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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦

@emmettmacfarlane.com

16K followers 490 following 5.3K posts

Professor of political science. Author. Dad. Constitutional law, rights, governing institutions, and Canadian politics. Books: Legislating under the Charter; Constitutional Pariah; Governing from the Bench

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · Sep 1

You can now order my latest edited book, "Rights and Parliamentary Systems in Canada and Beyond." Check out the amazing table of contents here: utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....

Rights and Parliamentary Systems in Canada and Beyond - University of Toronto Press

utppublishing.com

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Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 3h

“WHOAH! Be careful not to step in that pile of shit there!” exclaimed the man pulling his pants back up.

The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 3h

Fascinated how the guy who made superstars of Matt Walsh, Candace Owens, Jordan Peterson, and Michael Knowles thought that unfettered racism and every phobia in existence wouldn't eventually include anti-semitism

Ben Shapiro warns that conspiratorial right is taking over social media

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 11h

Bar associations need to start disbarring. There's immediate precedent with Giuliani. To the point @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social has repeatedly made, a polity that allows elites to repeatedly lie, obviously and with impunity, is not sustainable. Feels like the legal profession is at the same juncture.

Dante Atkins @danteatkins.bsky.social · 20h

The case against Comey is beyond weak. The case against James is worse. It is based on a lie, and they know they're lying because exculpatory evidence that contradicts the indictment had already been presented to a grand jury in another jurisdiction. Everyone involved with this needs to be disbarred

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Alain-G. Gagnon @alainggagnon.bsky.social · 23h

ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/219...
Ça part très mal.
Une constitution qui divise à ce point c’est rare.

Fronde des oppositions contre le projet de Constitution

Le refus de prêter serment sur la future Constitution est désormais évoqué, au risque pour les députés contestataires de ne pas pouvoir siéger.

ici.radio-canada.ca

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

Nixon’s crimes look like harmless high school pranks compared to the now-daily unprecedented illegal & unconstitutional crimes being committed daily by this president & his staff

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 1d

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

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Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 1d

I really enjoyed this Coyne column. Said tech oligarchs need to way more attentive to the way public opinion is shifting against them. Coyne is just about the furthest thing from a "soak the rich" socialist, and yet....

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: The tech oligarchy poses a unique threat to democracy

Today’s uber-rich have converted their obscene wealth into outsize power, wielded in the name of bizarre millenarian ideologies

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

Indeed.

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

It's flatly wrong. What is 'neutral' about being locked in to partnerships that were freely entered? What is 'neutral' about partnering with institutions that dont themselves uphold academic freedom?

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

Being in disagreement with Mintz only reinforces the correctness of my position.

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

Also, the alternative is what? Internal strife as the university wades into matters fundamentally disconnected from its institutional role? I suspect a lot of people who recoil at the term 'neutrality' would be consistently unhappy with the results, and the impact on their own expressive freedom.

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

At Waterloo, we released a statement on neutrality, and you'll see that it is fundamentally about communications decisions, not about policies related to investments, or employment policies, etc. uwaterloo.ca/freedom-of-e....

Statement on institutional neutrality, institutional restraint, and communications | Freedom of Expression | University of Waterloo

Statement on institutional neutrality, institutional restraint, and communications

uwaterloo.ca

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

Ultimately an institution has to decide whether it can justify a decision as operations related. Ideally there are policies that guide such decisions. And yes, inevitably there will be some grey zones. But it doesn't make the distinction incoherent.

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

So I encourage everyone to read our report. Institutional neutrality simply does NOT mean abandoning human rights policies relevant to a university's status as an employer, or remove the institution's ability to set standards for investments, etc. etc. etc.

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

2) some who freak out about 'institutional neutrality' haven't really bothered to understand what it means, and that it is fundamentally, and narrowly, about preventing Uni Presidents from stealing your voice on non-university-related political and social matters.

