LawCast BC

Ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we were honoured to speak with Hank Adam, an intergenerational residential school survivor speaker with the Orange Shirt Society. The Orange Shirt Society was formed in 2015 to create awareness of the individual, family and community intergenerational impacts of residential schools, to support reconciliation and to promote the truth that every child matters. In this episode, Hank Adam shares his story to raise awareness of the impact of...

Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Chong joins host Jon Festinger to talk about the government's use of "orders in council," legal secrecy and the unwritten rule of law on Parliament Hill. Michael Chong was first elected to Parliament in 2004 and represents the riding of Wellington-Halton Hills. He currently serves as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Official Opposition. He's previously served in the federal cabinet as President of the Queen’s Privy Council, Minister ...

Renowned criminal defence lawyer Marie Henein joins host Jon Festinger to talk about the role of lawyers, what influenced her to be a lawyer, and current threats to democracy and the rule of law that are taking place around the world. Marie Henein is a senior partner at Henein Hutchison LLP, recognized in Canadian Lawyer as one of the country’s Top Ten Litigation Boutiques. She has been interviewed on CBC’s The National, written for The Globe and Mail, and is a sought-after speaker. She rece...

Is everyone equal before the law? In light of the recent surge in anti-Asian racist events in BC, we take this episode to examine how racism was built into our legal system, discrimination in the legal profession and how that impacts everyone. Dr. Carol Liao joins Andrea Hilland, policy lawyer at the Law Society of BC, and host Jon Festinger for a roundtable chat on racism, equity, diversity and inclusion and the rule of law. Dr. Liao recently spoke about her experience as an Asian la...

In this new episode, our host Jon Festinger and Michael Lucas, director of policy and planning at the Law Society, take a look back at the first season of Rule of Law Matters and the events that have transpired since the podcast launched in September. They chatted about how this podcast began, whether the rule of law is a western concept that is applicable world wide, and recent threats to the rule of law in Hong Kong, Poland, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, and right here in Canada. ...

What exactly does a prosecutor do? And whose interests do they represent? Senior prosecutor Christopher McPherson, QC walks us through the role and duties of a prosecutor and the standards that must be met before prosecutors decide to lay a charge. We discuss the importance of prosecutorial independence, their separation from the investigation and the police, and why prosecutors don't represent the government's or the victims interests. Chris highlights the relationship prosecutors hav...

We welcome Micheal Vonn to talk to us about COVID-19 and returning to the new "normal." Micheal is Chief Executive Officer of PHS Community Services Society, which provides housing, healthcare, harm reduction and health promotion for some of the most vulnerable and under-served people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Victoria. Prior to that, she served as policy director of the BC Civil Liberties Association for more than 15 years. Micheal shared with us how she views the rule of law in...

In this episode, Supreme Court of BC's Justice David Crossin shares with us his insights on the role of judges and the courts in protecting our rights and freedoms. He touches on how important it is for judges to be independent and impartial, and warns against governments overseas who continue to exercise arbitrary power when they attempt to undermine confidence in the judiciary or when they seek to control judges. He also talks about how the pandemic and new technologies have ope...

We invite the Honourable Irwin Cotler back to speak about the impacts of authoritarianism, closer to home. Professor Cotler talked about recent events in the US, the mob attack on the Capitol building, and the rule of law implications. He also spoke about his time as special advisor to former Attorney General John Turner during the October Crisis in Canada in 1970, and the rationale for enacting the War Measures Act at the time. We then contrasted this Canadian historical event to what...

On International Data Privacy Day on January 28, we bring you this special episode, featuring remarks from lawyer Richard Peck, QC at our previous Rule of Law Lecture. He highlights modern technology’s invasion into our privacy, how it compromises our freedoms, and how it all relates to the rule of law. We’re also bringing him back for a short follow up interview. We ask him how things have changed over the past year, whether things are better or worse, and whether controlling the spread of C...

In this episode, Edmonton health lawyer Tracey Bailey and host Jon Festinger examine our rights and freedoms in the midst of a pandemic. Tracey walked us through some of the differences in legislation in BC and Alberta as it relates to emergency powers and explained the relationship between the medical officer and government officials. They also touched on some hot topics, like the orders that limit gatherings in our private homes, rules around mask wearing, and what fair vaccine distribution...

Earlier this year, BC ombudsperson Jay Chalke and his office found that two orders the BC government made in response to the pandemic were unlawful. In this episode, Jay explains the role of the ombudsperson in upholding the rule of law, how it helps people who have a concern with a government body, and why the public should care about how laws are made, enacted and implemented, even during a state of emergency. To read the ombudsperson's investigative report and to find out more, visi...

We welcome back renowned international human rights lawyer the Honourable Irwin Cotler to discuss several examples of what authoritarianism looks like in countries like China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He touched on the Chinese government’s treatment of Uighurs and the need for Canada and other countries to name it as genocide to oblige us to combat and prevent it. He also talked about the current dire situation of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, as well as blogger Raif Badawi and h...

In this episode, renowned international human rights lawyer Professor Irwin Cotler warns against the rise of authoritarianism in countries around the world, naming indicators such as erosion of the free press, criminalization of basic rights like free speech, and the imprisonment of lawyers. Adding to those dire circumstances, he noted that democratic nations are backsliding, becoming increasingly divided and polarized. He also walks us through his early influences and how those experiences s...

President Craig Ferris and Jon Festinger discuss what it means for lawyers to be independent, why lawyers must represent their clients’ interests, and what could happen if lawyers are threatened for just doing their jobs.