Episode 25: What the heck is going on at the Supreme Court of Canada?

Not Reserving Judgment

On Episode 25, we explain why last week's Supreme Court decision on Indigenous child welfare preserves an important constitutional principle; we walk you through the Federal Court's feisty opinion declaring that cabinet is breaching a constitutional convention by not appointing enough judges; and we discuss our theories on why the Supreme Court is deciding so few cases these days.

Stories and cases discussed in this week's episode:

• Reference re An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families
• Two more provinces join in opposition to gun buyback program that 'unnecessarily targets lawful gun owners'
• Hameed v. Canada (Prime Minister) (Federal Court decision on judicial vacancies)
• Federal Court rules Ottawa failed constitutional duty to fill judicial vacancies
• SCC’s output fell to 34 judgments in 2023, renewing questions, concerns within the bar
• Judge overturns convictions of B.C. woman, accused of coughing on grocery worker
• Christine's tweet about the CBC Kids story on Emergencies Act decision
• Paul Champ's tweet criticizing the Ottawa Police Service

Not Reserving Judgment is a podcast about Canadian constitutional law hosted by Josh Dehaas, Joanna Baron, and Christine Van Geyn.

The show is brought to you by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a non-partisan legal charity dedicated to defending rights and freedoms. To support our work, visit theccf.ca/donate.