This week, on his final day in office, Prime Minister Trudeau released a brief position paper on the future direction of the RCMP. This unexpected announcement called for a narrower mandate for the Force, with Provinces taking over responsibility for community policing when current contracts with the RCMP expire in 2032.
Author Paul Palango and lawyer Adam Rodgers discuss the White Paper, its timing, whether the new Prime Minister is likely to adopt the recommendations, and what the report gets right and wrong.
Also discussed - St. Patrick's Day, the Ides of March, the five year anniversary of the pandemic, and the Gretzky-Ovechkin dynamic.

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This week, Paul and Adam discuss the CBC story of the Black Hawk helicopters the RCMP has been renting to patrol the border, which have resulted in one non-fentynal arrest. Also, there have been two recent in-custody deaths in Halifax involving police tasering. Why is that happening? Also discussed, NY Police are targeting crime hotspots. Is that racial profiling, or good policing? Finally, Paul has more thoughts on Wayne Gretzky having others defending him, and we chat about sports gambling commercials.

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This week, the Chief Justice of the Federal Court released his decision on PM Trudeau's request to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. I discuss the case, and the intersection of law and politics it describes. Also, in Nova Scotia cases, a registered nurse at the NS Hospital wins a defamation case against the mother of a patient who slandered her on Facebook (Terris v. Meisner), elementary school gym teacher Steve Hutchings defends himself against historical allegations of sexual abuse, an Afghan stowaway is deported for the third time (R. v. Kazimi), and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland NS is holding an event on intimate partner violence, but seem unwilling to speak plainly about the issue.

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1. NS Mass Casualty Commission 'Progress' Monitoring Committee
2. Foreign Interference Inquiry (with final report expected early next week)
3. Eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Federal Electoral Boundaries Federal Court decision
4. Federal Court decision on the invocation of the Emergencies Act during the trucker/freedom convoy protests
5. Liberal gov't efforts to pass the Online Harms Act
6. Michigan parents convicted of involuntary manslaughter after their child commits school shooting
7. Bedford school stabbing plea and sentencing
8. NS Provincial Court Judge Rickola Brinton's failed lawsuit and delayed cases after she refused to take the covid vaccine
9. Ruck Report of racism in the NS Bar Society
10. Desmond Inquiry Report

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Check out this preview of my top stories of 2024, along with thoughts on the Cape Breton Canso Antigonish Conservative nomination, and how the Conservatives are using Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to attempt to put a non-confidence motion before Parliament before the end of January.

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It was an intense week in Canadian federal politics, starting with the resignation of the finance minister, and ending with a statement from the leader of the NDP declaring that they would vote down the government at the next opportunity.

I share my thoughts on the significance of Christina Freelend’s decision (comparing it to a bail surety rendering on an accused person), the impact of Jagmeet Singh’s announcement that the government had lost its final supporter in Parliament, and the questionable legitimacy of any request to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament under these circumstances.

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