The Docket

So, episode 101 - a new record.  But you know that right? Because you subscribe to the show on iTunes and have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

This is the last time we will ever talk about SNC - we promise. But we had to say a final few words after our confidential source sent us the SNC decision. And boy, were we disappointed. No victim impact statements, no victim fine surcharge, and well… it was a bit of a mess. But don’t worry we are here to break it all down.

And then we talk about Ontario’s jails.

Our prisons are Dickensian hellholes - and it seems that the Toronto South Detention Centre is the worst.

Last month, in a damning decision, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that conditions at the Toronto South Detention Centre (TSDC) were “inhumane and fail to comport with basic standards of human decency.”  But this should be no surprise. Courts have described the Toronto jail as: unacceptable, shocking, deplorable, harsh, oppressive, degrading, disheartening, appalling, Dickensian, regressive and inexcusable.

But this time the court went one step further and found that the conditions at the TSDC were a “deliberate policy choice to treat offenders in an inhumane fashion” and that “the Ministry has clearly chosen to save money rather than heed judicial concerns about the lack of humane treatment of inmates.”

And with Bell’s ingenious #BellLetsTalk corporate marketing plan making its yearly appearance next week we take another look at how Bell profits of prisoners who suffer from mental illness.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So, episode 100 - a new record.  But you know that right? Because you subscribe to the show and have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

The Docket is 100 episodes old! Thank-you so much for all your support over the years.

On this last episode of the year we take a look at the SNC-Lavalin guilty plea. It seems that the politicians and their media surrogates still don’t get what this whole scandal was all about. Good think we are here to break down the whole debacle!

And then we move on to the double Ds - Doug Ford and Doug Downey - who were all smiles this week when they introduced their signature justice legislation, the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, billing it as a fix for Ontario's complex and outdated justice system. They said it would improve legal aid services and enhance access to justice, but it turns out that the bill does neither of these things and in the end it is really just another way to break Ontario’s legal aid system.

And that’s a wrap on 2019. Emilie and I hope everyone has a great holiday season. 2020 looks like it is going to be just as busy and hectic as 2019 was - and we will be here to talk about it all.

Remember: Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So, episode 99 - a new record.  

Emilie is back!

Ontario’s judicial appointments system is not broken, although Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s attorney general, Doug Downey, seems to be trying his best to destroy its credibility. Downey, you see, is attacking the current process because he thinks we should give him more latitude in appointing his preferred judges.

Last week on TVO’s The Agenda, Downey let his mask slip. He said he wanted to be able to pick judges who reflect the same values he has. Those values appear to be cruelly cutting legal aid; restricting access to justice; embracing the notwithstanding clause; talking tough on crime; and patronage.

This is why Downey and Ford want to fix what is not broken.

If it ain’t broke we can only conclude someone wants the fix to be in.

And the Federal Liberal government is taking Indigenous kids to court - again. This time the government was seeking a stay of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision that ordered Canada to pay compensation to individuals affected by Canada’s discriminatory child and family services funding practices.

The government lost its bid to delay compliance with the order. In the Courts words this could have “resulted in an even longer period of time to wait for the individuals who are expecting compensation.”

The Government’s appeal and continued litigation is pretty disgusting - so expect some fireworks.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So, episode 98 - a new record.  But you know that right? Because you subscribe and have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

With Emilie on the campaign trial - and Oh My Goodness she has been killing it - special guest, former Supreme Court judge, and current mother-in-law Louise Arbour joins Michael and steps up to the mic to break down the latest Supreme Court case.

In R. v. Poulin the Supreme Court interprets 11(i) of the Charter - and it is super interesting - we promise!

The Globe and Mail reported that the Supreme Court ruled Canadian judges have been too soft on punishment for 30 years. But did the Court really say that? And does the split decision stand up to a critical analysis.

Louise pulls no punches and even pulls back the curtains about how she made decisions when she was on Canada’s highest court.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So, episode 97 - a new record

Last week we were so thrilled to be invited to do a live show at the Ottawa Podcast Festival. It was a great time and there were some truly awesome podcasts in the lineup. And who doesn’t want to talk about SNC-Lavalin and the ethics commissioner at 10:30pm on a Saturday night!

This episode we open by talking about the hate incident at Ottawa Pride where a drag queen story time disrupted by anti-LGBTQ protester. The police have not charged the man who disrupted the show with a criminal offence. We wonder why the hell not.

