Biographies of other panelists appearing before the LCJC Committee

Study of Bill S-203 - June 2, 2021

Dr. Emily Laidlaw, PhD

Professor Emily Laidlaw is a Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity Law and an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary.

Prior to joining the University of Calgary in 2014, Dr. Laidlaw spent almost ten years in the United Kingdom where she completed her LLM and PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science and held a tenure-track lectureship with the University of East Anglia Law School. While at UEA, Dr. Laidlaw taught at undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of media law, internet and e-commerce law, intellectual property law and tort law, and supervised LLB, LLM and PhD students. Her doctoral research examining internet gatekeepers, human rights and corporate social responsibility was generously supported by the Modern Law Review and Olive Stone Memorial scholarships. Before undertaking postgraduate studies, Dr. Laidlaw practised for several years in Canada as a litigator, with particular experience in complex corporate and constitutional matters.

Dr. Laidlaw is a Member with the Centre for Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise and Technology (CREATe), the Managing Editor of the European Journal of Law and Technology, and an Advisor for the Law Commission of Ontario, Defamation Law in the Age of the Internet.

Dr. Laidlaw researches in the area technology law, including internet regulation, cybersecurity, copyright, media law, human rights and corporate social responsibility. She has a particular interest in online abuse, intermediary liability, privacy and free speech. She has advised and spoken concerning her research to the European Commission, NGOs, practitioners, judges and the general public. She has been an invited speaker at institutions across the United Kingdom, including Oxford University, the University of Edinburgh and University College London. She is currently an advisor to the Law Commission of Ontario concerning defamation law in the age of the internet.

She published a book in 2015 titled, “Regulating Speech in Cyberspace: Gatekeepers, Human Rights and Corporate Responsibility”.

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Brian Hurley

Brian Hurley is a Director at the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers (CCCDL).

Mr. Hurley has a great deal of experience and involvement in the Alberta legal community. He is the past president of the Alberta Criminal Trial Lawyers Association and he served as an executive member of the Alberta Criminal Trial Lawyers Association for ten years. He has been the defence representative on a number of National and Alberta committees involved in the maintenance and reform of the justice system. Mr. Hurley is also a frequent guest and contributor for newspaper, radio and television articles on criminal justice issues. He has been a sessional lecturer at the University of Alberta, where he taught Introduction to Criminal Law. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Alberta and Grant McEwan University. He has been a lecturer at legal seminars for the Law Society of Alberta and the Alberta Criminal Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Hurley has appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in Ottawa to give an expert opinion on Criminal Code amendments.

He obtained his undergraduate degree from St. Thomas Moore College at the University of Saskatchewan and attended Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario where he obtained his law degree. Mr. Hurley has been a practicing criminal defence lawyer since 1993. He has spent his entire legal career at the law firm of Aloneissi O’Neill Hurley. His legal practice is devoted entirely to the practice of defending the criminally accused.

Mr. Hurley has handled all manner of criminal cases throughout Western and Northern Canada. He has appeared before all levels of Trial Courts in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nunavut and the North West Territories. Mr. Hurley has also appeared before the Court of Appeal in Alberta on many occasions.

Mr. Hurley conducts trials on all criminal charges as well as serious regulatory offences. A great deal of his practice involves the defence of impaired drivers. Mr. Hurley has conducted more than one thousand impaired trials over his career. In addition, Mr. Hurley has been involved in many psychiatric cases. He has successfully advanced the defence of Not Criminally Responsible by Reason of Mental Disorder on numerous murder charges and other serious criminal charges.