Blog 2026

In this episode, Christine O’Doherty, Lawyer & CIAJ’s Executive director, talks with Élisabeth Routhier, PhD, CIAJ’s Director of special projects and plain language specialist, to explore an issue at the intersection of social, political, and legal spheres. 

In this episode, Sarah Rowe, Legal Counsel at CIAJ, speaks with the Honourable Justice Joshua B. Hawkes of the Court of Appeal of Alberta about the lived realities of people with disabilities within the justice system and the legal profession. 

In this episode, Host Anthony Giroux (Law Student at the University of Montreal) speaks with Sabreena Delhon (CEO of the Samara Centre for Democracy) and Dr. Heidi Tworek (Canada Research Chair and Professor of History and Public Policy at the University of British Columbia). Together, they explore how disinformation, targeted and identity-based harassment, and algorithm-driven amplification are reshaping democratic participation in Canada.

In this episode, CIAJ’s Executive Director Christine O’Doherty welcomes The Honourable Chief Justice J.C. Marc Richard (of New Brunswick) to talk about his involvement in the Technical Assistance Partnership (TAP) Project. Drawing from his experience in Mongolia and Moldova, he discusses the importance of judicial independence and ethics. He addresses questions about Canada’s role in strengthening global justice, the challenges of eradicating corruption, and the value of international judicial cooperation. He reflects on what motivates his involvement and how these experiences shape his perspective on global judicial cooperation.

In this episode, Nathan Afilalo, Argyri Panezi and Daniel J. Escott reflect on the writing of their co-authored report “Access to Justice Summit: The New Brunswick Report – Digital Transformation: Putting People at the Heart of the System.”

In this episode, CIAJ’s host Nathan Afilalo is welcoming the founding editor of the Black (Canadian) Law Journal Mohammed Odusanya and acting editor-in-chief Dana-Kaye Matthews to learn more about this academic, peer-reviewed, bilingual journal founded in 2021. 

In this episode, host Daniel Escott is joined by Janet McIntyre, former Director of Justice Canada’s Access to Justice Secretariat, for a discussion on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 16, the role of the secretariat domestically and internationally, and the gradual shift to a people-centred approach to justice.

In this episode, host Daniel Escott is joined by Trevor C.W. Farrow, a renowned access to justice researcher and incoming Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, for a discussion on the pre-, during, and post-pandemic views of traditional access to justice. Dean Farrow provides a wealth of information on the problems that arise from a lack of access to justice, and discusses what meaningful access to justice looks like in the modern, post-pandemic period.

In this episode, host Daniel J. Escott explores the transformative landscape of access to justice in Canada in the company of his guests, esteemed legal experts Mark Benton, K.C. and Brea Lowenberger. Together, they discuss the impact of the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters at both national and local levels and explore how collaborative efforts between stakeholders can help improve access to justice across Canada.

In this episode, CIAJ Lawyer Nathan Afilalo is welcoming Aaron Mills, a member of the Anishinaabe, Couchiching First Nation and Assistant Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Constitutionalism and Philosophy at McGill University Faculty of Law. Together, they discuss, among other things, professor Mills’ theory of rooted constitutionalism.