Judgement call

Sandy Garossino reflects on the Federal Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that sent shockwaves across the nation. While industry representatives express dismay and frustration over the decision, Garossino explains the factors involved in the decision. If Indigenous support was crucial to the project, why were the consultations deemed inadequate? What do First Nations gain from signing on to the project, and do the financial benefits justify the risks?For context, Garossino takes us back to her 30-minute interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on February 13, who explained the rationale behind his government's decision to approve the expansion, subject to more than 150 technical, environmental and financial conditions. At the time, Trudeau answered in-depth questions around Indigenous consultation and whether there would be a problem if a First Nations-led lawsuit against the government were successful.

As Toronto reels from another mass attack on the streets which took the life of a child and young woman, Canadians struggle to understand the unprovoked mass attacker. Even before the latest attack, we discussed the psychology of the mass killer with the renowned criminologist, Dr Raymond Corrado, director of Simon Fraser University’s Institute on Violence, Terrorism and Security. Dr. Corrado has studied terrorists and lone delusional attackers for over 45 years, from Baader Meinhof and the IRA to ISIS. He joined Sandy Garossino in studio before this week’s attack on the Danforth.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit was destabilized this year by U.S. President Donald Trump's open hostility and fabricated attacks against allies.What's at stake if the U.S. were to abandon its role in NATO's collective defence, given Russia's alleged interference in foreign elections and expansionist ambitions?How has Canada historically taken part in NATO missions? Is there any basis in reality to Trump's claim that many nations aren't paying their 'fair share' in defense spending? Join National Observer's Sandy Garossino and professor Stephen M. Saideman, who holds the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, as they discuss the importance of NATO, Canada's role, and what its future holds given today's tense political climate.

You know Beverley McLachlin as the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the most dominant and enduring jurist in our modern legal era. An enigmatic figure cloistered for decades by the judicial tradition, Beverley McLachlin, has emerged from her recent retirement with a surprising second act as a crime fiction writer. Her fast-moving, page-turning legal whodunit, Full Disclosure, was published this spring. I interviewed her before a live audience at the Vancouver Writers Festival in May 2018, and we talked about the book, the law, and growing up in rural Alberta.Vancouver's Writers Fest: https://writersfest.bc.ca/Beverley McLachlin's new life as a fiction writer: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/05/07/news/beverley-mclachlins-new-life-fiction-writer