Ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we were honoured to speak with Hank Adam, an intergenerational residential school survivor speaker with the Orange Shirt Society. The Orange Shirt...

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as Chat GPT continue to make headlines. Numerous industries, including the legal one, are already feeling the impacts and implications of AI, as well as exploring its potential.We have ...

Discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment, in the workplace are serious problems in society, and the legal profession is not immune to it. As the regulatory body for lawyers, the Law Society has an important role in ensuring la...

In this episode, we are going to talk about one of the most critical areas the Law Society is addressing – meaningful Indigenous reconciliation and cultural safety.In July 2023, the Law Society's board of Benchers approved recommendatio...

A national survey was published last year on the state of legal professionals’ mental health. More than half of respondents in BC reported experiencing psychological distress and many of them said they did not seek help despite needing it. &nbs...

Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Chong joins host Jon Festinger to talk about the government's use of "orders in council," legal secrecy and the unwritten rule of law on Parliament Hill. Michael Chong was first elected to ...

Renowned criminal defence lawyer Marie Henein joins host Jon Festinger to talk about the role of lawyers, what influenced her to be a lawyer, and current threats to democracy and the rule of law that are taking place around the world.Ma...

Is everyone equal before the law? In light of the recent surge in anti-Asian racist events in BC, we take this episode to examine how racism was built into our legal system, discrimination in the legal profession and how that impacts everyone. ...

In this new episode, our host Jon Festinger and Michael Lucas, director of policy and planning at the Law Society, take a look back at the first season of Rule of Law Matters and the events that have transpired since the podcast launched in Sep...

What exactly does a prosecutor do? And whose interests do they represent? Senior prosecutor Christopher McPherson, QC walks us through the role and duties of a prosecutor and the standards that must be met before prosecutors decide to lay a...

We welcome Micheal Vonn to talk to us about COVID-19 and returning to the new "normal." Micheal is Chief Executive Officer of PHS Community Services Society, which provides housing, healthcare, harm reduction and health promotion for some of th...

In this episode, Supreme Court of BC's Justice David Crossin  shares with us his insights on the role of judges and the courts in protecting our rights and freedoms.  He touches on how important it is for judges to be independent and ...

We invite the Honourable Irwin Cotler back to  speak about the impacts of authoritarianism, closer to home.Professor Cotler talked about recent events in the US, the mob attack on the Capitol building, and the rule of law implicati...

On International Data Privacy Day on January 28, we bring you this special episode, featuring remarks from lawyer Richard Peck, QC at our previous Rule of Law Lecture. He highlights modern technology’s invasion into our privacy, how it compromi...

In this episode, Edmonton health lawyer Tracey Bailey and host Jon Festinger examine our rights and freedoms in the midst of a pandemic. Tracey walked us through some of the differences in legislation in BC and Alberta as it relates to emergenc...

Earlier this year, BC ombudsperson Jay Chalke and his office found that two orders the BC government made in response to the pandemic were unlawful.  In this episode, Jay explains the role of the ombudsperson in upholding the rule of law, ...

We welcome back renowned international human rights lawyer the Honourable Irwin Cotler to discuss several examples of what authoritarianism looks like in countries like China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He touched on the Chinese government’s treatm...

In this episode, renowned international human rights lawyer Professor Irwin Cotler warns against the rise of authoritarianism in countries around the world, naming indicators such as erosion of the free press, criminalization of basic rights li...

President Craig Ferris and Jon Festinger discuss what it means for lawyers to be independent, why lawyers must represent their clients’ interests, and what could happen if lawyers are threatened for just doing their jobs. 

What is the difference between the rule of law versus rule by law? Dr. Catherine Dauvergne talks to us about why the rule of law is a difficult concept to teach, a "thin version" and a "thick version" of the rule of law, different interpretatio...

Craig Ferris, QC, president of the Law Society, and host Jon Festinger, QC kick off the series by explaining why the Law Society is launching this podcast, the basic pillars of the rule of law, and why people should care about the rule of law m...