While parties have made strides in acknowledging the ongoing climate crisis, more work is needed As Canadians head to the polls in the coming days, the climate issue is dominating the election. This is unsurprising, as the country witnessed the climate crisis hit home this summer: from the heat dome that scorched British Columbia and contributed to more than five hundred deaths, the forest fires...
In a familiar crypto conundrum, a disruptor runs up against regulations Most fintech companies have had Big Banking in their crosshairs since their inception, and Coinbase is no exception. The American cryptocurrency company has risen to prominence in recent years—with its accolade as being the first major crypto company to get US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval to go public on...
The latest on vaccine passports and hospital protests Ontario’s vaccine passport system is due to come into effect on 22 September 2021. Under this system, Ontarians will need to prove that they are fully vaccinated (and have received their second dose at least fourteen days prior) in order to access certain public venues. The goal of the vaccine passport system is to limit COVID-19 transmission...
NFTs continue to change the way the world views digital art and its economic sustainability. The explosion in internet usage of the last few decades has animated and expedited dissemination of information, but this benefit has also resulted in an increased tug-of-war between artists’ ability to protect their property rights in their work and the prevalence of piracy. Furthermore, the speed and...
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic caused the regrettable cancellation of many oral advocacy competitions including moots and negotiations. In 2021, the organizers of these competitions regrouped and made the decision to conduct them virtually. While unprecedented, hosting moots online is akin to how many matters in the legal system are being conducted today. Fortunately, Osgoode rose to the...
Fellow Osgoode student Ali Imrie, a 4th year in the extended time program, has secured a clerkship with the Ontario Court of Appeal for 2022-2023. The path to clerking at Ontario’s highest court has not been an easy one for Ali, as there are a number of barriers in place for law students with disabilities. Ali explains that law students with disabilities face various barriers in academic...
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) Laws In February 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that s. 241 (prohibiting physicians from assisting in ending life) and s. 14 of the Criminal Code infringed s. 7 of the Charter and were not justified under s. 1. They were held to be of no force and effect, to the extent that they “prohibit physician-assisted death for a competent adult person who (1) clearly...
Remote work and school have been the new normal for a year. We have all adjusted to doing pretty much anything social via Zoom. Classes, moots, OCI’s, exams and even Mock Trial have all moved to the online world. Even courts have had to adjust to trials via Zoom. This new reliance on Zoom has created a new anxiety – forgetting to mute. Most of us have accidentally un-muted during a Zoom...
The microeconomics and internal workings of our securities markets and exchanges are incredibly complex, and few know anything beyond that – even the most sophisticated of current investors. If the world of investing were isolated, then the obscurity of its nature would not be entirely concerning. But the reality is that much of society’s infrastructure – literally and figuratively – is tied up...
When families are unable to sort out their issues and take them to court, someone is going to win and the other will lose. Likely, the loser will be ordered to pay some amount in costs to the other party. This is what happened to Mr. Ryan Phelps in Phelps v Childs, 2021 ONSC 1468 when he tried to appeal an order from Abrams J. dated June 11, 2019. The Appellant, Mr. Phelps was ordered to return...
In the summer of 2019, the York Regional Police arrested approximately nine people with alleged links to the ‘Ndrangheta, an Italian mafia clan. In an operation called “Project Sindacato,” the police raided various locations seizing 27 homes, 23 sports cars, 11 gaming houses, gambling machines, luxury liquors, jewelry, and cash. By the time the raids came to an end, nearly $35 million in goods...
On February 24th, 2021, a German court sentenced Eyad al-Gharib, a former member of the Syrian regime’s intelligence service, to four and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting the torture of civilians. The court stated that the defendant had arrested at least 30 anti-government protestors at the beginning of the conflict in 2011, sending them to a facility where he knew torture takes...
