A few photos from the eclipse, in Iroquois ON. Unforgettable experience. Saw the stars in midday. Heard birds chirping as though it was nighttime. Temperature dropped several degrees.

Last night was tremendous for watching the northern lights in Yellowknife. Tonight promises to be just as good. I just wish the moon wasn’t so bright!

Fantastic night for aurora watching last night. All I had to do was cross the road from and climb up to the Bush Pilots Monument, where there’s a panoramic view of Great Slave Lake, Old Town and downtown Yellowknife. Skies are clear and the aurora forecast looks good for tonight.

There’s a misconception that the closer you get to the North Pole, the more aurora you see. In fact the aurora is in a band around the earth, around the 60th parallel. Yellowknife is in the sweet spot. I’m in Inuvik at the 68th parallel, but got lucky tonight with this display.

With watery landscape like this, communities in the Arctic Circle and elsewhere in the North are isolated from each other, until ice roads such as the 117-km winter road between Inuvik and Aklavik can be opened. Communities here are more connected in winter than summer.

The flight from Inuvik NWT to Aklavik and back for court yesterday.. The North is spectacular; here in the Beaufort Delta south of the Arctic Ocean there seems to be more water than land. Photos show the Mackenzie River plus in the distance the magnificent Richardson Mountains.

Sun rising in Inuvik yesterday (taken on a charter flight to court in Aklavik) and setting over Inuvik st 9:10 PM today. It will rise at 8:38 AM tomorrow. It was warmer here at 68 degrees latitude than it was in Ottawa today: minus 3.

I love Canadian North Airlines ✈️ airlines but man they have let me down this week. Flew from Yellowknife to Inuvik Monday, my luggage was bumped, and now the earliest it can arrive is Thursday - if they can even find it. Total lack of communication and information. Casual days in court.

Four years ago today Ontario and other provinces announced emergency COVID measures, shutting down the courts and changing our lives for months. We spent a lot of time sanitizing doorknobs. Seems like a lifetime ago.

The job of our criminal justice system is to protect the public's long-term safety. Do we really think that society is better served by depriving prisoners of any pleasurable activity? I expect that this is the type of stupid rhetoric we'll see more of as the election approaches.

And now Benjamin Perrin - mastermind behind a slew of Harper-era mandatory minimum sentences that have been struck down as unconstitutional - says that Doug Ford's approach to appointing judges is wrong-headed. Bonus: he now repudiates MMS's. thestar.com/politics/provi…

Now that 'Stormin Norman' - a former prosecutor who became a notoriously tough judge - has come out saying that Doug Ford is wrong about appointing 'like-minded' tough-on-crime judges, perhaps the Premier will reconsider.
thestar.com/politics/provi…

Wise words (and a great paper) on civility from the learned Eugene Meehan Supreme Advocacy LLP. Incivility is not only unethical and costly, it's bad strategy:

supremeadvocacy.ca/wp-content/upl…

Please take 5 minutes to watch this. Erin Durant (she/her) is right to be angry, at both the federal and Ontario provincial governments' at the feds, for dragging their heels in appointing judges, and Doug Ford for politicizing - and delegitimizing - the appointment process in Ontario.

Good on Douglas W. Judson 🇨🇦 and Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA) for condemning the recent comments of Doug Ford, who proudly declared that his government is appointing judges who share his views on criminal justice issues. The last thing we should want is USA-style appointments. fola.ca/fola-urges-pro…