law ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

Things Are Good: Jaywalking Shouldn’t be Illegal

Mar

13

2018

So far in 2018 a car driver has killed a person every week; if this continues Toronto will see yet another year in which more people die from vehicles than guns. Automobile advocates argue that it’s the victim’s fault for dying and demand stricter punishment for trivial things like jaywalking. Clearly, the debate in Canada ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Magical Thinkers: Horgan and Kenney

Feb

25

2018

I’m not sure what’s more bizarre, BC Premier John Horgan’s rationale for asking the BC Supreme Court to rule on whether BC can limit the amount of diluted bitumen flowing on Trans Mountain or Jason Kenney’s reaction to Horgan’s decision to take the issue to court. Magical molecules Horgan defended his decision to refer the ...

The Canadian Progressive: Why is a quarter of Canada’s prison population Indigenous?

Feb

23

2018

The recent decision by an all-white jury to acquit Gerald Stanley, the killer of Colten Boushie calls on us all to confront systematic racism and demand reforms to Canada’s justice system, which “works against Indigenous people at every level”. The post Why is a quarter of Canada’s prison population Indigenous? appeared first on The Canadian ...

Susan on the Soapbox: An Unfathomable Darkness — The Gerald Stanley Verdict

Feb

11

2018

“There is a darkness that exists in this country and I believe we are going to have to feel our way out of it.” — Chris Murphy, lawyer for the Boushie family The verdict that found Gerald Stanley not guilty of any crime, not even manslaughter, in the shooting death of Colten Boushie leaves me ...

Things Are Good: Cyclists Obey the Law More Than Drivers

Jan

31

2018

Cyclists are law disobeying maniacs! At least that’s a common and all too nasty rumour in North American cities. It turns out that car drivers are the maniacs according to a study fresh out of Florida. The study, the largest of it’s kind, put sensors on cyclists which monitored their behaviour and that of cars ...

Susan on the Soapbox: #Metoo?

Jan

28

2018

Can we talk? Many men (and some women) worry that the #metoo movement has morphed into a man-hating witch hunt where innocent men will be publicly humiliated and deprived of their livelihoods by vindictive women spreading unfounded accusations. They point to the fate of three Canadian politicians, Ont PC leader, Patrick Brown and NS PC ...

Things Are Good: Courts vs. Climate Change

Jan

11

2018

New York City launched a lawsuit against some of the larger polluters on the planet to cover the costs the city faces due to climate change (projected to be over $20 billion USD). A decade ago this case would likely have been thrown out, today with the effects of climate change so overt this case ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Rule of Law in An Age of Fear

Jan

8

2018

“He who puts security before liberty deserves neither.” –Dennis Edney Q.C. quoting Benjamin Franklin Last week Dennis Edney Q.C. delivered the 2018 Milvain Lecture at the University of Calgary. His topic was The Rule of Law in an Age of Fear and his defence of Omar Khadr. Edney discussed the dangerous rise of populist politicians ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Who’s the Real Enemy?

Dec

3

2017

“You’re either with us or against us.” — Benito Mussolini First the UCP demanded the Premier ignore the rules of the House, then they accused her of being against rural Albertans and siding with the criminals because she refused to ignore the rules of the House. Do these guys even know the rules of the ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Whole Gay Thing

Apr

9

2017

Recently Brad Trost and Jason Kenney made some troubling comments about the whole gay thing and the progressives just won’t let it go. Trost, a “full spectrum” conservative, believes in all three conservative values: social conservatism, fiscal conservatism, and democratic populist conservatism. He recently shared his views on “the whole gay thing” in a campaign ...

The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Senator Plett Reprises His Complaints on Bill C-16

Mar

5

2017

Whether we are talking about Bill C-16, Bill C-279 or Bill C-389, there has been one consistent thing in the Senate – the voice of Senator Plett droning on about how terrible this legislation is. This week, second reading of Bill C-16 happened in the Senate, and sure enough Senator Plett had to stick his ...

The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Senator Plett Reprises His Complaints on Bill C-16

Mar

5

2017

Whether we are talking about Bill C-16, Bill C-279 or Bill C-389, there has been one consistent thing in the Senate – the voice of Senator Plett droning on about how terrible this legislation is. This week, second reading of Bill C-16 happened in the Senate, and sure enough Senator Plett had to stick his ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Kellie Leitch: An Example of “New Racism”

Feb

5

2017

On Sept 7, 2016 Kellie Leitch posted a tweet in which she shared an article that appeared in Macleans magazine. The article set out her proposal to vet all newcomers to Canada for “anti-Canadian values”. On January 29, 2017 six Muslim men were murdered in a Quebec mosque by a white Canadian man who apparently ...

