Discriminatory legislation in Quebec met with a national shrug As Canadians, we are taught from a young age that we possess certain inalienable rights and freedoms, and that the governments we elect have the responsibility of upholding and protecting them. A few months ago, however, Quebec’s Premier, Francois Legault, awoke many Canadians to the harsh reality that those same governments are also...
Doug Ford’s gas pump stickers are meant to mislead There are different ways to be wrong, and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario’s plan to mandate a ‘federal carbon tax notice’ on gas pumps across the province can lay claim to at least two of them: they’re misleading, and they’re unconstitutional. The simple, easy rebuke of these problematic sticky squares lies in their failure to...
Corey Robert LeBlanc – Opinions Editor When Obiter’s Editor-in-Chief asked each of us section editors to pen a welcome message to each of you for the 2019-20 school year, I admit that I found the exercise a bit hokey. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to introduce myself, or that I am uninterested in outlining my intentions for this section, but rather that I simply believe that it is a boring...
Growing up I loved Kool-Aid. I would drink that sugar water like there was no tomorrow. I would plead with my mother to get me the juice pouches and send me off with it with my packed school lunches. Whenever the iconic “Oh yeah!” would play on a commercial or on Family Guy (back when that show was good), I would get excited. Yet, as I grew up, the drink lost its charm and man oh man, how...
During the hectic times that dear ol’ Osgoode is experiencing, we tend to rely on our furry friends to give us comfort through this strike and exam season crunch. The therapy dogs that visit Osgoode, for instance, have endured many of my hugs. My own cats act like familiars more than pets but then again maybe I am secretly a witch lawyer-to-be? But that’s a thought for another article surely...
My mother and her partner flew into Toronto from Edmonton on February 28th. She was planning to visit me this spring, so I suggested that she come on the weekend coinciding with Bring Your Parents to Work Day, hosted by the First Generation Network, and also the Osgoode First Generation Family Day, hosted by the Student Success and Wellness team. Neither she nor my dad has university education...
Exploring new innovative models in family law Written on behalf of the Osgoode Hall Family Law Association I ask myself this question regularly. Technology now delivers countless essential services. Banking is automated. Dating apps are the norm. We Uber everywhere. But our legal system is stuck in the past. When it comes to technology, Ontario is approximately 20 to 25 years behind the US...
Modern love is a strange experience. Love used to involve sharing milkshakes at the local diner, bringing flowers on a first date, and defining when we were going steady. But now, the internet has introduced new social patterns for us to navigate. From trying to figure out why people keep texting me the eggplant emoji, to wondering why people keep complimenting my peach emoji, the world of...
Many of us consider pets as part of our families. We love them, and treat them like such. So, it is hard to imagine that a pet could be hurt without any consequences. A recent story in the news proved the contrary. Molly was a three-year-old Vietnamese potbelly pig who was rescued by the British Columbia SPCA, and nursed back to health. She was cared for by the SPCA staff just like...
It’s time to put the brakes on the idea of Ryerson Law and look at the negative effects of opening another law school in Toronto The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) recently approved Ryerson’s proposed new law school. I am sure that most of us have a similar response to this – enough is enough! You may think that I’m being self-interested in opposing Ryerson’s dreams of having a legal institution...
Since the day I arrived at Osgoode, it has been eminently clear to me that I am one of only a handful of visibly disabled students here. As someone who generally prefers to blend in, being one of the only students in a wheelchair has made me feel incredibly conspicuous whenever I am in the building, and I’m reminded daily that my experiences as a disabled law student are far from the norm...
Jordan B. Peterson’s Edict for Starting the Adventure of Sorting Yourself Out Jordan B. Peterson, Clinical Psychologist, and Professor at the University of Toronto with over 120 heavily cited publications in Academic Psychology Journals,[1] a YouTube audience with over half a million subscribers and nearly 30 million views,[2] and a 100% ‘would re-take’ score on “Rate My Professor”[3] is telling...