We then talk about Doug Ford’s assault on legal aid and what Michael learned through his access to information request.

And then we dive into the ethics commissioner’s report on Trudeau’s attempted interference with the justice system in the SNC-Lavalin affair. It was a damning indictment of ethical lapses and some bullshit obfuscation by Trudeau. We have opinions.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So episode 96 - a new record. But you know that right? Because you have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

In the dog days of summer, as politicians hit the BBQ circuit, there Is nothing better to talk about than baseball and politics.

We lead off with a dissection of Elizabeth May’s strange ideas about the possibility of the government directing a judge to sentence SNC-Lavalin to do free work on indigenous water projects. The leader of the Green Party may not have thought this one through since she seems to be advocating the same political interference that she railed against a few short months ago. And then there is the practical problem. Even if SNC was sentenced to community service do we really want them overseeing the necessary upgrades indigenous communities desperately need to their water systems? Not so much.

Then is it on to the victim fine surcharge constitutional challenge 2.0. In 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory victim fines were unconstitutional and struck the law down, describing it as abhorrent and intolerable to society. But what about the millions of dollars of outstanding fine imposed under the cruel, abhorrent, and unconstitutional law? Well that’s why Michael is taking the government to court over the issue.

And then baseball. After a huge brawl last week we wonder why players are never charged criminally. The law would never allow grown men to throw punches in normal work places. Why is it ok on the field? And what about pitchers intentionally throwing at batters? Michael wrote about fighting in baseball for Canadian Lawyer Magazine and we go between the chalk to break down the issue..

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So episode 95 - a new record. But you know that right? Because you have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

It has been a hard couple of weeks. It is difficult to look in the mirror and confront racism and bias. But is is the only way to confront our countries deplorable, and on going, racism.

The final report of the Inquiry into Murdered and missing Indigenous Women and Girls was released last week. It was heartbreaking but also a breath of fresh air. The report opened with a bombshell - Canada is responsible for genocide against Indigenous people. Its true. Some may recoils in self defence but its true.

This episode, we look at the MMIWG final report, the use of the word genocide, and the Inquires calls to justice. We also talk about two separate Supreme Court decisions (Barton and Le), released in the days leading up the the MMIWG report, both decisions paint a picture of systemic racism in the justice system.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So episode 94 - a new record. But you know that right? Because you subscribe to the podcast - right? You should.

In this episode The Docket goes back to high school to answer a bunch of questions from the Grade 12 law class at Mackenzie Community School in Deep River. A huge thanks to Jodie Primeau for hooking us up with these awesome questions. The kids are going to be alright.

We also chat about our trip to Yellowknife, Doug Ford’s legal aid guarantee, and Michael’s campaign of harassment to hold the Premier to his promise.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

So episode 93 - a new record.  But you know that right? Because you subscribe to the show on iTunes and have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

Hey look we have a sponsor! Let the podcast money start rolling in! But seriously a huge thanks to Emond Publishing!

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

This week we sat down with the amazingly awesome immigration expert Jamie Liew to talk about some troubling immigration developments.

The federal Liberal government, breaking a couple election promises, have buried some troubling immigration law changes in an omnibus budget implementation bill. In short the Liberals have taken a hard right turn and closed the safe third country loophole - in the most unfair way possible.

At the same time Ontario premier Doug Ford slashed Legal Aid Ontario’s budget by 30 percent and has cut off all funding for immigration cases.

Dark days.

You may have noticed some awesome new Docket cover art. A huge thanks to Parker Mazerolle. You can get in touch with Parker on twitter (@MazerolleParker). And please let us know what you want to see in the next art updated (yes, it must include superhero Emilie).

So episode 92 - a new record.

Now you can join The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

SNC-Lavalin - the scandal that, just won’t die. Please make it stop.

We look at the ethics of Jody Wilson-Raybould recording her phone call with Michael Wernick. The ejection of Jane Philpott and Wilson-Raybould from the Liberal caucus. And breaking news - the disastrously stupid move by Justin Trudeau of threatening to sue Andrew Scheer for defamatory comments.

You may have noticed some awesome new Docket cover art. A huge thanks to Parker Mazerolle. You can get in touch with Parker on twitter (@MazerolleParker). And please let us know what you want to see in the next art updated ( yes, it must include superhero Emilie).