Scarcity, Precarity, and the Untenable Living Conditions of Our First Nations in the North It is not without hesitation that I use the term “third world”—a term long fallen out of favour. In the next few lines, I hope to prove that my choice was justified. Dirty floors, little, if any, access to healthcare, and food staples priced out of reach. This is the reality for many rural Aboriginal...
On 13 March 2015, the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters—which was assembled in 2008 at the invitation of the Chief Justice of Canada as a catalyst for meaningful action to justice reform—convened a meeting for provincial and territorial access to justice groups in Toronto, Ontario. The groups met to discuss the future of access to justice in Canada following the...
The Old Adage Doesn’t Fail A wise old man once said, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Why bother messing around with something if it was absolutely amazing the first time around? Many would believe that you ought to stick to what works! The Pebble Technology team took that to heart when they designed their third-generation smartwatch. In February 2015, the company launched pre-orders for its...
ROSE & SONS (176 Dupont St.) Kate: Though I have heard amazing things about Rose & Sons over the past few years, the location and rumoured wait time prevented me from trying it (remember, I used to live at Passy, where brunch is nothing but a fantasy). Having been so impressed with Big Crow, I had very high hopes for what I will call this “greasy spoon with a twist.” Karolina: I feel...
Brought to you by the Osgoode Sustainability Committee As we lead up to the end of the semester here are some tips to reduce the environmental footprint (although maybe not entirely the stress) of exams and final papers. Choose double-sided printing for your summaries: Preparing summaries can be hard enough! Save your back and binder space by printing your summary out on both sides. You can do so...
What comes first for faculty during the strike? Osgoode Hall Law School is caught in the crosshairs of yet another York University labour disruption by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 (CUPE 3903). The union represents contract faculty, graduate assistants, and teaching assistants, only the latter two of which remain on strike. On 3 March, the university suspended all classes...
The Travails of Resuming Law School on a Struck Campus Recent developments at Osgoode Hall are conspiring to introduce an unseemly innovation on 16 March 2015: two-tiered legal education. But first, a brief recap on how we got to this point. On 6 March, following four days of strike action, CUPE 3903 leaders agreed to put the York administration’s latest offer to a ratification vote. The offer...
135 Osgoode students urge Dean Sossin to respect the CUPE 3903 strike and not resume classes until a negotiated deal is reached. Dear Dean Sossin, We are writing to express our support for members of CUPE 3903 currently on strike at York University. As students and future practitioners of law, we view this strike as the exercise of a constitutionally-protected right, one which deserves...
Reexamining Baseball’s Steroid Era In the summer of 2013, a New York Times investigation revealed that Alex Rodriguez had been obtaining steroids from a man in Miami for several years. This eventually resulted in Rodriguez being suspended for the entire 2014 season, the longest steroids suspension ever passed down in baseball. As Rodriguez prepares to return to the New York Yankees this season, I...
A look into the team’s ascension to greatness and its heydays Part 3: Major surgery on the roster for the perennial winner After the 86-76 Toronto Blue Jays finished the 1990 season in second place (two games behind the division winning Boston Red Sox), GM Pat Gillick pulled off arguably the most significant trade in the history of the franchise. It would soon pay huge dividends to the team...
From Vulvas to Butt-Sex For the first time since the Spice Girls reigned supreme, Ontario’s students through grades one to eight will have a new Health and Physical Education curriculum. On 23 February the new curriculum was released. It details learning correct terms for body parts in grade one, different sexual orientations and gender identities in grade three, masturbation in grade six, and...
Bill C-51 and Bill C-279 as Obstacles for the Progression of Social Justice in Canada The law can be used as a tool to empower people associated with social differences—which pertain to the social construction and intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race, ability, class, and caste in society—but it can can also be used to further oppress people associated with social differences. The actions...
Canada’s Aboriginal Women A domestic violence issue: that is how Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt characterized the crisis of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. Implicit in this characterization is that this is an Aboriginal problem of which Canadians and the Canadian government can wash their hands. The very premise is fallacious, and the consequences could not be more dangerous...
