The Docket

First thing first.  Go back and listed to episode 59 for your Omar Khadr primer.  

Conservative member of parliament Erin O'Toole was one person who listened and he had some stuff to say about the episode.  So we invited him on the podcast to discuss it.

O'Toole has been one of the Conservatives' lead critics of Justin Trudeau's 10.5 million dollar settlement with the polarizing Khadr.  O'Toole is also a fellow Dalhousie law school grad and a pretty smart guy. So we jump into the legal weeds on this one and break out some Latin Maxims and Supreme Court of Canada case law.

Interesting debates are never easy. So put on your thinking caps and buckle up.

Before we jump into the heavy stuff lets look at something fun.  

Brendan Richmond's Canadian comedy song "Out For a Rip" went viral in 2013 raking up over 12 million views, but this Canada Day he was shocked to find his trademarked catchphrase on the side of Coca-Cola bottles.

So he lawyered up and released a followup song, titled "Out for a Sip" which doubles as the best legal demand rap video ever made.

Then onto the heavy stuff.

There has been so much misinformation surrounding the Canadian Government's settlement with Omar Khadr.  We break it down to separate the truth from the spin.  Does the Charter apply outside Canada? Was Khadr tortured? What exactly did the Supreme Court find in 2008 and 2010? And is 10.5 million dollars appropriate compensation?

Time to fact check what the politicians and political pundits are saying.

Last month, after 28 years on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin announced her retirement. She was first appointed to the court by Brian Mulroney in 1989 - when we were still in grade school.

McLachlin also holds the record as the longest serving chief justice (she was elevated to chief justice by Paul Martin in 2000). 

McLachin won't be easily replaced - her accomplishments were unparalleled.

So who will Trudeau appoint as her replacement and who will be named as the new chief justice? This week we discuss, speculate, and dissect the possibilities for Canada's top court.

And more court delays. This time its the Senate who weighed in on the issue with the release of a massive report on the issue. We evaluate the Senate's top recommendations - thumbs up or thumbs down.

This week the CBC's Janice Johnston shed light on a horrifying courtroom injustice - the victim on a brutal sexual assault was remanded into custody because she had difficulty answering questions. The victim was a vulnerable indigenous woman. She had committed no crime. She showed up to court. But she found herself in jail - beside the man who attacked her. 

The accused - Lance Blanchard - was convicted of his crimes but there can be no justice for the victim of his offence. This week we take a look at this tragic and horrible situation.

We also take a look at the justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould's new bill to 'modernize' the criminal code. The bill is numbered C-51 (not that C-51) and it is again a half hearted attempt to reform the justice system by grabbing the lowest of the low hanging fruit. Oh - there is also a major change to sexual assault law in the bill that is probably unconstitutional - but the Liberals were not really talking about that.

Is C-51 another missed opportunity for the justice reform we were promised - the short answer is yes.

Do we really want to know how the sausage is made? This week we take a look at juries. We trust 12 non-legal experts to pass judgement on the most serious criminal charges. But we have no idea who they are, they don't explain their decisions, and its a criminal offence to ask them about their deliberations. Is it time to rethink trial by jury?

Then we look at Judges. Judges are required to provide reasons. When they don't there is trouble. We take a look at the Ontario Court of Appeal's decisions R. v. Sliwka - a case where the judge never provided reasons for her decision.

Last up - failed correctional policy. Ontario want's to build some new jails. It is a horrible idea - because the government will screw it up. It always does. Building new bigger is nothing to be proud of. It is an admission of failure.

Emilie Taman returns!  This week we talk about the Liberal government's new marijuana legislation. But it is not just pot that gets a legislative makeover.  The government has adopted the contents of an old Conservative bill that will radically change alcohol impaired driving.  We also dive into some Jordan fall out - what is the government doing about court delays? Is it really a problem - turns out maybe not.  Is the Supreme Court's Jordan decision being used as a criminal justice Trojan horse? All that and so so much more....

With Emilie on campaign trial award winning blogger and friend of the podcast Anne-Marie McElroy jumps into the void. We chat about the ill-informed political push to eliminate the preliminary hearing to speed up trials. Then Emilie stops by to confront her temporary replacement. Then we move on to more politics and the justice system - this time the Conservatives be all Conservative and misrepresent some facts about the justice system. The cases is graphic and tragic - Vincent Li beheaded a man on a bus. He was found to be not criminally responsible due to his mental health issues and 10 years later was found to not pose a risk to the public.  But the Conservative omitted those details from their talking points.  The Liberals and Justin Trudeau also neglect to talk about important mental health issues - so we did. Finally we discuss collect call rates in our jails - in a word they are the most price gougiest rates that ever gouged a price.

A very Special episode this week. The awesome Emilie Taman is running for the NDP in the soon-to-be announced federal by-election in Ottawa-Vanier. Emilie will be a fantastic member of parliament. Lets start with the obvious: she is super smart, hard working, principled, and deeply committed to justice and fairness.  But I think most importantly she is a consensus builder who makes instant connections with everyone she meets - she always makes the right decision for the right reason. In a climate of political cynicism and broken promises Emilie is exactly with our parliament needs. Last week Emilie and Louise Arbour (yes - former Supreme Court judge, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and friend of the podcast) sat down with a roomful of students from Ottawa University to talk about some really important issues: electoral reform, the vibrancy of our democracy, feminism, the environment, immigration, and the refugee crisis. It was fantastic. And I was there to recorded it.

To open 2017 we recorded our first episode in front of a live studio audience at the University of Ottawa and its all about plea bargains. Plea bargains have turned into a bit of a dirty word. The public is often concerned about what can be perceived as a deal with the devil. But in reality plea bargains are often more unfair to an accused than to the state. The power imbalance between the machinery of the justice system and a single accused can be overwhelming. Often guilty pleas are far from voluntary - an innocent accused may be tempted to take a plea deal to avoid minimum sentence, to get out of hellish jail conditions, or to be reunited with their families. Plea bargaining is an ethical quagmire for both prosecutors and defence lawyers. So lets shine some light into a dark corner of the justice system and talk about it.

This week we sat down with Renu Mandhane - the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission to talk about... well.... human rights. Renu Mundane and the Human Rights Commission have been a leading voice against the deeply troubling practices of solitary confinement and racial profiling. Mandhane and the Commission exposed the horrific case of Adam Capay - a young native man who spend over 4 years in solitary confinement. They were also instrumental in the Ottawa Police Services' Traffic Stop Race Data Project - which showed that the Ottawa police were stopping visible minorities at a disproportional rate (and for no reason). Mandhane is articulate, passionate, intelegent, and a fierce advocate - in other words our kind of people.