Verdicts & Voices

How should Canadian courts incorporate Indigenous cultural and legal practices? Why might some judges be reluctant to do so? And are we moving toward a tri-jural system in which Indigenous legal orders exist alongside civil and common law?

To mark National Indigenous Peoples Day, we’re replaying a discussion from June 2025 with two chief justices for whom these questions are front and centre: Leonard Marchand of the BC and Yukon Courts of Appeal and Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench. 

Notes:

Chief Justice Joyal’s Announcement of the Court of Queen’s Bench’s Trust, Reconciliation and Access to Justice Committee

British Columbia Court of Appeal Reconciliation Framework

CBA submission to the BC Supreme Court’s Reconciliation Working Group

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.

Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the CBA.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this final episode of the spring, three law students discuss their reasons for studying law, their first forays into law firms, and their impressions of a changing profession and a tumultuous world. See you in September!

Maria Kalapurayil just graduated from the University of Alberta. Sophie Poitras has one year under her belt at the Université de Moncton. And with one year to go at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, Justine Morin-Laporte chairs CBA Quebec’s student section.

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.

Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1976, when Harvey Brownstone told his mother he was gay, she became “volcanic” and kicked him out of the house. He spent five years on welfare, without stealing – much. Somehow, though, he got a law degree from Queens, clerked for a young Rosalie Abella, and became Canada’s first openly gay judge in 1995. Now, in retirement, his celebrity interview show has 70 000 YouTube subscribers, and the memoir he just released is being made into a movie starring David Arquette.

As Pride season begins, Harvey joins the pod to discuss his cinematic life, the clubby Canadian legal world of the late 20th century, and the role of the judge as public educator.

Notes:

Without Prejudice: My Life as a Gay Judge by Harvey Brownstowne

Harvey Brownstown Interviews…

Find out about CBA Pride initiatives and the CBA’s Sexual and Gender Diversity Alliance Section (SAGDA)

 

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.

Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Supreme Court of Canada issued a landmark decision earlier this month that created a new tort of family violence. This means people who have suffered harm due to intimate partner violence will be able to seek damages. The 6-3 decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia was more than a year in the making. What will it mean for victims and legal professionals?    

Shelley Hounsell is a family law lawyer and senior counsel at Presse Mason in Halifax. Vanessa Lam provides specialized legal advice and research to other family law practitioners through her firm, Lam Family Law, in Markham, Ontario. Both previously appeared on the podcast in February 2025 to talk about this issue.

Notes:

2026 SCC 16 (CanLII) | Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia | CanLII

Verdicts and Voices: The use of AI at the Federal Court, the tort of family violence, and R v. Drybones | Verdicts & Voices

 

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.

Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Since the Supreme Court’s 1999 Gladue decision, sentencing judges in Canada are supposed to consider the “unique systemic or background factors” that bring Indigenous people in contact with the law. The idea is to reduce Indigenous overincarceration and promote alternative sanctions. But how does this work in a place like Nunavut, where the trauma of colonialism affects just about everyone, and scarce infrastructure exists for non-carceral penalties? In cases of gender-based violence, in particular, are Inuit women being sacrificed on “the altar of reconciliation?”

After a career in criminal law as both a prosecutor and defence counsel, Neil Sharkey spent 15 years as a judge, including eight as Nunavut’s Chief Justice. Qajaq Robinson is a Nunavummiuq human rights lawyer and workplace investigator who served as a commissioner on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. In the inquiry’s final report, Call to Action 5.17 urged a thorough evaluation of Gladue principles as they relate to violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people.

Notes:

The Path is the CBA’s Indigenous cultural awareness course. It addresses topics including Gladue principles and alternative justice systems.

The CBA’s Gladue and Beyond Resource Guide is a free resource designed to accompany the module of The Path that covers Indigenous Peoples and the Criminal Legal System.

In December 2025, the Supreme Court heard R. v. Cope, which deals with the application of Gladue principles in a case of gender-based violence.

 

Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.

Views expressed are not necessarily those of the CBA.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.