The Social Injustices of Clinical Drug Trials in the Global South Capitalism: a word that describes a society where an alarming number of things can be bought and sold. Land, air, resources, people’s thoughts and ideas—all are liable for exploitation and depletion in service of an expanding market. The human body has also become a site of market expansion and profit generation. Countries such as...
Food Adventure #10: Brit THE BRISTOL (1087 Queen St. West) Kate: It feels like forever since I’ve had brunch on the Obiter! As our various commitments to our master’s theses and Mock Trial kept us from doing a Jurisfoodence review in the last issue, I felt that it was necessary to go somewhere that I knew to be excellent, so I suggested (for the first time) somewhere I had actually been before:...
How to Survive Adolescence: The Glorious Mechanics of Defiance Girlhood (2014) 3/4 Bold, brawling, beautifully observed, and acted with wonderful conviction, Girlhood is a blast of oxygen to the coming-of-age genre; an energetic, hugely uplifting, and fascinatingly textured film that’s both a lament for sweetness lost and a celebration of wisdom and identity gained, often at the very same moment...
Lessons on Life Still Applicable Today To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) is one of those movies I find myself watching to the very end no matter where I pick it up. There could be only a half hour left, and I would still feel compelled to sit down and finish it. This may be the true test of a classic. The film is based on Harper Lee’s 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The story takes place in 1932 in...
CLEO’s Fiona MacCool on accessible information In November 2014, the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice launched a new series on the A2J blog titled “Access to Justice Advocates.” The series is a response to recent reports that have underscored the importance of innovation and imagination in the pursuit of access to justice. At CFCJ, we understand that such efforts come down to people—to the diverse...
Preventing Parallel Imports of Trademarked Goods through Copyright Law Traditionally, trademark owners have primarily relied upon exclusive distribution agreements between manufacturers and distributors to control the flow of their goods within the market. However, the territorial restrictions in these agreements are subject to privity of contract and, therefore, suffer from the third party...
My attempt to wade through, and make sense of, Toronto’s first camping festival’s lineup On 10 February 2015, the GTA’s worst kept secret was finally released into the public domain. The town of Barrie, or as hipsters call it, Oro-Medonte, will be hosting the area’s first camping music festival. Headliners Sam Smith, Kendrick Lamar, and Alt-J were billed as the headliners that will drive crowds...
Sustainability at Home Whether at Passy or at home, here are some easy sustainability tips: Electronics continue to drain electricity when they’re plugged in even when they are off. Save power by turning off your power-bars or unplugging electronics that aren’t in use. Don’t flush floss down the toilet. It gathers in water treatment plants, tangles in the filtration systems, and...
Which Side Are You On? Negotiations between York administration and the university’s education workers union, Local 3903 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, have not yet resulted in a new collective agreement. A strike may begin as soon as March 3rd. If that happens, it will have a serious impact on all York students, including us at Osgoode. CUPE 3903 represents over 3700 education...
Reflections on the Impending Strike at York York University and CUPE 3903 are moving closer and closer to both a deal and an impasse. The pursuit of one entails the advance of its opposite. From this paradox emerges the absolute uncertainty of the whole situation, a source of great anxiety and, for some, great exhilaration too. On Monday, March 2nd, members of the union will vote on the...
The Past, Present, and Future of the Toronto Raptors on its 20th Anniversary PART 3 OF 3: A TRUE BREATH OF FRESH AIR As I watched the 2014 to 2015 edition of the Toronto Raptors secure a convincing 109 to 102 victory in their October 29th season opener at home against the Atlanta Hawks, I couldn’t help but feel that the lone-Canadian franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) has...
The Past, Present, and Future of the Toronto Raptors on its 20th Anniversary PART 2: MISSING THAT 3RD ELEMENT I can still recall the date in which Vince Carter put the Toronto Raptors on the NBA Map: February 12, 2000. On this date in NBA history, Carter, known as “Air Canada,” “Half-Man, Half-Amazing,” and “Vinsanity,” put on a show when he electrified the...