Want to Win 1 of 20 Prize Packages from WestlawNext Canada?! Headphones, Portable Batteries, I-Tunes Gift Cards, USB Keys and more. Prizes packages vary. Contact ‘Christian’ for full details. This contest is only open to Osgoode Hall Law Students, and with so many prizes, your odds are great! How to Enter: Follow @WestlawCanada on Twitter (Link: ) Send the correct answer to the daily trivia...
Douglas, Ghomeshi, and Process in Sexual Assault T’was the best of times for sexual predators, t’was the worst of times for the women upon which they prey. A female judge faces removal from the bench for an incident involving nude photos which were shown and distributed online without her knowledge or consent. She has been the subject of a pernicious and protracted inquiry for over two and a half...
On November 4, the Senate approved Bill C-36 with no amendments on its third reading. By the end of the year, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) will inevitably receive royal assent (if it hasn’t already by the time of this article’s publication), squeaking in before the deadline set by the Supreme Court after it struck down Canada’s previous prostitution laws last...
Today, the leaders of Canada’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (“LGBTQ”) law students wrote to the Honourable Amrik Virk, British Columbia’s Minister of Advanced Education, to request that he reverse his Ministry’s approval of Trinity Western University’s (“TWU’s”) law degrees. TWU’s ‘Community Covenant Agreement’...
Amidst a generally perceived crisis in access to justice, increasing emphasis has recently been placed on the potential role of paralegals to offer affordable, efficient, and effective legal assistance to people with unmet legal needs. The Paralegals and Access to Justice case study was initiated by Professor David Wiseman of University of Ottawa, Faculty of Common Law, to investigate the extent...
A different kind of civil disobedience On Friday, October 31, the Asian Law Students of Osgoode in conjunction with the Dean’s office welcomed Mr. Jason Ng, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law and head of Debt Capital Markets Legal at PNB Paribas Hong Kong, to speak on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement known as “Occupy Central” or the “Umbrella Revolution.” This...
The Osgoode Indigenous Students Association (OISA) attended the Indigenous Bar Association’s (IBA) 26th annual conference in Calgary on October 2 to 4th. Elder Clarence Wolfleg welcomed the IBA back to the location of its first conference, and introduced participants to Treaty 7 territory with prayer and smudging from a sitting position. All were welcomed to the conference by a drum song...
In October 2013, the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters* released its final report, A Roadmap For Change. The report outlined detailed recommendations, and called on diverse justice system stakeholders to improve access to justice in Canada. The “nine-point roadmap” advocated for increasing funding for legal aid, strengthening the Early Resolution Services Sector...
…and it’s a pretty cool place. As a 3L Student Caucus representative, I have the pleasure of sitting on the Osgoode Community Enhancement Forum (OCEF). Last year the OCEF considered how fostering a better relationship between Osgoode students and York University might improve the overall student experience at Osgoode. While this goal is obviously a work in progress, in this article I want to...
SENATE INITIATIVE OFFERS NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO THE PUBLIC This year, following a tumultuous period in which Justin Trudeau cast off his thirty-two Liberal senators in favour of younger, more PR-friendly caucus members, the newly self-styled Liberal caucus has launched a public campaign hoping to reinvigorate both the Senate and themselves. Led by caucus leader James Cowan, the Liberal senators...
Fall elections fill vacancies as Student Caucus ramps up for the new academic year Elections for 1L Student Caucus Representatives took place on September 15, 2014. The results saw Quinlin “Quin” Gilbert-Walters (1L Section A Rep), Lauren Katz (1L Section B Rep), Camille Walker (1L Section C Rep), and Chelsea Caldwell (1L Section D Rep) chosen to be their section representatives. They add to the...
Conflicts of Laws Under First Nations Self-Government Agreements The era of First Nations self-government agreements began in 1975 with the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement. The next agreement was not signed until 1993. Since then, close to two dozen more have been signed and several more are under negotiation. These agreements recognize a broad range of regulatory...
