Emmett Macfarlane

Emmett Macfarlane is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo. His book, Governing from the Bench: The Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Role, was published in 2013 by UBC Press.

Canada

Not all political fights are power grabs

Emmett Macfarlane: If the decent people implicated by the SNC-Lavalin affair engaged in some self-reflection, Tuesday’s decision would not have been necessary.

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Doug Ford’s law to slash Toronto council is unfair—but the court shouldn’t have spiked it

Opinion: The court decision that struck Bill 5 down hinges on incoherent legal arguments, and goes beyond the bounds of a judicial ruling—and that’s dangerous

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In its ’free-the-beer’ ruling, the Supreme Court reveals its contradictions

Opinion: The Supreme Court—neutered by politics—delivers a craven, logically inconsistent decision on Gerard Comeau’s cross-border alcohol fight

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Richard Wagner is the right choice to be Supreme Court chief justice

Opinion: Emmett Macfarlane on the Quebec jurist who will succeed Beverley McLachlin, and the challenges ahead for the court he will lead

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Proposing amendments isn’t Senate activism. It’s the Senate’s job.

No, the Senate isn’t obstructing the House of Commons—and casting its actions as unprecedented activism is ahistorical

Canada

The chilling effect of a McGill University tweet on its scholars

University of Waterloo professor Emmett Macfarlane on why McGill’s public distancing of itself from a scholar is a problem

Canada

How a new appointment process ushers in Supreme Court transparency

The government’s Supreme Court appointments policy improves what has typically been an opaque process—but it’s not perfect.

Ottawa

How to build a better Senate? Reform it from the inside

Emmett Macfarlane advised the government on its plan for Senate reform. Here is what he has to say about today’s announcement

Ottawa

Denis Coderre vs. Ottawa on supervised-injection sites

Emmett Macfarlane examines the looming showdown between Montreal and Rona Ambrose on supervised-drug-injection facilities

Ottawa

What we’re talking about when we talk about ’judicial activism’

Has the Supreme Court gone too far?

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