Things Are Good: The Quick and Powerful Response by the ACLU

Jan

30

2017

Image via Reddit. Over the weekend President Trump enacted what has come to be known as the Muslim Ban. Immediately protestors took to their nearby airports in act of solidarity with the people affected by Trump’s outrageous actions against migration. The protests are continuing today at American consulates and embassies around the world. This is ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Viola Desmond: The Perfect Choice

Dec

11

2016

Viola Desmond is the first Canadian woman to be featured on our bank notes. We know the outline of her story—Ms Desmond was arrested, jailed and convicted for refusing to leave the whites-only section of a movie theatre. Her story speaks to the pernicious nature of racism in Canada and how it impacts those who ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Calgary Police Service: Allegations of Harassment and Intimidation

Oct

30

2016

If you’ve ever wondered why women are reluctant to bring forward allegations of sexual harassment, look no further than the furor unleashed when 15 female police officers contacted city councillor and police commissioner Diane Colley-Urquhart to discuss sexual harassment and the culture of intimidation and retaliation they’d experienced at the Calgary Police Service. Ms Colley-Urquhart ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Brian Jean Makes a Joke

Sep

4

2016

Two things happened this week that reflect very poorly on the judgment of Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean and his supporters. The first was The Joke. The second was his apology for The Joke. Let’s take them in turn. The joke… You all know the story. Mr Jean was at a Wildrose forum in Fort ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The NDP’s Power Play: Myths and Facts

Aug

7

2016

Alberta’s NDP government wants to save Albertans $2 billion and the Wildrose, the Progressive Conservatives and the media are churning up a dust storm of misinformation trying to stop them. Let’s take it from the top, shall we? Klein deregulates the power industry In 2000 Premier Klein boldly went where few had gone before—he deregulated ...

Things Are Good: The Future Is Now Relevant In American Courts

Jun

14

2016

There’s a new tactic for environmentalists using the court system to change the world: argue that the government has a responsibility to protect people. The argument environmentalists can use is broadly known as “public trust” and how it relates to certain institutions and what they do. It is basically the notion that we a citizens ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Physician Assisted Dying: How the SCC got there

Jun

9

2016

It’s a paradox. Your right to die is an affirmation of your right to live. In a unanimous decision of astonishing clarity the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decided that the Criminal Code prohibition on physician-assisted dying violates your Charter rights to life, liberty and security. Here’s how they did it. Section 7: right to ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Wildrose and PCs Weigh In On Medically Assisted Dying

Jun

5

2016

We’ve seen a lot of fireworks in the Alberta Legislature but nothing can match the rhetoric and misinformation that characterized the response of the Wildrose (and to a lesser extent the Progressive Conservatives) to the government’s motion to regulate medical assistance in dying. Background On Feb 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Ghomeshi’s Apology

May

12

2016

It’s over. Yesterday Jian Ghomeshi signed a peace bond and apologized to Kathryn Borel. The Crown dropped the sexual assault charge. Here’s Mr Ghomeshi’s apology and Ms Borel’s reply. Ghomeshi’s apology I want to apologize to Ms. Borel for my behaviour towards her in the workplace. In the last 18 months, I have spent a ...

Scripturient: O tempora, o mores!

Apr

26

2016

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum. Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote those words in the short book about a Roman court case, Pro Lucio Murena (For Lucius Murena). They mean, in English, Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Justice Abella a.k.a. Rock Star

Mar

6

2016

Rosalie Silberman never wanted to be a judge. But the phone kept ringing. Would she like to be a Family Court judge? She was 29 and pregnant but sure, why not. How about heading up the Royal Commission on Women’s Affirmative Action? Yes, but let’s expand the scope to include aboriginals, visible minorities and the ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Ezra Levant: Once a lawyer always a lawyer?

Feb

28

2016

Ms Soapbox is grateful to Ezra Levant (and that’s not an easy thing to say). Thanks to Ezra she’s discovered that journalism is not a profession (actually she suspected it all along); she’s also learned that “once a lawyer always a lawyer” until the Law Society says otherwise. Levant’s resignation There may be 50 ways ...