Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics recently announced that its new pill to treat COVID-19 reduces the risk of hospitalization and death in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 by approximately 50 per cent. After the experimental oral antiviral treatment showed “compelling results” during late-stage clinical trials, the pharmaceutical company announced its plan to apply for...
Ontario’s boreal forest north of Lake Superior is one of the largest intact forests left in the world. The same cannot be said for the southern part of the province which, once covered with forests, has now been cut down to make way for development and agriculture. Though there are many issues inherent to forest management, and the forestry industry in the north, urban forestry is often left out...
The haircare company Olaplex Holdings Inc—owned by the private equity firm Advent International—made its market debut through an Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) on 30 September 2021. Founded in 2014, Olaplex is a company that pioneered the category of haircare called “bond-building.” Olaplex products seek to restore damaged and compromised hair by repairing it from the inside out with their...
Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. The most famous Michaels in contemporary Canadian news have landed on home soil after being arbitrarily detained in China for 1020 days. The “Two Michaels” (as media outlets have coined them) were detained by Chinese officials on 10 December 2018 following the detainment of Huawei’s board deputy chair, Meng Wanzhou, upon her arrival at the Vancouver...
The amendments will inject a healthy sum into Canada’s capital markets One of the biggest things to happen in sports this summer has nothing to do with playing the game. Rather, it has to do with playing the odds. According to the Canadian government, every year Canadians place over $14 billion in illegal wagers. That is, until 29 June 2021 when Bill C-218, entitled An Act to amend the Criminal...
Access to justice has been defined in a variety of ways and often encompasses a breadth of issues. The definition provided by Community Legal Education of Ontario (CLEO) is as follows: “access to justice exists when people can pursue their goals and address their law-related problems in ways that are consistent with fair legal standards and processes; and can obtain, understand, and act on...
Attribution science can help fill the evidentiary gap in climate suits The branch of climate science known as attribution science has improved considerably in the last 15 years. In the past, the degree of certainty as to whether increasing greenhouse gas emissions led to an increase in extreme weather around the world has been a bit fuzzy. Today, scientists can say with great accuracy that...
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...