Dear Free Speech Warriors, Socrates had ideas—about life and government and religion—and he liked to express them to anyone willing to listen. Or who just happened to be standing nearby. He was tried, convicted, and killed for this behaviour. Faith Goldy has ideas—about life and government and religion—and she likes to express them to anyone […] More »

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) faced a monumental task: Not only did it need to build a credible recreational cannabis business to manage consumer demand, but it had to outflank the drug’s illicit market, all while undercutting head shops. In figuring out how to balance it all, the LCBO turned to its control-centric […] More »

Since the Trans Mountain Pipeline extension project was approved by the Trudeau government in 2016, the west coast’s Indigenous communities have fought to cease potential damages on their land. The project, which would extend the pipeline from Edmonton to the Vancouver area, runs through several First Nations communities in B.C. and Alberta—and protests have been […] More »

After months of public sexual misconduct allegation at all levels of government (and other industries) across Canada, the federal government is crafting a new bill to improve the process for reporting sexual harassment—and avoiding it in the first place. Patty Hajdu, minister of employment, workforce development and labour, introduced Bill C-65 in November 2017, garnering […] More »

The unpunished killing of 22-year-old Cree man Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan has raised serious questions about the legacy of colonialism in shaping settlerIndigenous relations. Gerald Stanley, the white farmer who faced murder charges after shooting Boushie on his land, was ultimately acquitted by an all-white jury in February. Stanley’s acquittal fits into a long pattern […] More »

When Indigenous leader Jody Wilson-Raybould became Minister of Justice in 2015, the former lawyer and B.C. regional chief was noted as a promising figure for reconciliation in Canada. Personally recruited by Justin Trudeau to run for federal office, she breezed through tricky files, like marijuana legalization and physician-assisted death, with little criticism. But one tweet […] More »

On a mild February afternoon in 2014, a pastor named Chris from the Maritimes sat outside his Jeep in a park near his home by the water, and smoked a joint. There was a sense of experimentation, curiosity even. Having never smoked weed as a teenager, Chris barely knew what he was doing. He got […] More »

On January 20, 2017, women across the globe marched in resistance following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The marches were symbols of protest, as a man with multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him had joined public office. As 2017 progressed, women began stepping forward, speaking up against misconduct, harassment, and rape, sparking an international movement, dubbed […] More »

When then-interim Conservative Party leader Rona Ambrose tabled a bill last February that would require all judges to be trained in sexual assault law, the idea was widely embraced by all parties. The motion followed a slew of incidents wherein Canadian judges displayed astonishing fogginess on what constitutes consent. In May 2017, with politicians and […] More »

In 2012, Conservative senator Mike Duffy was investigated for his claims of primary residency outside of Ottawa to collect outof-province living expenses. After being audited by the Senate and suspended without pay for two years, the RCMP laid 31 charges against him in 2014, including counts of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery. But after […] More »

For over a century, criminalized drugs have been demonized, as were the people who used and sold them. Criminalized drugs have long been linked to marginalized and racialized groups, who have been depicted as outsiders to the nation threatening moral Canadians. Politicians, law enforcement, media and vocal spokespeople fuelled drug scares and circulated fabrications and […] More »