If you have heard about recent major stock splits in the news, such as both Apple and Tesla only months ago, you may be wondering what the effects of these are and their implications. While the term “stock split” may sound daunting, the fundamentals are rather simple. All companies have a total number of shares outstanding, and when a company decides to pursue a stock split, they increase the...
“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...
One student’s account of the online recruitment process Over the past two months, I participated in an entirely virtual recruitment process for 2L summer positions in the Calgary market. This process included a formal OCI day in early September, followed up by a second round of interviews and networking events in October. I thought I would share my experience and tips on virtual recruitment with...
In the summer between ninth and tenth grade, my friend and I would frequently visit the Newmarket Public Library. We’d spend afternoons browsing the dim aisles of the fiction section, checking out books, and strolling around the nearby lake and trail that led back to our neighborhoods. I didn’t know how else to fill my time other than with books. All my other friends at the time were engrossed in...
How our opinions on dystopias reflect who we are as individuals On October 21, 1949, George Orwell received a remarkable letter. It was penned by Orwell’s former French teacher and fellow writer, Aldous Huxley, whose own dystopian novel, Brave New World, had been published in 1932. The letter’s message was foremost congratulatory, as Orwell had recently published 1984. While Huxley...
There is no Kent Monkman retrospective planned for the AGO next month. A virtual vernissage occasionally drifts by, but no popup galleries feature his work amongst red wine in paper cups, and the list of his upcoming exhibitions dwindles with every month of COVID-19 closures. This doesn’t mean the art world has forgotten the Cree Two-Spirited artist, as his pieces still sell steadily for five and...
My father, a native New Yorker was particularly affected when the Twin Towers fell. In December of 2001, on the way home from one of our many trips visiting extended family, we detoured past Ground Zero. Three months had elapsed, yet small fires continued to smolder. Upon returning home, my father’s psyche collapsed. He developed migraines that have been with him since. To escape the ceaseless...
Schitt’s Creek features an ensemble cast of some of the most well-known names in Canadian media, including father-son duo Dan and Eugene Levy, and Catherine O’Hara. It follows the Rose family, down-on-their-luck former millionaires, who are stranded in a town originally bought by Eugene Levy’s character Johnny Rose as a joke. The Rose family camps out in a roadside motel, but manages to hang onto...
NOTE: the contents of this fictional retelling have been taken from trial transcripts. Some details have been changed or omitted to ensure privacy. Sidney Scofflaw got up to the stand. “You are Sydney Scofflaw, aged –, living in –? And you are a second-year student here at Osgoode, where the Osgoode Supreme Court is holding trial?” said the judge. “That’s right,” said Scofflaw. “And you were on...
As COVID-19 decimates the Canadian economy, throws indebted students into an uncertain job market, and poses real risk to both physical and mental health, Osgoode Hall Law School’s students click into their Zoom classes to start off the 2020-2021 academic year. One student reflects on the changes brought on by the pandemic and laments the virtual formatting of her courses. “Just because I never...
An interview with lawyer and Assistant General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Josh Flynn Jon Cooper, Brian Burke, Laurence Gilman, and Josh Flynn. What do these people have in common? For one, they all hold, or formerly held (sorry Brian), high-level positions within NHL organizations. However, there’s something else that links these men. Jon Cooper, Stanley Cup Champion and head coach of...
Outside of drafting and developing prospects, free agency provides NHL organizations with the best opportunity to improve their respective clubs. Sometimes these improvements come by way of making notable player signings or by inking multiple depth players, and in some cases, deciding not to re-sign a player at all. At the same time, there is no doubt that free agency can lead to GMs overpaying...
As the clock hit zero, Lebron James let out a shout of triumph as he and his teammates rushed to the court to celebrate winning another championship for Los Angeles. The celebration was different this year: with no fans present at the arena, the only sounds the audience could hear from home were the Lakers’ cheers of joy as confetti fell in the stadium. A few minutes later, the Lakers were...
2020 has been a tough year for tennis. After the Australian Open back in January, things quickly turned downhill for the professional circuit with major tournaments being cancelled left and right. Wimbledon was cancelled (the last time the tournament was cancelled was during the Second World War), the ill-fated inaugural Adria Tour was abandoned amidst a COVID-related scandal, and Novak Djokovic...
Why Solange’s 2016 release carries weight today To paraphrase James Baldwin, to be Black and conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time, and if there was an apt time for such an expression to ring true, it would be today. 2020 has been a uniquely difficult time to be Black. From being inundated with reminders of our own mortality, to losing widely revered figures who had an integral role in...
Winged Words Series Story #2 In 2015, I spent the summer hostel hopping, allowing the cost of my flights to determine my destination. Who could turn down €20 airfare to Stockholm? Just imagine the least glamorous way to get from point A to B, and then add in the fact that most of my clothes at the time had been purchased at Primark, and were only washed in shallow sinks – once a week...
A company that wishes to offer its shares to the wider public and finally achieve what is often viewed as a company’s biggest milestone traditionally pursues an initial public offering (IPO)—but those times are changing. Both the state of a company when it goes public and the means used to achieve going public have been radically re-thought with the use of the special purpose acquisition company...
It can be no surprise that such an instant and dramatic change to the business landscape, via COVID-19, has caused certain firms to thrive while others sink. In addition to companies struggling to survive, people have struggled to make do: lost jobs, cut wages and unexpected expenses. This is not a reality for the companies that have best positioned themselves to thrive, whether by business...
On Sunday, Sept. 27, violence once more erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the long-disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a reserved territory located in the south Caucasus Mountains. As the ethnic and territorial hostility continues to heighten, the region has been thrust into uncertainty and on the edge once more in response to long-held claims over the land. The conflict dates back to...
In a Time of Remote Learning, Students on Campus Face Additional Challenges Remote learning and social distancing have had a significant impact on law students at Osgoode, some of whom are facing these strange circumstances while living on campus at Osgoode Chambers. One major change is that students who live in residence are forced to attend the bulk of their classes via Zoom in their rooms...
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...