CCF staff write on a variety of policy areas from a mostly legal viewpoint. Our staff often focus on policy issues related to the legal cases we support.
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Toronto criminal lawyer Thomas Surmanski is worried that the near shutdown of Ontario courts between mid-March and early July due to Covid-19 will make the already-painful trial delays that his clients suffer from even longer. Surmanski was supposed to defend a client at a two-week trial planned for June. He
Are taxpayers entitled to know how much money the government has spent on a court battle that has been going on for more than 10 years? That is the question before the B.C. Court of Appeal on June 24. The Canadian Constitution Foundation, a charitable organization that brought this case
The Government of British Columbia really doesn’t want you to know how much the government has spent since 2009 fighting against patients suffering on waiting lists who want their Charter right to timely treatment. And lawyers representing the CCF were in the Court of Appeal for British Columbia this week for the
The Government of British Columbia really doesn’t want you to know how much the government has spent since 2009 fighting against patients suffering on waiting lists who want their Charter right to timely treatment. And lawyers representing the CCF will be in the Court of Appeal for British Columbia this Wednesday, June
Last week, New Brunswick’s minority government proposed changes to its Emergency Measures Act that, if passed, would allow the minister of public safety and attorney general to “suspend the operation of or amend or supersede” many of the province’s laws at the stroke of a pen. Lyle Skinner, a University of New Brunswick law
Covid-19 spreads easily in crowded spaces, so when the virus arrived in Toronto’s homeless shelters in March, a charity group responded by handing out tents. The idea was to give homeless people a way to practice physical distancing, potentially saving their lives. Soon after, tent cities started popping up under
This article by CCF Executive Director Joanna Baron was originally published in the National Post. While the urge to close down some provincial borders to stop the spread of COVID-19 is understandable, such restrictions on the free movement of Canadians are draconian and arguably unconstitutional, and they are causing real
Public health officials and politicians across Canada have been strongly encouraging people to wear cloth face-coverings in places where it’s not possible to maintain two metres of physical distance. The goal is to slow the spread of Covid-19. Many believe that strong encouragement isn’t enough. Some argue that Canada should
Cody Haller, an Alberta oilsands workers, is skeptical of his government’s response to Covid-19. He worries that prolonged shutdowns of businesses are doing unnecessary damage to the province’s already ailing economy. To make his views known, Haller got up early on May 10 and went to a plaza outside the