In Part 1 featured in Issue 8 we endeavored to explore on a high level the nature of SPACs and how they operate. In Part 2, we will be your guide through a select few current examples of SPACs on the marketplace. Feel free to jump ahead to a particular SPAC that’s interesting, or read them all – but in any case, be sure to note the common motivations behind creating the SPAC, as well as the...
What do Shaquille O’Neal, Occupy Wall Street, and internet pizza connoisseur Dave Portnoy have in common? Well, more than you might think. The GameStop saga, the growth of crypto and the recent proliferation of blank cheque corporations are all expressions of a much deeper cultural phenomenon bubbling underfoot. In recent weeks, the financial markets have dramatically re-entered the popular...
It has been ten years since the revolutionary high of the 2011 Arab Spring protests rippled across the Middle East and North African nations, underscoring the heavily fragmented nature of relations between rulers and the ruled. Despite the wave of protests that erupted in nations across the region, there were limited victories, and, to this day, the political and economic crises that fueled the...
Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, one issue still being litigated in family law courts is whether children should attend school in-person or via remote learning on Zoom. After about a semester and a half of law school via Zoom, you probably have strong opinions about virtual learning and whether it’s a reasonable alternative to in-person education or a dumpster fire. Parents...
What the international community can learn from one another As the clock struck midnight, it seemed that the international community was holding its breath for a new year. There were hopes that with a new year would come relief from rising case counts, ICUs pushing full capacity, and increasingly tighter lockdown restrictions. Nevertheless, much of the international community currently remains in...
The results of the People’s Climate Vote, a survey conducted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), covered over 50 countries and polled over 1.2 million people to assess public opinion on climate change. UNDP said that the poll was the world’s biggest survey ever of public opinion on climate change. It asked respondents if climate change was a global emergency and if so whether they supported...
Achievement unlocked. In January, Elon Musk clinched the title of the world’s richest person for a few days after surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Bloomberg’s billionaires’ list. Musk’s wealth skyrocketed by more than $150 billion in the past 12 months as Tesla’s share price surged 743 per cent in 2020. Tesla’s annual sales rose 36 per cent last year, and the world’s ‘buzziest’ enterprise...
Part 1 First, some context An initial public offering (IPO) or in layman’s terms, ‘going public’, is arguably one of the most important moments for any business and certainly one of the biggest pay-days for its founders and early investors. But what is an IPO? Put simply, an IPO is a manner in which businesses can raise capital through the public markets whereby shares can be bought and...
As the rise of self-directed retail investing increases with technological innovations and fintech, investors should remain increasingly critical of how their brokers are making their money. The saying, “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product” is as relevant as it has ever been in the age of commission free trading. In Canada the most prominent commission-free brokerage is...
On January 27th, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the JLSA is inviting students to attend our event dedicated to the commemoration of Holocaust victims and the education of the atrocities under the Nazi Regime. The event will feature introductory remarks from Dean Mary Condon and Associate Dean Karen Drake. Our event will also feature a speech on the importance of Holocaust Remembrance by Irwin Cotler...
Stocks chosen for their adherence to environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics have been underperforming the wider equity market. ETFs (exchange-traded funds) focused on buying ESG stocks are performing at their worst levels since the summer of 2019, and short sellers are cashing-in. ESG investing has long been purported as a viable strategy to encourage corporations to move from...
Ant Group Co., commonly known as the proprietor behind Alipay, was set to mark an IPO record if its planned listing for November 5th on Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges proceeded. The name “Ant”, chosen to represent the fact that the payment-processing-platform will accept even the smallest payments, is certainly not representative of the firm’s latest capital raising arrangement. Ant has lined...
Introduction I often start my emails with the phrase, “I hope this email finds you well”. In the time of COVID-19, however, wellness has come to mean something entirely different altogether. On days where I feel ‘well’, I am clocking in 9-to-5 and mustering up the energy to turn on my camera for virtual classes. On days where I don’t feel well, I am rolling out of bed five minutes before class—if...