Pulse
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October 21, 2025
When one sentencing objective trumps others
Some critics of our criminal justice system argue that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms functions like a “get out of jail free” card. However, the fact that someone’s Charter rights have been violated does not automatically lead to an acquittal if charges are laid and pursued. The case of Shaun Brabant illustrates this point.
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October 21, 2025
Neurodivergence, neurodiversity and inclusion
The law is often perceived as logical, precise and rigid, yet some exceptional legal minds defy these expectations. Across Canada, the legal profession is experiencing a long-overdue realization that brilliance comes in a variety of forms and neurological flavours.
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October 20, 2025
Perils of lost or destroyed evidence: Lessons from Nygård stay for criminal defence in Canada
In criminal prosecutions, the loss or destruction of evidence can strike at the very foundation of the right to a fair trial. The recent decision to stay charges against Peter Nygård highlights how significant these issues can be, and why defence counsel across Canada must remain alert to them.
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October 20, 2025
Marie-Joëlle Soulières appointed judge in Quebec
Quebec Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette has announced the appointment of Marie-Joëlle Soulières as a judge of the Court of Quebec.
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October 20, 2025
Jordan Goldblatt joins Law Foundation of Ontario’s class proceedings committee
The Law Foundation of Ontario has announced that Jordan Goldblatt has been appointed to its class proceedings committee.
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October 20, 2025
View from inside prison: What to do if your friend is arrested
About 250,000 people are charged with a crime in Canada every year. Estimates are that about four million Canadian adults have a criminal record. That’s about one in eight adults, and probably about one in five or six adult men. Which means that most of us know someone — quite possibly more than one person — who has been convicted of a crime.
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October 20, 2025
The challenges of being a lawyer with ADHD
People with ADHD are often drawn to law school because they are bright, competitive and thrive under pressure. They can be very successful throughout their education because they are able to put all their energy — and that wonderful ability to hyper-focus — into their studies. Once they graduate, however, they are faced with the realities of legal practice.
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October 20, 2025
The Major Projects Office, Bill C-5 and the limits of Indigenous ‘advisory’
Bill C-5 received royal assent in June 2025. The process was swift and not without criticism. Now, the implementation of this new legislation, the Building Canada Act, raises more questions and concerns about what is lost at the sake of expediency.
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October 17, 2025
Cross examination: Don’t ask … less is more?
“Were you lying then or are you lying now or are you a chronic and habitual liar?”— Sir Wilfred Robarts (Charles Laughton) from the film Witness for the Prosecution
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October 17, 2025
Law Society of Ontario: Time to wipe the slate or start over with a new one?
As the originator of the idea to run a slate in the 2019 Law Society of Ontario bencher election, I am not sorry I did so. Slates have been blamed for everything from “open warfare” in convocation to the supposed erosion of public confidence in the legal profession. In a March 2023 edition of SLAW, one writer called the idea of lawyers organizing and debating as groups “repugnant.” He predicted that visible disagreement among factions of lawyers would lead to public distrust.