In the years to come, the rapidly changing climate is positioned to intensify existing threats and introduce novel threats to human health. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous concerns have surfaced regarding the capacity of governmental institutions to protect public health. The pandemic should serve as an example of the nature of infectious diseases that have the potential to reach a...
Walk-in legal clinics provide vital legal services to low-income, self-represented family law litigants in Ontario. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to in-person clinics. Osgoode is working with Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) to develop and implement the Family Justice Centre, a virtual legal clinic set to open in early 2021. Family lawyers from firms like Epstein Cole LLP will work...
A Federal Court judge ruled last Tuesday that the Canadian government will not be forced to go to trial for its contributions to climate change. In doing so, Justice Michael Manson dismissed a lawsuit brought by 15 young Canadians, aged 10 to 19 years old. These young Canadians had argued that the Canadian government was violating their Charter rights by not taking effective action on climate...
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...
Chances are that you haven’t done much international travelling in the past seven months. The most you’ve probably been able to do is ride the 506 Westbound from Chinatown to Little Italy. In the meantime, you can travel vicariously with the following two hapless and naïve travellers who have much more in common than might appear at first. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: streaming on Amazon...
As we depart midterm season and finals loom not far around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to compile a short list of pieces of classical music that can give you that extra oomph you need to crush your exams. Mozart, 12 Variations in C Major ‘Ah vous dirai-je, Maman’ You’ve just finished a difficult term full of essays, cold calls, and briefs. Now the real...
It’s that dreaded time of the year again: it is always dark, the weather is getting colder, and exams are approaching. Along with this comes annoying tasks such as bringing out your winter coat, getting your car tires changed, and having a constant battle about the thermostat with those you live with (or if you are like me, literally fighting myself about window open versus window closed). Not to...
Do our mixed feelings on advanced A.I. and tantalizing screens, merely reflect our own moral failings? Elon Musk is scared of artificial intelligence (A.I.). In a 2014 tweet, Elon compared A.I. development to “summoning the demon.” Unlike the countless podcast hosts and academics who routinely engage in such doomsday speculation, Elon put his money where his mouth is. Fifteen days into 2015, when...
Decades into her decorated career as a director, Sofia Coppola has little left to prove and it’s this assuredness and lack of insecurity that shines through in her latest full-length feature, On The Rocks. Tapping the likes of Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans, and an ever-disarming Bill Murray, Coppola follows up 2017’s The Beguiled with a more everyday subject matter: a marriage. Released...
Winged Words Story #4 When I moved to London in 2017, I knew nothing except the address of my empty, waiting apartment, and the name of my supervisor at work. Paris had signed the first email I was ever sent with a meme of the Queen of England waving through the screen, and beyond that, I had absolutely no idea what my future boss would be like. I walked into my office for the first time, heavily...
Why the Ontario Government’s Body-Checking Ban in Hockey for 2021 Does More Harm Than Good Ontario’s Minister of Sport Lisa MacLeod announced earlier this week that in order for the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to have a 2020-2021 season, body checking will not be allowed. Just days earlier, the OHL had formally announced its return-to-play plan for a shortened 2021 season beginning February 4th...
Sports have a storied history of hazing, bullying, and the “boys will be boys” mentality. Some consider it a rite of passage in sport, leading to stronger individuals and better people in the global community moving forward. But what happens when this isn’t the case? More often than not, the person who is being bullied will have no recourse and is left wondering what is wrong with them and why...
Winged Words Series Story # 3 When I was 14, I visited my grandparents’ Seattle home to help my grandmother out after a hip replacement. I don’t remember much about the trip, only that I saw a guy walking up a very steep hill in the middle of the city wearing a raccoon tail as an accessory, and that American Costco sells churros. My only regret is that I was too young to try the city’s...
Rest is a radical vision for a liberated future – @thenapministry When’s the last time you took a nap (without feeling guilty)? When’s the last time you did something restful (before you had the breakdown)? When’s the last time you reminded yourself that your value is not rooted in your transcript and is not calculable in 0.6 increments? I hope your answers to any of those questions...
“We have to talk about liberating minds, as well as liberating societies”. In first year, we were encouraged to write letters to ourselves. These letters were to contain our ambitions, our fears, our worries and the words we aspired to live by. As part of the letter I wrote to myself, I included an excerpt of a blog I wrote when I was 18 years old. “To be Black, is to be radiant. A radiance...
Is it my fault I was born this way? With melanin so dark you can’t even throw shade There is pain that lives deep down in my soul I feel like I’m being buried alive every time I hear the words “BLACK IS NOT BEAUTIFUL” I look at my reflection and all I can see is an embodiment of lies, constant relegation and skin that lacks beauty I feel like I’m drowning in waters polluted with...
This year has been a memorable one. We have experienced many notable events including the fires in Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic, and protests against racial injustice. In addition to all the world’s events, this year has impacted us all in different ways. As we near the end of the year, we challenge you to write a letter to yourself. We encourage you to take some time to reflect on this year...
The Mi’kmaq peoples of Mi’kma’ki, which is now called Nova Scotia, are being attacked by white supremacist lobster fishers because they have an Aboriginal Treaty right to fish and to a moderate livelihood. Full stop. That’s it, that’s all. Call it what it is. What is happening on the East Coast has nothing to do with conservation or concern for overfishing. It is quite the opposite. White...
If the theme of the 2016 US election was rage in the electorate – rage against a changing country, rage against globalism, rage against corporatism, rage against capitalism, rage against immigration, rage against racism, rage against sexism – the theme of the 2020 US election is undoubtedly rage in the media. On a daily basis the news media – from the corporate broadcast...
As a law student, you may have heard that certain statistics are skewed by the reality that many cases are settled instead of being resolved in court. While the benefits to settlement are numerous, it has the primary disadvantage of keeping in the dark a great deal of important data. Thankfully, the Institutional Shareholder Services group of companies (ISS), specifically ISS Securities Class...
End Sars (End Special Anti-Robbery Squad) is a social movement erupting across Nigeria, calling on the government to ban the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) division of the Nigerian Police Force, a division that has become synonymous with police brutality and oppression. The movement gained traction on Twitter in response to weeks of demands for reform over claims of harassment, murder...
The Covid-19 pandemic has raised a unique issue for separated or divorced parents. Now that public schools are open, should children go back to in person learning, or should they continue remote education? In a recent motion heard at the Superior Court of Justice, a mother sought an order that she be granted sole authority to make decisions regarding the education of her 9 year old son [W.C.]...