The Judicious Sasquatch
A blog about history and public policy with a focus on power relationships in Western polities.
The Blog
The Judicious Sasquatch reconciles states’ monopoly on legal power with local preoccupations. Most of our lives are spent in a local context, but the policies that can come from local, community-based sources often clash with national concerns that, in many situations, result in national concerns dominating the narrative.
National news and creeping consolidation of social media have mimicked state control over legal authority, which again creates problems for local expression. The new national and international monopolies on power can, or so the Sasquatch thinks, be balanced with attention to local, particular power structures.
The Goal
The Judicious Sasquatch aims to stimulate and inspire your thinking about local policy issues. It aims to illicit strong reactions followed by reasoned debate. It pushes policy ideas in new, unexpected directions.
One a more personal note, my objective is to delve into nooks and crannies that don’t often see the light of day. There are myriad curiosities that have been forgotten or dismissed by policy wonks, lawyers, and academics. My posts cut against the grain in this sense. I hope that they inform you and let you take a different perspective on the issues confronting our societies.
A leap of faith: airlines’ liability for human rights abuses in international air travel
This note discusses preclusion of actions under the Montreal Convention. A close reading of the Convention shows that intentionally negligent or reckless acts by airline staff are not protected by the Convention.
Poor application tends toward the rule of law
This note criticizes the court’s application of Vavilov tout court. Vavilov lays down a useful statement about appellate courts’ jurisdictions when they are granted a statutory appeal. That case does not pretend to make private-law rules, and courts must be wary of mistaking application for analogy.
Business research in small firms
Business research is often viewed as a wish-list item. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Business research is akin to performing preventive maintenance on
Criminal contempt of court: Carpagate?
This note gives practitioners (and interested members of the public) a sense of the law surrounding criminal contempt of court. It describes some of the cases and then applies the cases to the facts described by Chief Justice Joyal.Â
A sliding scale between creed and religion
This commentary proposes a sliding scale between religion as a word denoting spiritual belief and practise in community and creed, a word that captures a broader swath of collective and individual conduct.
Patron v. Client: the modern lawyer’s relationships
Lawyers often refer to those who pay for services as ‘clients’, yet in the same breath frame their efforts in their service recipient’s interest. Use
Stressing the bar: an open letter to the Attorney General of Ontario
I have the privilege to request your intervention in the Law Society of Ontario’s current conduct of its licensing examinations. Your intervention is requested pursuant to sub-section 5(c) of the Ministry of the General Act and sub-section 13(1) of the Law Society Act.
Subtle discrimination: Canada’s Civil Aviation Medicine
Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Medicine program has continued a discriminatory policy against subjects with mental health conditions.
A broader honour for our Crown?
This piece is released as part of a broader book project currently soliciting funds via Kickstarter. Aequitas sequitur legem: equity follows the law, which concept