The month of February began tumultuously amidst reports of the Myanmarese military detaining members of the civilian government and declaring control of the country. Though it is too soon to say anything definitively, it appears that the democratic transition initiated roughly a decade ago has come to an end. This is not the first time that the military has overthrown a civilian government in...
Recruit season is upon us. This year’s 2L class is facing additional stress due to the pandemic and will be navigating the first-ever virtual recruit process. As I stare at the Excel spreadsheet I made with the list of employers, application requirements, practice information, and contacts, I can’t help but wonder when this will end. For some odd reason, the time from January – April always...
This year has presented untold challenges for students. At a time when business is anything but usual, we are forced to carry on as if it were. Certain of ourselves, though the world is uncertain of itself. If our reality is a simulation, as some have suggested, it is as if the attendant slipped and unwittingly engaged the red button on the switchboard reading ‘expert mode’. Whereas yesterday’s...
Last year’s seemingly-unending American presidential election is in the rear-view mirror. After months of baseless claims by the Trump campaign with respect to voting irregularities, President Joe Biden’s inauguration took place in January—in a ceremony marked by masked faces and viral mittens. There is plenty to dissect in the aftermath of the November 3 election: the relative successes of...
Donald Trump has been a controversial and polarizing figure for years, with his venture into American politics only serving to exacerbate this fact. He has been able to strike a chord with many Americans, drawing crowds to rallies and inciting demonstrations by supporters. Curiously, support for the self-proclaimed ‘America-First’ politician has not been limited to the United States. For whatever...
On June 10, 2020, I participated in an online debate. It was organized by Ryerson University’s Centre for Free Expression (CFE) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). The debate was entitled, “Fighting Anti-Semitism or Silencing Critics of Israel: What’s Behind the Push for Governments to Adopt the IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism?”. The debate was purposefully produced in the...
The agriculture sector is one of the main three sources of greenhouse gas emissions, where cattle, sheep and goat production currently produces approximately half of that amount. Specifically in Canada, 10 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions are from crop and livestock production. Despite this large share of our country’s emissions coming from this source, there has been relatively no...
The intersection of government procurement and subsidies presents a particularly complicated problem in regulating international trade. Government purchases account for ten to fifteen percent of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on average, and markedly higher for that of developing countries. In fact, government purchases may represent a significant contribution to developing countries’...
The concept of blind justice is fundamental to the ultimate aspirations of true justice itself: where all members of a given society are treated equally by the rules and laws of that society, irrespective of who one happens to be, and what position in society they happen to occupy. If we conceptualize our system of rules and laws as the concrete foundation on which the rest of our society is...
2020 is the year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst virus in modern history that pushed society, economies and communities to their breaking point. However, it must not be forgotten that while the pandemic was raging, so was the climate emergency. 2020 marked record-breaking wildfires from Australia to the west coast of the United States, the highest number of powerful Atlantic storms...
The minsky moment triggering the demise of US financial markets in 2008 stems from the fall of Lehman Brothers, underscoring unregulated risks associated with shadow banking. From 2008 to 2021, shadow banking increased at an unprecedented rate as investors and lenders bypass the scrutiny of traditional banking. The downsides, however, are the lack of safety nets in calculating actual risks...
Earlier this week, the Ethiopian military launched a military offensive into its Northern region of Tigray. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, stated that the offensive was in response to an attack on a federal military base in the region. Abiy claims that a regional political group, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), is behind the attacks. Abiy’s military offensive has many...
In 2016, Donald Trump, on his path to becoming the 45th President of the United States, made many significant promises pertaining to the Middle East. Trump boldly stated that he would “utterly destroy ISIS,” “tear up” the Iran nuclear deal, move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, and bring peace to the one of the most complex and historically violent regions on Earth. Four...
How Each Crisis that Engulfed 2020 was Predictable and Foreseen In 2007, Nassim Nicholas Taleb published his seminal piece, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, to great commercial success and critical acclaim. The book, among other things, told the story of a popular assumption that remained nestled in the minds of ‘Old World’ citizens until the late 17th century: that all swans...
As L&L’s social convener, I get the opportunity to connect with a lot of our classmates while I host weekly online social events.The majority of messages that I receive are from club execs who reach out to me for advice on hosting online events or from colleagues asking about plans for the upcoming winter semester (no, I don’t know the answer to that). As we’ve progressed through the school...
Unless you live under a rock, you are probably at least vaguely aware of the United States presidential election. The contest between incumbent Donald Trump and former Vice-President Joe Biden has truly been a clash of titans, if titans meant men in their seventies. There are a great many differences between the two candidates, but one area where the contrast is most evident is in their...
Midterms have arrived for 1Ls. The length of time allowed for each midterm varies from a few hours to a few days, but one thing is consistent: for Contracts, Torts, and Criminal Law, midterms might be the first substantial graded work of the semester. For students who have been working very hard with little graded feedback, the stakes seem high even for no-downside midterms, which count for zero...
Further crippling the reputation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) a week post Nova Scotia’s egregious acts of violence against Indigenous fisheries, the Meng Wanzhou extradition case is slashing public trust in police authority. On October 28th, Meng’s lawyer elicited from Constable Winston Yep a likely breach of Meng’s Charter rights. The high-profile case commenced on December...
“We’re a social enterprise.” As a novice “social” entrepreneur running my own company, I’ve used and heard this phrase a lot. The term “social enterprise” has rapidly emerged as a way of describing a new and improved generation in business and entrepreneurship. In recent years, social enterprise has become prominent, attracting the interest and attention of investors, mainstream media, and...
Content warning: This story contains details about the murder and sexual assault of a young child. Until last Thursday, the identity of nine-year-old Christine Jessop’s rapist and murderer was unknown. For thirty-six years, her family was unable to find answers, after the exoneration of Guy Paul Morin removed the main suspect. The police and prosecution’s singular focus on Morin had devastating...
A survey conducted in 2019 found that 71% of Canadians believe the country needs to take the lead globally in the fight against climate change, and 76% believe the country needs to be doing more on the issue as a whole. But you probably didn’t need to hear the statistics to back up the statement “Canadians care about the climate.” It is evident in small ways, such as more restaurants offering...
Since the beginning of September, there has been a significant increase in daily COVID-19 cases province-wide, most likely due to the reopening of schools and universities. New daily cases now top five hundred, up from less than a hundred in the middle of August and surpassing the pandemic’s first peak in April. However, despite the recent upward trend in COVID-19 cases, Ontarians should not be...
By-elections have been called for October 26th in the ridings of Toronto Centre and York Centre. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, voters in these two ridings will be electing two members of Parliament (MPs) to represent them in the House of Commons. Both Toronto Centre and York Centre were formerly held by Liberal MPs, and while many predictions have the Liberals retaining these two seats, nothing...
A Public Diary Entry from Corey LeBlanc The start of a new school year can always be a stressful time. Doubly-so in the high-pressure environment that is law school. And so further in the COVID-era. Consequently, the fact that my September was going to be a little rocky was to be expected. However, the extent to which my little karmic ship was hammered by the proverbial open-and-stormy waters...
During my first welcome reception at Osgoode, I vividly remember a male articling student at the hosting firm telling me, completely unprompted, why there aren’t as many women in law as men. “I guess it’s all the harassment,” he said, laughing nervously. “It can be hard, you know. With sexism.” At the time, I was irritated that he had acted as if this was some sort of revelation to me...