Jamie Sarkonak: The Law Commission of Canada's radical mission to decolonize justice

National Post

a day ago

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To their credit, they don't beat people over the head with social justice. The commission's website is bland; its budget is small ($4 million per year — modest, in government measures); its top project at the moment has to do with charity law, a niche that most people don't think or care about. Think-tank-like, it runs student photo competitions to engage those entering the profession.
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But within all that mundanity sits an opportunity more open to radical change: the commission's 'Beyond Tomorrow' project, which offers $20,000 to successful essay writers, is aimed at addressing concerns of stakeholders and 'embracing complicated conversations, addressing breakdown of trust, contributing to common endeavours, and fostering constructive change.'
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It doesn't mean much until you examine those stakeholder concerns, which the commission compiles in an annual report. Included in these are radical notions of a decolonized legal system.
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'There is a need for this shift to take place at the pedagogical level in universities, particularly because students are at the heart of decolonization,' read one piece of input in favour of politicizing education even further. Most law schools already mandate Indigenous courses (which are often taught with a heavy anti-Canadian bias). But for some activists, that's simply not enough.
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Another favoured the 'recognition of Indigenous jurisdiction over environmental matters,' while other feedback spoke of a 'multi-juridical future' in Canada that could be assisted by adding Indigenous legal traditions into law school curriulcums. Canada, for context, is a bijural system that uses both English common law and French civil law; some activists insist that the notion of 'Indigenous law' — a heterogeneous mix of tribal traditions that are often interpreted through the lens of far-left academics — should make up a third pillar of Canadian law that governs the lives of citizens. The federal justice department supports making this so-called third order of law a reality.
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We have every reason to believe these will resonate with the commission. Aside from its initial mandate, it published a bizarre navel-gazey essay about intersectionality — one concept at the heart of progressive thought — written in the fluffy, philosophically shallow style of a diversity consultant's website. For example:
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'Intersections may prompt us to think of Canada in the world and of worlds within Canada, or of the complicated and perhaps permeable boundaries between human and non-human, whether living or artificial. Solidly grounded in the complex reality of law, the framing notion of intersection mandates ambitious creativity in delineating the scope of meaningful law reform.'
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