY Law. (25:42 to 38:19)

We also take a look at landmark immigration cases at the Supreme Court of Canada with one of Canada’s most respected and influential immigration, refugee and human rights lawyers, Barbara Jackman. (38:22 to 54:08)

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we delve into legal news, landmark cases and feature expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this special election edition, host Alison Crawford welcomes two of Canada’s top criminal lawyers Matthew Gourlay, from Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP, and Daniel Lerner from Lerner Law, as we take a closer look at the federal parties’ criminal justice platforms. (01:35 to 24:44)

Anne McLellan and Peter MacKay, who both served as Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General, have a lively discussion on major legal issues that have been missing from the political debate during the campaign. (24:47 to 46:20)

We also hear from CBA President Lynne Vicars, who talks about the Canadian Bar Association’s priorities for this federal election campaign. (46:25 to 52:50)

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes two international law experts, Gib Van Ert from Olthuis van Ert and Miriam Cohen from Université de Montréal, to evaluate the current state of the international rule of law.

As its tax season in Canada, we talk tax reform with Heather Evans, CEO of the Canadian Tax Foundation. A timely conversation as the governor-general has called a federal election.

We also take a look at some landmark Supreme Court decisions on access to abortion with University of Calgary law professor Jennifer Koshan.

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes Federal Court of Canada Chief Justice Paul Crampton, who explains how the court is swamped with an unprecedented number of cases and how virtually no one is declaring the use of AI in their filings.

We talk with two family law experts, Shelley Hounsell, K.C. from Pressé Mason and Vanessa Lam from Lam Family Law, about the recent Supreme Court hearing into the proposed new tort of family violence.

We also dive into R v. Drybones, the first case the Supreme Court decided under the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights. Alison Crawford take a look at this landmark 1969 case and its impacts with Naiomi Metallic, a Mi'kmaq lawyer who teaches law at Dalhousie University, and Brian Purdy, the lawyer who represented the appellant, Michael Drybones.

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at [email protected].

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes Marion Sandilands, a practicing lawyer, part-time law professor and member of the CBA’s Working Group on the Notwithstanding Clause, and Geoffrey Sigalet, director of the UBC Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies, for a lively discussion on the notwithstanding clause and how provincial premiers are using it.

In an exclusive interview with Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner about the court’s milestone 150th anniversary, he explains how the court has started to explore the possibility of offering judicial mediation to expand access to justice.

With Ryan Manucha, research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and expert on interprovincial trade in Canada, we take a good look at Gold Seal Ltd. v. Alberta, a prohibition-era judgment that, even 100 years later, continues to affect interprovincial trade.

Nadia Effendi joins us again to review the output of the Supreme Court last year, shares her thoughts regarding Chief Justice Richard Wagner’s recent comments about the high number of judicial vacancies as well as comments about restricting interveners to virtual appearance. We discuss some recent judgments rendered (Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Ontario (Attorney General) v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner) and the Reference re An Act respecting First Nations). She also weighs in on cases to watch that were recently granted leave, including AGO v. Working Families Coalition, a rare section 3 Charter case, and Sanis Health, which deals with the BC law that allows recovery of health-care costs from opioid providers.

Effendi is a partner at BLG, based out of Toronto and Ottawa, a member of the CBA’s Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee. She is also the chair of BLG's Appellate Advocacy and Public Law Group. Before joining the firm, she served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada to then-Justice Michel Bastarache.

To contact us (please include in the subject line ''Podcast''): [email protected].