ISIS Edition Last month, President Obama laid out his plan to combat the Islamic State (referred to as both ISIS and ISIL) with air strikes in Iraq and Syria. Canada and the United Kingdom have both decided to join the US-led campaign targeting ISIS in Iraq. However, legal scholars have been mixed on whether this bombing campaign is considered legal under international and US domestic laws. How...
Why a pandemic in one country is business as usual in another Given how Ebola has been spreading through West Africa without any signs of slowing down, one would think there’d be greater panic with the announcement that the infectious disease has entered America. But that’s not the case. Public health officials echo the words of Tom Frieden, Director of the Centre for Disease Control, “[T]here...
Data Collection is Complete The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice recently completed a national study that surveyed over three thousand Canadians about their everyday legal problems. The survey is part of “The Cost of Justice: Weighing the Cost of Fair and Effective Resolution to Legal Problems”—an interdisciplinary, five-year long study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research...
How Factory Farmed Animals are Neglected in the Canadian Legal System Last year, an undercover investigator from Mercy For Animals Canada released footage revealing that the turkeys in a Hybrid Turkeys breeding facility in Bright, Ontario were being clubbed and kicked by employees of the facility, hit with shovels, left with open wounds, and being subjected to what can only be classified as...
A week of engaging discussions and activities on various mental health topics Mental Health Awareness Week is right around the corner! With five days of action-packed activities, #MHAW2014 kicks off on Monday, October 20 and will run until Friday, October 24. The featured events range from a group of distinguished panellists sharing their insights into mental health within the legal profession...
The internet is our generation’s playground, our social hub. We go there to play and chat, learn and explore. We often assume that we’re safe there, that we can do what we want without consequence, that our activities are not being monitored. We rarely take time to consider the digital trail we leave behind. Even if internet companies collect our data for all sorts of reasons (or even generate...
On August 9 an unarmed young, black male was shot at least six times – twice in the head – by a white police officer. For hours, the body was left in the street, uncovered and uncared for. The days following the shooting were marked with an explosion of moral outrage and public anguish. Widespread suspension of dissent and democratic rights through criminal sanctions would ensue. The...
What does the public think about the justice system? What does justice mean to everyday Canadians? We interviewed 99 Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area and have captured their responses in our colourful new infographic “What is Access to Justice?”You can see the infographic at: www.cfcj-fcjc.org/infographics/what-is-a2j The infographic is based on the “What is Access to Justice” project...
Pii dash Shkakimi-kwe giigidid aabdeg gbizindawaamin: When the Earth speaks, we will listen. This was a guiding theme posited by elders of the Chippewas of Nawash for Osgoode’s inaugural Anishinaabe Law Camp: Anishinaabe Naakinigewin Gabeshawin. On the weekend of September 11 to 14, approximately 40 law students and Osgoode faculty members travelled to Neyaashiinigmiing (Cape Croker) to attend...
As of September 1, students have been officially able to access the new WestlawNext Platform through WestlawNextCanada.com/students. This website can operate as a homepage for law students, as it includes a lot of helpful and interesting information. For example, under “Insight” students can find legal news and all kinds of helpful research tips. Clicking the box labelled “To Sign on to...
Your landlord refuses to address your mold problem. You were wrongfully terminated from your job. You doctor neglected to follow standard procedure. All of a sudden, you find yourself faced with a legal problem. Who do you call? Where do you start looking for help? Seeking answers to your questions seems like an impossible task, and as frustration sets in, you soon feel like giving up. This cycle...
With television and movie producers increasingly turning to the Internet to reach audiences, and the music industry in a state of chaos as they lose hold of the proprietary value once held in their product, it is clear that major changes to the entertainment industry are underway. Significant shifts in the expectations of audiences, the makeup of that audience, and the availability of services...
The Toronto Blue Jays, in a surprise twist, have just announced that they will not be playing a second baseman, despite initially confirming Ryan Goins as the opening day starter at the position. In a press conference, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos said, “Out of desperation we named Ryan Goins the starting second baseman. The previous year we signed Macier Izturis with the expectation that...