The Honourable Bob Rae, Matthews Fellow in Global Public Policy, delivered a speech entitled "The Rule of Law in an Age of Force: A Talk on Justice, Power, and Democratic Resilience" to the Osgoode Hall Law School on March 30, 2026.
Quoting Blaise Pascal, Mr. Rae argued
Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical. That is the whole problem, stated in eight words. Law that cannot be enforced is a pious hope. Force without legal constraint is tyranny. The rule of law exists precisely in the tension between those two truths — as the effort, never finished, never perfectly achieved, to make what is just strong, and what is strong just.