Katy Perry’s classic hit song is one that remains very polarizing – you either hate it or love it. If you are on the side of the former, you know how that song sticks. It goes on and on, forever repeating the chorus as you desperately resist the urge to sing the tune. For those who love the tune, keep reading, because I am certain you will enjoy the read despite our conflicting views. Dear...
The commitment to include paralegals is a response to a report from former Ontario court Chief Justice Annemarie Bonkalo. Significantly, the report noted that 57% of Ontarians did not have legal representation in family law matters. This statistic should be shocking, but anyone who has paid limited attention to the world of family law should not be surprised. Many people cannot afford a lawyer...
Should we be preparing ourselves for nuclear emergency after the increasingly antagonistic (and absurd) exchanges between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un? Some government agencies are starting to prepare for the worst through training and drills that have not been relevant since the Cold War. On January 2nd, after returning from a vacation in Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump resumed Tweeting...
(Editor’s Note: Normally, we wouldn’t publish such personal information, but the author was quite insistent that we attach the provided transcript, because the article wouldn’t make sense without it. We try our best to respect the wishes of authors, especially then they are making a good point and are utterly right.) I was thinking one of the best ways to talk about grades was...
A Not Particularly Eloquent or Highbrow Analysis on Jordan Peterson’s Appeal We should be grateful to people who use epithets like “social justice warrior” or “cuck.” Such people are essentially saying in a word or acronym, “I am an asshole; please disregard everything I have to say.” Once upon a time, you would have to piece together a history of objectionable statements and opinions to...
I read Joanne D’Souza’s opinion on Bill 62 passed by the Quebec government in the Obiter Dicta. I disagree with her analysis of the bill, but more importantly, I do not believe that Bouchard-Taylor’s report should serve as a guide for the Quebec society. Fundamentally, however, Joanne is right that the State should not dictate what an individual should wear. Having grown up in Quebec and being a...
(Editor’s Note: Obiter does not usually publish anonymous articles, but in this case, identifying the author might be detrimental to his/her career prospects, and the message is one of some social and/or legal importance. You can probably guess the author’s identity anyway.) Full disclosure time: over a decade ago, I was a teenage reprobate. When I returned to university in my early...
The Struggle of Environmentalism in the Crippling Reign of a Troompa Loompa Imagine that it is a sunny morning – fresh out of bed you make yourself a cup of joe, and as you wait for it to brew, you go on your beloved news channel or app only to see that once again there is turmoil in the world. It has become so commonplace to see the ridicule many have of the antics of one incompetent leader...
Reflections on Self-Represented Litigants (SRL) Awareness Day at Osgoode On October 4, 2017, the Osgoode Mediation Clinic (OMC) welcomed eight self-represented litigants (SRLs) to Osgoode for SRL Awareness Day. SRL Awareness Day occurred at several Ontario law schools under the leadership of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP). The NSRLP is funded by the Law Foundation...
“We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time.” Berit Reiss-Andersen, the leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, made this statement to justify giving the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) the Nobel Peace Prize in early October. ICAN officially launched in Vienna in 2007 after its start in Australia...
Is it “locker room talk” if it happens in the bar after the game? I’m seriously asking, because sometimes, the conversation gets more candid in the allegedly public setting of the local watering hole. You know, the place you go to after your beer league hockey game, where conversations are frequently interrupted by shouts of “come on Andersen, that was a clean shot from the point! How did you...
I seem to write for Obiter whenever something odd happens in my life – a noticeably hot day in Fall, in shorts and a tank top sipping a Starbucks PSL (which unsurprisingly has happened once again this year). However, this time it’s about the need to catch my flight to a particularly windy city. Now, before I begin, I want to add a disclaimer that Uber is wonderful and I am thankful for its...
Hugh Hefner died on 27 September 2017, at the age of 91. It seemingly took all of five minutes for people to start arguing over whether he was a progressive icon or a glorified sleaze merchant. As a prospective lawyer, I naturally spent far too much time trying to explain to several people that the truth is somewhere between those two extremes. It was honestly surprising to see the magnitude of...