Kyla’s mom jokes she was meant to be a lawyer, said the self-confessed workaholic who enjoys litigating, arguing and debating things, and is NOT a fan of Suits.
“My own experiences as a teenager allowed me to have insight and sympathy into my client’s circumstances. With cannabis, it’s a new area of argument for me and it’s something I like.”
Being a criminal lawyer was something she naturally fell into. “I was always interested in criminal law. It’s exciting and you deal and work with really complex characters. People are not just someone who have been alleged to commit a crime – they have backstories, reasons why they did what they did, defenses are really interesting with lots facts – you get the highest level of entertainment.”
A lot of the work she does has been shifting into where people who are alleged to be impaired by marijuana, because as she notes, it’s a fascinating industry and area because of evolving laws.
“People and listeners should be afraid. C-46 is the worst part about the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada.”
Since the announcement of legalization, there’s been a panic effect with the government and police about how to enforce impaired driving in relation to cannabis. People have been combining cannabis use and driving for ages.
There’s new legislation coming in right around legalization that’s going to expand the ability of police to use tests such as the Standardized Field Sobriety Test, and make it more certain about what can be done with the outcomes of those tests in court and what the court can use.
That’s Bill C-46.