Runnymede Radio

Law professor and longtime Volokh Conspiracy contributor Ilya Somin joins Runnymede Radio to make the case for open borders as favourable to both human freedom and economic prosperity. We touch on Trump's executive orders, the implications of the Trump administration's restrictionism for Canada's Safe Third Party Agreement, political ignorance and immigration, the reality of nationhood and reconciling immigration with shared civic values, and the political backlash against pro-immigration elites.

Leonid Sirota, Lecturer at AUT Law School in Auckland, New Zealand, and author of Double Aspect Blog, discusses originalism, the legal interpretive theory which posits that a law's original meaning should govern its subsequent interpretation and application. We discuss whether originalism has been rejected by Canadian courts, particularly the Supreme Court of Canada, the normative case for (and against) originalism, common criticisms, and why the 1L constitutional law staple Reference re Persons doesn't mean what you think it means. Dr. Sirota's talk at the Université de Montréal can be viewed here.

Joanna and Montreal lawyer, writer, and podcaster Daniel Goldwater discuss Canadian exceptionalism and whether Trumpist nativism could land on Canadian shores, the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting and why accused Alexandre Bisonette was charged with murder and not terrorism and half of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission's renunciation of that report's recommendations. As a bonus add-on: tackling the Andrew Potter affair (see the offending article here)!

Welcome to Runnymede Radio! Jordan Peterson discusses gender-neutral pronouns, the political uses of language, radical politics on university campuses, and why learning can be painful with Joanna Baron, Runnymede Society Director. Video of Prof. Peterson's debate, with Prof. Bruce Pardy at Queen's University Faculty of Law, can be viewed here.