{"id":35022,"date":"2026-01-29T13:48:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/?p=35022"},"modified":"2026-01-29T13:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:49:18","slug":"law-syrup-crown-and-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/en\/law-syrup-crown-and-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"Law Syrup:\u202fCrown and defence perspectives on the Hockey Canada case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Law Syrup podcast<\/a>, a co-production between Herman Wong and the Ontario Justice Education Network, features conversations with special guests on\u202fvarious topics\u202fin Canadian law.\u202fIn its second season, the\u202fpodcast\u202ftackles discussions on Gladue Courts, tenant rights in Ontario, careers in family law, teaching and learning law, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the season highlights are the\u202fconversations with criminal defence lawyer Megan Savard and Crown Attorney Meaghan Cunningham.\u202fThey\u202foffered insights into\u202fcareers in law, criminal law, and the recent Hockey Canada trial\u202ffrom both the defence and Crown perspectives.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuanced discussions\u202fabout\u202fworking\u202fon sexual assault cases<\/strong>\u202f <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During last year\u2019s Summer Law Institute\u202fconference,\u202fMegan Savard\u202fsat down with\u202fOJEN staff, Jean-Paul Bevilacqua,\u202ffor a recorded conversation. They\u202fspoke about Megan\u2019s path into criminal law, the challenges she has faced, and the role of a defence counsel in protecting\u202fCharter\u202frights.\u202fThis discussion delved into the unique\u202fissues raised by the\u202fHockey Canada\u202fcase and reflected\u202fon the broader public conversation surrounding sexual assault trials in Canada.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In answer to an audience question about the difficulties of securing a conviction in a sexual assault case, Megan reflected: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[\u2026]\u202foften times\u202fwhat you have is\u202fthis\u202fvery grey area scenario. The\u202freason why\u202fit\u2019s\u202fdifficult to get a conviction is because forensic reconstruction is impossible.\u202fSo\u202fif the idea is how do we make it easier to get convictions when forensic construction is impossible, my answer would be\u202fwe\u202fshouldn\u2019t. No one should be going to jail on a shaky record, full stop. If the broader question is, how do we ensure we achieve justice? Then I think\u202fthat\u2019s\u202fan interesting conversation.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\u202fHerman and Meaghan\u202fCunningham\u202fspoke\u202fabout the pressures of working amid a highly publicized criminal trial,\u202fmisconceptions about the role of a Crown attorney,\u202fwhat it really means to serve the public interest, and the possibilities and potential pitfalls of restorative justice approaches to cases involving sexual assault.\u202fMeaghan also considered how\u202fa prosecution can achieve public interest goals without depending on the outcome of\u202fthe\u202fcase.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaghan told Herman, \u201c[\u2026] because so many people were paying attention to what was happening in this case, it really sparked important conversations about what consent is, about how consent can and can\u2019t be communicated, about how well our law is doing at understanding complex behaviour,\u202fabout how victims of sexual violence are treated in the criminal justice system.\u202fSo\u202fI think these\u202fare\u202freally important\u202fconversations for all of us as a society to be having.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational use of the Law Syrup episodes<\/strong>\u202f <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These two episodes are\u202fideal for\u202feducational\u202fuse to\u202fexplore the pivotal roles of both Crown and defence in the criminal justice system, using the Hockey Canada trial as a case study.\u202fListeners hear\u202ffrom established professionals who speak to what drew them to a career in law and their respective\u202froles in prosecuting and mounting effective\u202fdefences\u202fin\u202fcriminal cases.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned for upcoming accompanying resources for use in the classroom.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to the\u202fepisodes\u202fhere:<\/strong>\u202f <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Conversation with Megan Savard <\/strong>\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spotify<\/a>\u202f|\u202fApple Podcasts<\/a>\u202f|\u202fYouTube<\/a>\u202f|\u202fRSS<\/a>\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Role of the Crown (A Conversation with Meaghan Cunningham)<\/strong>\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spotify<\/a>\u202f|\u202fApple Podcasts<\/a>\u202f|\u202fYouTube<\/a>\u202f|\u202fRSS<\/a>\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Law Syrup podcast, a co-production between Herman Wong and the Ontario Justice Education Network, features conversations with special guests on\u202fvarious topics\u202fin Canadian law.\u202fIn its second season, the\u202fpodcast\u202ftackles discussions on Gladue Courts, tenant rights in Ontario, careers in family law, teaching and learning law, and much more. Two of the season highlights are the\u202fconversations with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1232,"featured_media":34614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ojen-news"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Law-Syrup.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"Raras","author_link":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/en\/author\/raras\/"},"yoast_head":"\nLaw Syrup:\u202fCrown and defence perspectives on the Hockey Canada case - OJEN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two of the season highlights are the\u202fconversations with criminal defence lawyer Megan Savard and Crown Attorney Meaghan Cunningham.\u202f\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/en\/law-syrup-crown-and-defence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law Syrup:\u202fCrown and defence perspectives on the Hockey Canada case - 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