Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan
Episodes
321 episodes
Safe Supply On Trial
A criminal trafficking charge sounds straightforward until you look at what’s happening on the ground in British Columbia’s overdose crisis. We dig into a BC Supreme Court decision sparked by the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF), a group that ...
Should Government Be Able To Rewrite The Rules For The Law Society?
Government changing the rules for how lawyers are regulated sounds technical until you ask one blunt question: can a legal system stay fair if the bar is not independent from the state? We dig into British Columbia’s Bill 21 (the Legal Professi...
Fairness On Cross-Examination
One missing question can be the whole appeal, and that’s where we start. We walk through a B.C. Court of Appeal decision arising from a judge-alone second-degree murder trial where the accused admits indignity to human remains but denies murder...
When Judges Meet Generative AI
A judge relying on AI that invents case law is the stuff of nightmares, but it already happened, and Quebec’s courts are responding. We walk through brand-new guidance aimed at keeping generative AI out of the core judicial function while still...
Why Victoria Sees So Many Out Of Province Warrants
Someone can’t outrun the Criminal Code by crossing a provincial line, so why does it sometimes feel that way in Victoria? We dig into the real mechanics of out-of-province warrants in British Columbia, including when a warrant applies Canada-wi...
Equal Leave, Unequal Impact
“Everyone gets the same benefit” sounds like the definition of fairness until you look at who gets squeezed when the rules change. We start with a Surrey teachers’ parental leave top-up dispute that has taken a surprising turn: adoptive parents...
Forced Treatment And The Charter
A government can detain someone for mental health reasons, but can it also force treatment without first asking a harder question: are they actually capable of deciding for themselves? We walk through a major British Columbia decision on involu...
Defamation And The Law Society
One word can change everything when it comes from a legal regulator. We dig into the BC Law Society’s mandatory Indigenous education course, the controversy over how it described the Kamloops Residential School site, and why some lawyers pushed...
Bill C-14 And What Bail Can Not Fix
Bail has become the go-to explanation for everything people hate about crime and disorder, but the law is more stubborn than the politics. We sit down with Michael Mulligan to sort out what Bill C-14 actually does, what it cannot do because of ...
From UBC Sticker Defamation To GST Liability To Work From Home Rights
A campus sticker dispute, a GST mistake that snowballs for years, and a pre-COVID work-from-home fight all end up in the BC Court of Appeal, and the common thread is proof. We walk through a defamation claim tied to “I Heart Hamas” stickers att...
When Police Records Disappear
A province says a police misconduct record is sealed and destroyed. The Supreme Court of Canada says a fair trial can’t work that way. We walk through a major ruling on criminal disclosure and why it matters when the credibility of an investiga...
Aboriginal Title And The Future Of Private Land
A court ruling can change more than a headline, it can change how safe you feel about the basics: owning property and trusting the people who handle your money. We walk through a remarkable British Columbia Aboriginal title dispute connected to...
When Governments Write The Rules To Sue
A province suing over opioids is one thing. A province passing a statute that makes it easier for itself to sue, then launching a sweeping class action on that foundation, is something else entirely. We walk through British Columbia’s opioid li...
What Counts As A Right When There’s Nowhere To Sleep
A city changes a bylaw, two parks get added to a no-camping list, and suddenly the real question isn’t “is this fair?” but “who has the legal power to decide?” We walk through a fresh BC Supreme Court decision on Victoria’s park camping restric...
Punitive Damages For Political Firing
A public servant gives three decades to the province, then gets fired without cause on the very day a government is about to fall. The BC Supreme Court doesn’t just disagree with how it was handled, it finds the termination was politically moti...
When Poker Winnings Become Taxable
A million-dollar poker run sounds like the ultimate loophole, until the CRA decides it looks like a job. We talk with criminal defence lawyer Michael Mulligan about a Supreme Court of Canada leave decision that leaves standing a key ruling on p...
Camp Thunderbird Gate Fight And A 15-Year Lawsuit Over A Supposed Public Road
A locked gate at a kids’ camp sounds like a small-town nuisance until you trace it back to 1935 and forward to a trial date in 2027. We dig into a Greater Victoria dispute where companies say a historic public road, sometimes labelled Settlers ...
The Supreme Court Of Canada Just Opened A New Door To Sue Your Ex
A single Supreme Court of Canada decision can quietly change the ground rules for thousands of breakups, and this one just did. We unpack the Court’s creation of a new tort tied to intimate partner violence, described in terms of coercive contr...
If Nobody Agreed Then Why Pay Anything
One email reply can feel harmless until it turns into a $17,500 invoice. We start with a recruiter placement fee fight that asks a deceptively simple question: when do you actually have a contract? A law firm agrees to work with an external rec...
A Kickboxing Tragedy And The Cat Ate My Ticket
One decision can change a life, and another can quietly lock you into a guilty plea. We start with a heartbreaking civil claim tied to a mixed martial arts tournament and a kickboxing bout that leaves a 26-year-old UBC chemistry graduate in a p...
Lack of Jails Threatens Trials and BCNDP vs Constitutional Requirements
A court system can have the best rules on paper and still grind to a halt when there is nowhere to hold people. We start with a fresh BC Supreme Court practice direction aimed at a problem that’s been building quietly across the province: accus...
Secret Informant, Secret Court
A court decision appears online with almost everything blacked out: no registry, no lawyers, no location, no hearing date, and even the judge’s name is removed. All we’re left with is a disturbing question at the heart of Canadian criminal law:...
Aboriginal Title On Nootka Island
A court can end up deciding the fate of an island by looking at the scars on cedar trees and counting the rings inside them. We dig into a new British Columbia Court of Appeal decision on Aboriginal title for Nootka Island off Vancouver Island,...
Star Players Stay Home & Police Dog Chase to Doggy Daycare
Messi-sized hype, premium ticket prices, then a last-minute announcement that the stars aren’t coming. We walk through the Vancouver Whitecaps class action that followed, including the consumer protection and contract claims that were pleaded a...
British Columbia And Alberta Clash On How To Regulate Lawyers
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 Professio...