The 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was another hectic ten days in a long line of new beginnings over the last thirty-nine years. It was the first time that King Street was closed to traffic for the opening weekend, and the first time that TIFF took a firm stance regarding Telluride premieres, resulting in the loss of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, among others. It was...
A group of former National Football League (NFL) players made headlines in April 2011, when they filed a federal lawsuit against the league alleging that the league’s negligence contributed to their suffering repeated concussions over the course of their careers. Since then, over 4,800 former players have joined the suit, including former stars such as Jim McMahon and Bruce Smith. The players’...
Your landlord refuses to address your mold problem. You were wrongfully terminated from your job. You doctor neglected to follow standard procedure. All of a sudden, you find yourself faced with a legal problem. Who do you call? Where do you start looking for help? Seeking answers to your questions seems like an impossible task, and as frustration sets in, you soon feel like giving up. This cycle...
With television and movie producers increasingly turning to the Internet to reach audiences, and the music industry in a state of chaos as they lose hold of the proprietary value once held in their product, it is clear that major changes to the entertainment industry are underway. Significant shifts in the expectations of audiences, the makeup of that audience, and the availability of services...
Laugh now, cry later, Osgoode. This is our 3L swan song, our last dance. And we’ve saved this dance for you. After today, we’re handing off the column to our successor contributors, who we hope will continue in our stead by leaving a trail of steaming culinary justice across the GTA. Goodman’s Bistro: Dan: No analysis of campus food options would be complete without mentioning the Aramark...
The Toronto Blue Jays, in a surprise twist, have just announced that they will not be playing a second baseman, despite initially confirming Ryan Goins as the opening day starter at the position. In a press conference, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos said, “Out of desperation we named Ryan Goins the starting second baseman. The previous year we signed Macier Izturis with the expectation that...
In my mind, there were two possible options for the topic of my final Obiter Dicta article. I could write a sentimental, well-written article waxing poetic about my nine years of post-secondary education and the great memories associated with my time as a student at Osgoode Hall; alternatively, I could write a review for a 1996 movie that scores a paltry 5.6 out of 10 on IMDb. Having chosen the...
There has been substantial discussion about access to justice issues in the past several years. The inability of the most vulnerable in our society to utilize the legal system has been addressed through reforms to the legal system, the availability of pro bono services and clinics, and Legal Aid initiatives or programs. However, most of these discussions and reforms have been on the topics of...
The three of us sat in 0014G of the Ignat Kaneff building. As the sun set on one of the last Fridays of Cass and Travis’ law school careers, the mood in the Obiter office took a nostalgic turn. After unsuccessfully attempting to piece together the events of the Dean’s Formal that took place a week earlier, the last meeting of the 2013-2014 Obiter Dicta editorial board meandered towards decidedly...
I don’t take advice well. I think I’m naturally mistrustful of the presumptuous, despite being very presumptuous myself. When people give me well-intentioned guidance, I usually disregard it. Thus, I have no expectation that any of you will consider the following seriously. In fact, I’ve never expected anyone to agree with anything I wrote here (there’s a special circle of hell for those that...
Open any textbook on applied ethics, and you will find the same issues arising again and again: global economic justice, climate change, criminal punishment, world hunger, corporate responsibility, animal welfare, biotechnology. Philosophers don’t agree on much, but almost all of them will tell you that these issues are the biggest ethical challenges of our time. In fact, ask any theologian, and...
In the foreword of the Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters Report: A Roadmap for Change, Chief Justice McLachlin said, “the problem of access to justice is not a new one. As long as justice has existed, there have been those who struggled to access it… we [are] increasingly failing in our responsibility to provide a justice system that [is] accessible, responsive and citizen-focused...
I’ve spent a fair portion of my time this semester exploring around the law. That is, instead of taking purely substantive law courses, I’ve been studying issues regarding legal theory and law and society. So far, it has provided me with much appreciated perspectives on the project of the law and its relation to social change. It is easy to become cynical over the idea. Some of us come to law...
Research must always go hand-in-hand with action and implementation. While the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice primarily focuses on access to justice research and advocacy, it also recognizes the importance of putting the recommendations and strategies that are developed by evidence-based research into action. Indeed, it can be said that research, while important, accomplishes little if it does...
1L student Nadia Klein, whose roots in the arts began here in Toronto, comes from a prestigious background in perfecting the cello. Since playing the cello from the young age of 6, Nadia completed her Bachelor of Music Performance at the University of Toronto before continuing on to receive her Masters of Music Performance and Professional Studies Diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory of...
The sun is shining, and we are finally approaching the end of the law school year. It must be time to break plates and luxuriate! It’s time, in other words, for Greek food! Venue: Kalyvia – 420 Danforth Ave (just east of Chester station) Cuisine: Greek Food Food: Dolmades ($6.99), Prix Fixe Combo ($15.00): village salad, homemade chicken and pork gyros, roast potatoes, rice, Greek cheese...
Though this issue of the Obiter hits stands (or MacBook screens) two weeks after the finale of the most explosive depressing season of The Bachelor, your EICs were so struck by the similarity between us law students and Clare Crawley that we decided to forego timeliness ever so slightly in aim of expounding this cautionary tale of love, rejection, and self-delusion. For those of you who have been...
A trademark can be almost anything that indicates a source or distinguishes a person’s goods or services. It can include words, symbols, graphics and even sound! Companies spend millions developing their trademark or “Brand.” The issue arises when defending or enforcing trademark rights, for example, from a passing off actions and trademark infringement claims under the Trade-marks Act (see...
On Thursday, March 13, the third-annual Wendy Babcock Drag Show exploded onto the stage in the JCR, covering all present in glitter, mascara, and Bambino. This year’s incarnation was hilarious, inspiring, and – most importantly – entertaining. The night kicked off with a video produced by Quinn Harris of Mock Trial fame. The film documented some goings-on in the first-floor men’s room, including...
If there are two words I cannot stand to see in print, they are “sublime” and “Kafkaesque”. There is nearly always a less pretentious way to achieve descriptive accuracy, and I’ve come to regard overreliance on those turns of phrase to be little more than laziness hidden beneath a thin veneer of pseudo-intellectualism – something I have little patience for in general. In light of this, I...
“I go to Osgoode, not York.” This reflexive clarification is a matter of pride for my classmates at York University’s storied law school. The urge to distance our degrees from the university brand is visceral. Last week, it was once again easy to see why. Late Thursday evening, a young woman was shot in the Student Centre. A bystander was injured by shrapnel...
How corruption in Russia, and the civil and political breakdown of the Ukraine have drowned the lingering high of the Olympics, and sobered the global community before the athletes had even returned home. When the Olympics wrapped up in 2010, it seemed like the emotional high of Vancouver had wafted right across the country, leaving Canadians with a happy hangover we were all too content to let...
I see a lot of movies in theatre, but I rarely walk out of them thinking about how bad they were or about how I wish I hadn’t spent the money I paid to see them. In the past year, only The Purge (one of the worst and most disappointing movies I have ever seen) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Peter Jackson can legitimately go to hell for thinking it was reasonable to drag this one book...
This week’s theme is “Go Green.” Environmental law and related practice areas are extremely important to Osgoode, to Canada, and to the world. Just ask Al Gore. Unfortunately, at least one editor-in-chief of our esteemed editorial board knows nothing about environmental law, other than its incredible magnitude on our future. However, this editor does know something about going green. I’ll leave...
I wanted to grow an herb or two,
It was spring, and a good thing to do.
I had never gardened before, it’s true.
I had no idea what I was getting into.
I soon found myself at the gardening store,
With soil and seeds and seedlings galore,
Into my cart the items did pour,