Environmental Law students in practicing professional lawyer Heather Fast’s class at UM’s Faculty of Law celebrate the passing of Bill 23 into Anti-SLAPP legislation. Legal research by students in the Robson Hall Rights Clinic helped further the recommendations contained in the Final Report that informed the legislative process.
Law students’ research pays off as Manitoba passes Anti-SLAPP legislation
Legal research done by law students enrolled in a clinical learning program at Robson Hall has significantly contributed to the ultimate passing of Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) legislation in Manitoba.
In 2022/23 students from the Robson Hall Rights clinic, under the supervision of [Elizabeth McCandless, Director of Clinics] undertook research for their “client” the Manitoba Eco-Network. This research was part of MbEN’s Healthy Environment, Healthy Neighbourhood (HEHN) project, which tabled a Final Report in 2023.
One of the final recommendations contained in the Final Report (available on the MbEN’s website site, with acknowledgment of the students included), was for MB to adopt Anti-SLAPP legislation. The Final Report was developed based on community feedback and the research of the students and the project team.
Mackenzie Cardinal [JD/23] who clerked at the Alberta Court of Appeal in Calgary and is now an associate at Osler, was one of the contributing student researchers when completing an externship at the Rights Clinic during his final year of law school.
One of the first students to work for the Rights Clinic, Cardinal described it as “an excellent opportunity to undertake research that would have an impact in the community.”
Cardinal explained that working on this project appealed to his interest in civil litigation. “The project gave me the opportunity to research a relativity new procedural mechanism that had been tried and tested in other jurisdictions, but had yet to be adopted in Manitoba. This was interesting for two reasons:
- It allowed me to analyze the Rules of Court and determine whether the current rules (e.g., 25.11) sufficiently addressed anti-SLAPP suits.
- The fact that anti-SLAPP legislation had already been enacted in Ontario and British Columbia put us in a beneficial position. Rather than anticipating where weak spots may arise with the legislation, we were able to turn to the existing case law and academic commentary to determine more clearly what was (and was not) working with the existing legislation. I think this allowed for more pointed recommendations.”
Students were tasked with reviewing the case law and academic commentary on anti-SLAPP legislation and provide a recommendation on whether Manitoba should adopt such legislation.
MbEN continued to bring up this recommendation when meeting with elected officials over the past few years and it has been one of the NGO’s top law reform recommendations.
Bill 23 was introduced in Spring 2025 and was held over by the Opposition until the fall sitting. Everything from the Bill’s 2nd reading to Royal Assent, including committee review, happened in the October, 2025.
MbEN connected with the Department in August 2025, [we] met with the Minister of Justice in early Oct 2025 to discuss a proposed amendment to the Bill. The Minister supported our amendment, as did the Opposition, so [we] ended up with the exact version of Anti-SLAPP legislation the students identified as best practice in their research and we ultimately recommended in our report.
The bill passed on November 6, 2025 on the last day of the session.
“As a client of the Rights Clinic, the Manitoba Eco Network found that the students’ research was useful and helpful, directly supported law reform research and advocacy, and played a role in getting the Bill actually passed,” said Fast, who is the Policy Advocacy Director for the MbEN. “There should be more opportunities for students like this and we’re an example of how this type of collaboration can be successful and lead to improving access to justice.”
Upon learning that the research the students did, directly contributed to a successful law reform initiative, Cardinal said, “It is quite a rewarding feeling to know that Justin [Vermette] [JD/23] and I contributed, even in a small way, to the passage of this legislation. Hopefully, this legislation will have a meaningful, positive impact on the lives of Manitobans, empowering them to more effectively enforce their rights through the court system.”
Cardinal added that having this opportunity as a law student in the formative stages of his legal career was very fulfilling. “As law students, it’s easy to perceive the law as some kind of immutable thing that we must simply accept as it is. However, this experience is a reminder that the law is not static and that we, as future legal professionals, can influence and shape it.”