The Advocates’ Quarterly, a Canadian Journal for Practitioners of Civil Litigation, has published my paper, “The Paradoxical Presumption of Constitutionality” in its March 2017 edition. The paper, which was also published on this website, argues that the presumption of constitutionality has entered a paradoxical state, in that it simultaneously applies to one part of the Constitution (the division of powers ...

The Runnymede Society launched its new podcast Runnymede Radio today. Runnymede Radio features conversations with leading scholars, judges, and legal thinkers. Some of the first guests include Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, Dr. Leonid Sirota of the award-winning Double Aspect Blog, and Professor Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto. The podcast is available ...

Please join the Runnymede Society– University of Toronto Faculty of Law for a very special talk with the Hon. Justice Marc Nadon, entitled “Judging and the Rule of Law.” The talk will be held on Thursday, March 16th at 12:30 pm in Jackman Law– J125. Lunch will be served: please RSVP by March 13th to jbaron@runnymedesociety.ca We look forward to ...

In January, Chief Justice Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench gave an address at the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s Law & Freedom Conference entitled “The Charter and Canada’s New Political Culture: Are We All Ambassadors Now?” The text of the address was published on this website at the time. The Canadian Constitution Foundation has now released the video of the ...

Legal professor, proficient blogger, ARL contributor, and self-described “law nerd” Léonid  Sirota recently gave a talk at Université de Montréal on the subject of constitutional originalism. This well-received talk was hosted by the Runnymede Society and can be viewed here. Mr. Sirota’s talk was based upon two excellent papers that he co-wrote with Benjamin Oliphant, one of which has been published ...

On January 7, 2017, I had the honour of discussing and debating s.121 of the Constitution Act, 1867 with the prolific columnist and intellectual, John Robson, and Ian Blue Q.C., counsel for the defendant in the now famous case, R. v. Comeau. The debate was part of the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s Law & Freedom Conference, which took place between January ...

Advocates for the Rule of Law finally has a twitter presence! If you use twitter, follow @ARLCanada to receive updates on all ARL articles, commentary and news items.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation will host its annual Law & Freedom Conference between January 6 – 8, 2017. The conference will be held at Hart House at the University of Toronto, which located at 7 Hart House Circle. This year’s speakers include the Honourable Chief Justice Glenn D. Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, Professor Emmett Macfarlane of ...

You’re invited to join the University of Toronto Runnymede Society Chapter on Tuesday, October 11th for a debate between two leading Canadian public intellectuals on the currently pending issue of electoral reform! Peter Loewen, School of Public Policy and Governance, will argue that first past the post has proven advantageous in our highly regionalized democracy, we should not be quick to abandon it. ...

I am deeply honoured to have been nominated for Samara’s Everyday Political Citizen, an annual contest that profiles ordinary people working to strengthen their communities and our democracy. This nomination is a reflection of the good work ARL has done over the last two years and I share it with all the ARL members and everyone else who has helped contribute to ...