Kate Puddister, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Guelph
I am an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. My research and teaching focus on law and politics, criminal justice policy, policing, sentencing, and Canadian politics. I teach courses in the Political Science, and the Criminal Justice and Public Policy programs. I am the author of Seeking the Court’s Advice: The Politics of the Canadian Reference Power (2019, UBC Press). My work has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Canadian Public Administration, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, among others. I have contributed expert analysis to multiple media outlets including radio, television and print. Before joining the University of Guelph, I completed a Ph.D. in Political Science at McGill University, and a M.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy and an honours B.A. in Criminal Justice and Public Policy at the University of Guelph. I was the Eakin Visiting Fellow at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada in Fall 2022.
Recent Publications & Current Projects
Books:
2022. Constitutional Crossroads: Contemplations on Charter Rights, Reconciliation and Constitutional Change (UBC Press) with Emmett Macfarlane.
2019. Seeking the Court’s Advice: The Politics of the Canadian Reference Power (UBC Press).
Recent Articles:
2023. “Civilian Police Oversight and Accountability for Serious Incidents in Canada: Who Polices the Police?” Canadian Public Administration. forthcoming.
2022. “Common Sense Justice? Comparing Populist and Mainstream Right Positions on Law and Order in 24 Countries,” Party Politics. with Edward Koning.
2022. “To Serve and Protect? An Empirical Study of Police-Involved Sexual Assault,” Women & Criminal Justice. with Danielle McNabb.
2021. “What We’ve Got Here is Failure to Cooperate: Provincial Governments and the Canadian Reference Power,” Revue Générale de Droit 51(2): 91-128.
2021. “When the Police Break the Law: The Investigation, Prosecution and Sentencing of Ontario Police Officers,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society. 36(3): 381-404. with Danielle McNabb.
2021. “How the Canadian Sentencing System Impacts Policy Reform — An Examination of the Harper Era,” Law & Policy 43(2): 149-169.
2020. “Play-by-Play Justice: Tweeting Criminal Trials in the Digital Age,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 35(1): 1-22. with Tamara A. Small.
2020. “Tweet Justice: The Canadian Court’s Use of Social Media.” American Review of Canadian Studies 50(2): 229-244. with Andrew Mattan and Tamara A. Small.
2020. “Trial by Zoom? The Response to COVID-19 By Canada’s Courts,” Canadian Journal of Political Science 53(2): 373-377. with Tamara Small.
2019. “The Canadian Reference Power: Delegation to the Courts and the Navigation of Federalism.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism. 49(4): 561-586.
2019. “A Question They Can’t Refuse? Judicial Independence and the Power to Refuse Reference Questions.” Canadian Political Science Review. 13(1): 34-71.
2019. “Navigating the Principle of Open Court in the Digital Age: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same,” Canadian Public Administration 62(2): 202-224, with Tamara A. Small.
Current Projects
Policing by Consent: Evaluating Civilian Police Oversight in Ontario (funded by SSHRC). This project examines police oversight and investigations by the Special Investigations Unit when police—civilian interaction results in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.
Canadian Courts in the Digital Age (with Tamara A. Small). This project looks at the impact of digital technology on access to justice, the principle of open court and the operation of the Canadian judicial system.
Canadian sentencing policy. This project takes examines the nature and impact of Canadian sentencing policy through a focus on institutions of public policy, judicial review and federalism
The Canadian Reference Power. This project analyzes the political and strategic uses of the Canadian reference power.
Teaching & Supervisions
I am happy to collaborate with undergraduate and graduate students on a variety of topics:
Law and politics: judicial power and judicial review, advisory opinions and the Canadian reference power, the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Supreme Court of Canada, the judicialization of politics, judicial independence, policy impact and more
Criminal justice policy: policing policy, police oversight and accountability, undercover policing and Mr. Big, sentencing policy and law, criminal justice policymaking, and more
Canadian politics: political institutions, public policy and federalism
Teaching
POLS*1150 Understanding Politics
POLS*3130 Law, Politics and Judicial Process
POLS*3300 Governing Criminal Justice
POLS*3300 (DE) Governing Criminal Justice
POLS*4050 Advanced Topics in Law and Politics (Sentencing and Penal Policy)
POLS*4060 Advanced Lecture in Law and Politics (Sentencing and Penal Policy)
POLS*6200 Law and Politics
POLS*6960 Dialogue Theory and Its Critics (reading course)
CCJP*6000 Courts
CCJP*6100 Governing Criminal Justice
Knowledge Mobilization & Media
My research on police oversight and the prosecution of Ontario police officers was profiled by the Toronto Star:
Researchers Tracked Nearly 150 Charges Against Ontario Police Officers Since 2005. Most Ended in Acquittal or Withdrawn Charges, by Wendy Gillis.
Recent Publications:
2019. “#MeToo: In Canada, Rape Myths Continue to Prevent Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors,” The Conversation (reproduced in the National Post), with Danielle McNabb. This piece was part of The Conversation’s coverage of International Women’s Day
2018 “Police Investigation in Tina Fontaine’s Murder: Rethinking the Mr. Big Method.” The Conversation (reproduced in the National Post, the Huffington Post).
I am a frequent commentator in national and local media on a variety of issues relating to law and politics, police oversight and accountability, and criminal justice policy.
Recent Commentary:
“Toronto cop fired in rare dismissal for ‘egregious’ misconduct. He’ll remain suspended with pay pending appeal.” Toronto Star
“Is SIU mandate too narrow to provide justice for families of men killed by police in Mississauga and Brampton?” Mississauga News/Brampton Guardian
“Peel police look to body-worn cameras to help provide increased accountability.” Brampton Guardian
“Could body cameras be coming to some RCMP detachments? It’s complicated.” CBC News
“Harper was Tough on Crime, Trudeau Promised a New Approach – Did he Deliver?” Global News
“Why the Trial into Dafonte Miller's Beating is About Far More than an Isolated Incident," Toronto Star
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Contact
Kate Puddister
Department of Political Science
University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
519-824-4120 x.52424
kpuddist@uoguelph.ca
