Two neighbouring provinces are running a live experiment on professional regulation, and the results could shape how Canadians think about law societies, licensing bodies, and government power. We walk through British Columbia’s Legal Professions Act changes, including the shift in what the Law Society is being asked to prioritize, and how that ties into disputes over mandatory cultural competency and sensitivity training for lawyers.

Then we cross into Alberta, where Bill 13, the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, lands like a hard reset. The law sets out a “neutrality” framework that rejects assigning privilege or disadvantage based on enumerated personal characteristics or beliefs, and it specifically blocks regulators from mandating training on topics like cultural competency, unconscious bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Put beside BC’s approach, it’s a stark policy split, and it raises a bigger question: what happens to independent regulation when politics starts writing the regulator’s mission?

We also shift to criminal law and a case with an ordinary trigger and an extraordinary outcome. A dispute over an e-bike, a shove, a fall, and a death days later led to a manslaughter conviction, with the key issue being defence of property under Criminal Code section 35, not self-defence. We unpack the “reasonable in the circumstances” standard, the modified objective test, and why appeals courts usually won’t redo a trial judge’s judgment call.

If you care about legal rights, regulatory independence, Canadian criminal law, and where “reasonable force” really sits in practice, this one will stay with you. Subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review, then tell us: should governments ever steer professional regulators this directly?

Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A hyperlink and headline can change the stakes of a professional disagreement. We talk through a Victoria-based defamation lawsuit against the Law Society of British Columbia after a lawyer proposes changing mandatory Indigenous cultural competency training language about the Kamloops residential school from an asserted discovery of 215 bodies to wording focused on potential unmarked burial sites. When the Law Society links to a statement titled “Racist Resolution,” the dispute moves from policy and training content into reputational harm, defamation law, and what it means for a regulator to speak publicly during controversy.

From there, we dig into the mechanics that actually drive cases forward: pleadings, applications to strike “scandalous” material, and why a judge would order certain loaded words removed before a jury trial. We also connect the litigation to bigger governance questions in BC, including the Legal Professions Act and the push to embed reconciliation and UNDRIP implementation into the Law Society’s core duties, alongside concerns about preserving the independence of the legal profession from government control.

Then we switch gears to a surprisingly human problem with very real dollars attached: a liveaboard boat owner dies, the vessel sits in a Victoria marina for months, and the marina uses lien legislation under the Commercial Liens Act to secure payment and move toward sale. We unpack what counts as “storage,” why shore power can be essential, and how a redacted legal bill can backfire when a judge needs evidence to assess fairness and avoid double recovery.

If you care about Canadian defamation law, lawyer regulation in British Columbia, Indigenous reconciliation policy, UNDRIP, or practical disputes like marina liens and moorage fees, you’ll want to hear how these decisions get made. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, leave a review, and tell us: when institutions speak, how careful do they have to be with their words?

Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

Someone dies, and the person beside them makes a choice that shocks everyone: no call for help, no report, just a body hidden away. We unpack a BC Provincial Court sentencing decision under Criminal Code section 182, the offence of offering an indignity to a dead body or human remains, and why the judge calls the conduct inherently serious even though there’s no finding that the accused caused the death. Along the way, we break down aggravating versus mitigating factors, the role of remorse and an early guilty plea, and how Gladue principles shape the court’s understanding of moral blameworthiness.

We also talk about the realities that don’t fit neatly into legal categories: addiction, fear, and the ripple effects on family and community when a person is treated as “missing” for weeks. The sentencing math matters too, including enhanced credit for time served because of brutal protective custody conditions that resemble solitary confinement, and why the court still concludes that a conditional sentence at home would not meet denunciation and deterrence.

Then the conversation swings to administrative justice and the BC Court of Appeal: a Whole Foods probationary firing that turns into years of litigation through the Workers’ Compensation system, judicial review, and parallel Human Rights Tribunal proceedings. We explain security for costs, why courts sometimes require it when an appeal is virtually without merit, and why overlapping tribunals can create expensive duplication. We close with a clear primer on habeas corpus under Charter section 10(c) and a key limit: when the Court of Appeal can, and cannot, appoint counsel. If you care about Canadian law, access to justice, and how courts balance principle with real life, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with the question you want us to tackle next.

Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.