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

Among things I've learned: 1) some people have a vision of 'institutional neutrality' that fails to account that universities have valid operations-related decisions to make where 'neutrality' is impossible and thus shouldn't apply. And...

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

We authored a Task Force Report on free expression at UWaterloo that I strongly believe should be the model for all universities in Canada. uwaterloo.ca/freedom-of-e...

uwaterloo.ca

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

So yes, you can support institutional neutrality AND support divestment from Apartheid South Africa, precisely because partnering with institutions with values contrary to academic principles is both contrary to AND IRRELEVANT TO institutional neutrality.

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 1d

"Institutional neutrality" is about communications - universities are a support structure for the free expression of their members, not their presidents.

It is not about whether universities can make decisions directly relevant to their institutional mission, like partnerships and investments.

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Genuine question for Canadian PSE folk who advocate for "institutional neutrality" on political issues:

Are you guys really arguing for Canadians to resume academic relations with Russian universities?

Are you really arguing we shouldn't have divested from South Africa?

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Natalie Brender @nataliebrender.bsky.social · 1d

Jfc--not used lightly--it's one thing to speculate "they may have discussed their shared Catholic faith" in a speculative history or biography, but here and now in the news this week?? Seriously, @theglobeandmail.com?

The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · 1d

Carney and Vance’s shared Catholic faith could have been dinner-table conversation topic, experts say

A readout from the Prime Minister’s office says the pair discussed ‘common priorities’ at Tuesday event

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Evan May @gianttourtiere.bsky.social · 2d

The issue is just funding and resources. That's it.

Really the same as in education.

You have to pay for it, and then it works wonderfully.

Kate Heartfield @kateheartfield.com · 2d

There are many problems in Ontario health care, but today I got a same-day urgent care slot for the kid, in our town (which has been recruiting doctors). We were in and out in 10 mins, prescription in hand, no thought about money or insurance for the visit of course. Things can work. (The kid is ok)

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 2d

Spot on.

Leonid Sirota @doubleaspect.blog · 2d

New post (en français): Quebec's Bill 1 and its proposed provincial constitution is epically incoherent and incompatible with the Canadian constitutional framework into which it purports to fit.

Ceci n’est pas une constitution

Le projet de constitution québécoise n’est pas sérieux

doubleaspect.blog

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 2d

Ewww, HeinOnline, a scholarly database, has added "AI summaries" to the front matter of articles.

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 2d

Quebec's new 'Constitution Bill' doubles down on the absurd idea that a province can directly amend the national constitution. It purports to directly change the text of provisions of the Constitution Act, 1867, and repeal others.

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 2d

Uhh, what is this unconstitutional horseshit?
"The constitution bill would also have the Quebec premier recommend who should be appointed the province's lieutenant-governor. ...
The new legislation would also rename the lieutenant-governor the "officer of Quebec.""
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Quebec tables draft constitution to affirm its 'distinct national character,' premier says | CBC News

The constitution, filed at the National Assembly on Thursday and lambasted by opposition parties as a piece of political theatre filed without proper consultation, includes language asserting Quebec’s...

www.cbc.ca

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Tammy Schirle 🇨🇦 @tammyschirle.bsky.social · 2d

This 👇🎉 🇨🇦!!

Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 2d

For a certain audience of Canadian policy experts, I imagine there are no more exciting words than "automatic federal benefits" for low-income Canadians.

Though I also imagine the details matter a lot.

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musicmaker5.bsky.social @musicmaker5.bsky.social · 2d

Guzman is a former Goldman Sachs exec, so as a former Goldman exec himself, the Prime Minister believes he's worth this obscene salary. As Markham Hislop of Energi Media said, "I voted for 'Value(s)' Carney but got Goldman Sachs Carney instead." Value(s) Carney has gone AWOL.

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 2d

Why do I say 'more qualified'? Because maybe we should have fewer wealthy people involved in politics. Maybe people who aren't willing to do public service for less than $300,000/year should fuck off, and hard-working, public service-oriented people can do the job better!

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