Blog posts by @nigelb.bsky.social are always worth a read, especially when they involve my favourite river. Nigel concludes that the CRT modernization “disproportionately benefit[s] the US … at the expense of ecosystem values, Canadian priorities, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”
A thorough examination by colleague jenniferkoshan@bsky.social of recent cases involving provinces that preemptively invoked the Charter's notwithstanding clause, & the interesting legal arguments currently being made to keep our rights and freedoms effective.
Beyond such declarations, the AG Canada has also argued for substantive limits on the application of the notwithstanding clause that should be taken seriously, as have unions and other civil society organizations. All to be considered later this month at the SCC.
In this @ablawg.bsky.social post I discuss litigation in AB, SK & QB that challenges the preemptive use of the notwithstanding clause. I agree with the SKCA’s approach that the Charter was not written in disappearing ink and courts continue to play an important role in declaring Charter violations
Thanks Glen!
And she didn’t restrict herself to the CJ’s reasons. “Anyone in the world who shows up in Canada and makes an asylum claim is entitled to free subsidized daycare if citizens get it too, said all but one judge of the Supreme Court on Friday.” Pedalling xenophobia. The AB premier will no doubt jump on
And the good news is that the SCC majority in Kanyinda undertook an intersectional analysis focused on women refugee claimants. Section 15 Charter wins continue to be reason for celebration given the ongoing uncertainties with the Court’s commitment to equality rights, and with governments’ too.
Please join us on April 10th, 2026 for the 29th Annual Osgoode Constitutional Cases Conference.
An exceptional program of speakers will critically engage with the recent caselaw, and the peerless Jeremy Waldron will deliver the annual Laskin Lecture.
Registration: www.yorku.ca/osgoode/conc...
This is so very sad. Thanks for sharing, Nigel. What a loss.
😭
Thank goodness for wifi on airplanes. ❤️
So many rotten somethings…
A very hard hitting @ablawg.bsky.social post on the new limits on public consultation and the disappearance of previous studies of similar resort proposals from the NRCB website. Shaun Fluker appears to have uncovered something rotten in the state of Alberta…
And another new post from guest author Kent McNeil on issues surrounding recognition of Aboriginal title in Wolastoqey Nations v NB and Canada.
This post went up earlier this week and deals with the arcane but fascinating topic of “received law” in Alberta. Meaning received from the colonizers, and surprisingly, still applicable in some instances. We are lucky to have @ablawreform.bsky.social to delve into such topics.
“The fact that this tragic event in #TumblerRidge immediately inspired calls for restrictions on gender-affirming care and trans rights at large in Canada should raise huge alarm bells for trans people and our allies.”
Horrified at the misinformation and hate that is being spewed right now. Sending love, strength and solidarity to trans folks and their communities. 🏳️⚧️
I agree with my colleagues. The ACLRC is an invaluable part of our legal community. Its Executive Director of 30 years, Linda McKay-Panos, built it into a critical resource. Linda died in 2024, and I am heartbroken to see such callous disregard for her legacy and for civil liberties in Alberta.
😢
"Democracy & justice in Alberta are being threatened. Alberta is being abused by its own government much the same way the United States of America is being abused by its current president."
Over 180 Lawyers have penned an open letter calling out Smith's attack on the law.
#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
“If the Government of Alberta is genuinely concerned about access to justice, it should invest in court infrastructure rather than leverage funding to advance demands that are inconsistent with the Constitution.”
Canadian Bar Association
#AbLeg
cba.org/our-impact/s...
And this! The ACLRC is part of our law school. Part of the community. Supports access to justice in numerous ways. And now another target of the UCP’s ideological warfare.
So Smith claims Alberta has “distinct legal traditions” as the basis of her threat to withhold $$ for new judicial appointments without more say. It increasingly feels like the distinct legal tradition here is absence of the rule of law, though that is pretty new.
apple.news/AEaOehjN7TtK...
A statement from Alberta’s chief justices: “A properly functioning democracy requires three separate branches of government that exercise their power and authority independently according to the Constitution…” This should go without saying, but they had to say it
www.albertacourts.ca/kb/resources...
Absolutely! But failing the UCP doing the right thing (!), it is excellent to see advocacy organizations pushing back at the use of the notwithstanding clause. Groups like Egale and Skipping Stone should not have to expend their scarce resources on this, but we are fortunate that they are.
An image in muted colours showing vague aesthetic animated illustrations of a light-brown-skinned man with curly hair, Black woman with a short afro, and red-headed white woman sitting in various poses on, respectively, a reclined chair, a bench, and a stool, in front of and facing an abstract geometrical image, as if considering it and mid-discussion about it.
The People's Consultation on AI launched today! Whether you have in-depth expertise in AI issues, or don't consider yourself an "expert" but have firsthand experience with AI or its impacts and want to have your say, this is for you. Participate by March 15, 2026: www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca
“Why should a portion of the interest in a landlord’s trust account stop accruing to the tenant’s benefit and start accruing instead to the landlord’s benefit just because the tenancy ended? … Why should it now have the free use of a tenant’s money as an investment?”
New Post: The New Brunswick Court of Appeal Weighs in on Aboriginal Title and Private Lands
ablawg.ca/2026/01/14...…nd-private-lands/
Equality nerds! Joshua Sealy Harrington and I wrote a chapter on s 15 of the Charter for The Canadian Constitutional Law Open Access Casebook, 2nd ed (Richard Moon, Howard Kislowicz, and Asha Kaushal, eds), that is now available on SSRN as a handy reference: ssrn.com/abstract=603....
