For many Canadians right now, the scale of the coronavirus calls to mind the Great Depression or the 2008 financial crisis—events that forever reshaped society. The current crisis has changed the way we travel and interact with people, the level of surveillance and security we are accustomed to, and even the way we practice hygiene. Will touch become taboo? What will become of sports stadiums...
The world is on fire. Right now the most obvious example of this is in the Western United States where 3.1 million acres have already burned down due to forest fires over the past two weeks. Despite the wealth of scientific evidence that names climate change as the main culprit behind this, President Donald Trump says the wildfires and mass devastation that is happening are just because of poor...
There’s a trope that law school self-selects for people who like to argue. But even if you like to argue, you may not be going about it in the most productive way. If law school is all about education, the way we converse about opposing views should follow suit. This is where we need the principle of charity. The principle of charity addresses how we should assess an argument or particular...
What This Means and Why We Should Care It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way governments around the world operate. You don’t need to look much further than south of the border, where an already controversial federal government has further fallen into disrepair in the face of the pandemic. In a country that was once considered a bastion of democracy, we now see the...
Osgoode Hall Law School Has Survived Challenges Before, and Will Survive Them Again The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of most of Canadian society, including the cancelling of all in-person instruction here at Osgoode Hall Law School, is not how I envisioned the end of my 2L year going. I am worried for my family, I am worried for my friends, I am worried for our...
In the age of a global pandemic, we all face unavoidable change. There is change to our daily routines, our interactions, and (hopefully) hygiene habits. In an effort to contain the spread of the virus and protect high-risk populations, we are all adjusting to social distancing practices, and the cancellation of classes, as well as social events, entertainment, and sporting events. While some of...
It’s probably too early for optimism, but our next issue is in September… The truth is I am probably jumping the gun on talking about some of the takeaways of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are still people suffering because they contracted it, because others were careless, because people simply lived their lives without knowing that they were a risk. In some sense, the virus is an example of...
Everything You Need to Know About the COVID-19 Pandemic In an effort to assist Osgoode Hall Law Students during these unprecedented times, the Opinions Section publishes this COVID-19 explainer: What is Coronavirus? What is COVID-19? Are they the same thing? A: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)...
Last October, swarthy Joe Rogan interviewed scrawny Edward Snowden about mass surveillance, patriotism, and extraterrestrial life. Eleven million people have tuned in since. Snowden, who copied and leaked over a million highly classified files from US military and intelligence agencies, shares the stage with Chelsea Manning, and the currently unnamed individuals behind the Panama Papers and the...
How Canada’s Expropriation Laws Function to Preclude Compensation for Private Property Owners Flipping through my property law textbook, I was struck by the realization that, in certain situations, the Crown has the power to expropriate the land of private citizens without compensating its owners. After navigating through the legal topography of expropriation, several of my cursory concerns...
The Rise of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Editorial Note: This article was submitted before Super Tuesday. The Democratic Presidential Primary is shaping up to be one of the most chaotic in recent memory. 29 candidates threw their hats into the ring, creating the most competitive primary in US history. This list, with candidates ages 38-89, contained seven visible minorities, six non...
Why Chief Justice McLachlin’s Confidence in Hong Kong’s Courts Should Give Us Pause From London to Beijing Almost 23 years ago, the United Kingdom handed over control of their Hong Kong colony to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). As part of the transfer agreement, Hong Kong would become a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the communist nation, but would be able to retain the...
Editor’s Note: Occasionally the editorial team here at Obiter chooses to re-publish timely and relevant submissions from our archives. In acknowledgement and celebration of Black History Month, we bring you this piece penned by Class of ’13 alum, Shawn Knights, from Volume 85 of Obiter Dicta, originally published February 11, 2013. Since its inception, there has been an ongoing debate about...
From Trent University to Wet’suwet’en Territory, Respect and Understanding Needed I completed my undergraduate studies in economics at Trent University, a small research-focused school situated on the banks of the Otonabee River, just outside of Peterborough, Ontario. Trent University is known primarily for both its beautiful campus and world-class professors. However, Trent University also has...
A Comment on Wisconsin v Loomis Facts of the Case: The State contends that Loomis was the driver in a drive-by shooting. It charged him with five counts, all as a repeater: (1) First-degree recklessly endangering safety (PTAC); (2) Attempting to flee or elude a traffic officer (PTAC); (3) Operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent; (4) Possession of a firearm by a felon (PTAC);...
Obiter does not hold the views of any of its anonymous authors. In the future, Obiter intends to use pieces like this as a conversation-starter, and plans on engaging administration in a relevant way to help solve the problems that articles like this identify. The first and most fundamental responsibility owed to Osgoode students by both Osgoode Hall Law School, and York University itself...
A Perspective on Professional Responsibilities Editor’s Note: This piece was originally submitted as part of Osgoode’s Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community course. Growing up, I was taught that storytellers are the most powerful people in the world. Lawyers, like traditional storytellers, occupy a privileged place in society which gives their stories special significance. We have...
Lessons in Cause-and-Effect; from Walkerton to the Novel Coronavirus The interesting thing about disaster is that it generally surprises when it strikes, yet it is often revealed to have been entirely predictable and preventable in hindsight. Take the Walkerton E. coli disaster of 2000 as an example: more than two thousand sick, six people dead, and an entirely predictable and preventable...
Time for the Republic of Canada I consider myself to be a bit of a traditionalist. I grew up in a family where my grandmothers on both sides were (are) enamoured by our monarch, the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II. Somewhat an oddity considering my late-grandmother on my Father’s side was of Polish-German descent, and my grandmother on my Mother’s side is French-Canadian – neither, of course, being...
What the courts of equity have to say about Taylor Swift’s contract dispute with Big Machine Records Welcome to Nashville Taylor Swift is one of the most powerful musicians in the world. In 2019, Forbes estimated the country starlet turned popstar boasted a net worth of approximately $360 million. On social media, Taylor holds an impressive 123 million followers on Instagram. Yet, a...
What HBO’s Watchmen can tell us about the relationship between law and justice. In the fall television season, HBO debuted their newest series Watchmen to great critical and consumer praise. The show is a continuation of the story depicted in the Alan Moore series of comics which ran in 1987 also titled “Watchmen.” The story of Watchmen — like its comic source material — takes place in an...
The CBC and US President Trump Both Learn Hard Lessons Over the Holidays in Cause-and-Effect Christmas holidays did not come and go without controversy, predictable of course, for these times we live in. Specifically, there was a notable online backlash against Canadian public broadcaster, Canadian Broadcast Corporation (“CBC”), after they aired a slightly edited version of the classic...
Conservative MP on the rural-urban divide, firearms, and the role of law students in a democracy Jamie Schmale (CPC), the newly re-elected Member of Federal Parliament for the rural Central-Ontario riding of Haliburton – Kawartha Lakes – Brock recently sat down with Obiter’s Opinion Editor, Corey LeBlanc, to speak about rural – urban issues, firearms, and the involvement of law students in the...
and One Easy Way to Do It Given the past few months in both Canadian politics and culture, one can be forgiven for thinking the wheels have started coming completely off the proverbial cart. Almost daily we turn on the six o’clock news to hear lurid stories about the Prime Minister wearing blackface, leading politicians ranting and raving about the illegitimacy of gay marriage, Canadian cultural...
Exam time is approaching, which means there has been an uptick in Osgoode’s focus on mental health. With all the calls for “self care!” and “yoga!” it can be tempting to view the school as a bastion of mental health advocacy, but we should instead cast a critical eye onto these efforts and recognize that the stress is coming from inside the house. A professor recently told a...