Troy Riddell

Aug 29, 2024 | thehub.ca | Janet Bufton |Troy Riddell

Commentary 29 August 2024 A woman moves past a jobs advertisement sign in Toronto, April 29, 2020. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press. Tim Sargent’s recent Hub DeepDive into productivity is a great primer on how economists calculate productivity and how immigration affects it. But the article reminds us that by describing things with economic terms we can lose sight of what we really care about. Economic thinking that centres people over statistics might lead us to different conclusions.

Aug 29, 2024 | thehub.ca | Troy Riddell |Alicia Planincic

Recently, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that statistics will be kept about how judges and justices of the peace (JPs) decide bail cases. According to the premier, judges are “always independent, but who holds them accountable?” Critics countered that the plan threatens judicial independence and the rule of law, and that appeals and a separate complaints process (through the Ontario Judicial Council) are appropriate accountability mechanisms.

Jun 3, 2024 | thehub.ca | Troy Riddell |Brian Dijkema

Section 33 of the Charter should decidedly not be “off limits” in criminal justice, as a Globe and Mail op-ed recently argued. Critics of Section 33 (the notwithstanding clause) point to cases like the recent prosecution of Umar Zameer, a case involving the unintentional killing of a Toronto police officer, as evidence against the so-called “politicalization” of the courts.

Feb 28, 2024 | winnipegfreepress.com | Troy Riddell

This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.

Feb 27, 2024 | theconversation.com | Troy Riddell

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has defended appointing two former senior political staffers to a committee that helps select provincial judges, saying he would not appoint a Liberal or New Democrat. The controversy surrounds Ford’s intention to appoint “like-minded people” to Ontario’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee (JAAC), which submits a shortlist of candidates to the Attorney General of Ontario for appointment as judges.