The Pardy School of Law
How the law works, and how it doesn’t.
Alberta independence: an existential reckoning
Alberta’s independence movement echoes the American Revolution’s systemic rupture in its moment of gravity and opportunity. Alberta must take its shot but how to ensure its success?
In an independent Alberta, aboriginal rights should not exist
Reserve land should be transferred to individual Indigenous people. Prof. Bruce Pardy calls for an independent Alberta to adopt equal citizenship over Canada’s caste-like system of perpetual treaties and state-enforced dependency.
Pitfalls and traps to avoid in a new Alberta with Bruce Pardy
Alberta’s independence hinges on a decisive referendum, a rights-first constitution, and steely resolve to overcome Canada’s inevitable resistance to losing its “cash cow”.
Alberta in three parts with Bruce Pardy
In its pursuit of independence, Alberta must reject Canada’s pandemic-exposed authoritarianism and forge a new constitution rooted in liberty, restraint, and genuine rule of law.
A line in the sand
Alberta’s surging independence movement reached a pivotal moment as the Alberta Republican Party’s packed Red Deer town hall signaled a sharp rebuke to Ottawa and a push for sovereignty.
The mandates of the managerial state
“If you want to see how the managerial state (dys)functions, Canada is the place to be.” Prof. Bruce Pardy critiques recent moves to prioritize biometric surveillance of low-risk parliamentary staff over transparency around MPs suspected of foreign election interference.
Alberta severance award for COVID vaccine non-compliance may be a first, lawyer says
An Alberta judge has awarded a former WestJet employee just over $65,000 for wrongful dismissal in a decision that one lawyer involved says breaks new ground in Canadian jurisprudence.
Welcome to Carnada
The struggle between Carney’s vision of a globally integrated Canada and Alberta’s push for autonomy underscores a broader ideological battle: centralized control versus grassroots sovereignty.
Meet the Albertan separatists who want to be American
A growing band of Canadians say their most oil-rich province should join forces with the U.S. ‘Political disruption is what this country needs.’
Premier Eby wants to give B.C. cabinet extraordinary powers
The introduction of an emergency power tariff-response bill (Bill 7) by B.C.’s NDP government echoes historical precedents like King Henry VIII’s power to rule by decree, known as “Henry VIII clauses,” which are controversial for eroding limits on executive authority.
Make Alberta America
Trump has opened the door. He should invite the province in and make the people of Alberta an offer. He might start with these two promises.
In some scenarios, tariffs actually make sense
Like Trump himself, sometimes tariffs are not that crazy.
Free Speech Union of Canada
Launched on Family Day, February 17, the Free Speech Union of Canada aims to champion a legacy of free speech and intellectual inquiry for Canadians, both present and future.
A declaration of independence for Alberta
“It’s not really my place. I’m an Ontario boy. Who am I to draft a declaration of independence for Alberta? The answer is, I’m Canadian, and my compromised, complacent country needs shaking up.”
In Canada, aboriginal title has become a constitutional threat
Canada has created a constitutional menace. Property rights, abandoned for political expediency, have no constitutional status. In contrast, aboriginal rights, thanks to our courts, have become more powerful than any Charter right.
Human rights in Canada
A Q&A with professor Bruce Pardy on human rights in Canada: discrimination in the name of equality in the Canadian legal context.
Defending free speech: a call to repeal harmful legislation
Professor Bruce Pardy exposes the irony of government overreach in limiting expression.
The new Alberta Bill of Rights won't protect much
Premier Danielle Smith deserves credit for her aspiration to give Albertans rights to resist state intrusions. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Dred Scott, politics, and the “living” constitution
Does the US Constitution today really permit “racist lawyers and racist judges” to deny rights to black people by invoking the precedent of Dred Scott?
Protect free speech by getting governments out of the way
Free speech is a right against government interference, thriving when government refrains from imposing restrictions.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”