In December 2021, a group of unhoused persons began setting up tents on a vacant piece of municipally-owned property in downtown Kitchener. Over the next ten months, the encampment grew to over fifty persons, and in October 2022, the Region of Waterloo filed an application to injunct the residents from camping on the land for breaching its bylaws. In the ordinary course of events, this would have...
Premiers and territorial leaders across Canada may be able to finally take a collective sigh of relief as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tables a funding offer to help Canada’s struggling health care system. The provinces are already scheduled to get a 9.5-per-cent increase in healthcare transfers this year, amounting to $49.4 billion from the $45.2-billion in projected payments in the 2022-23...
As of 31 January 2023, the British Columbia government plans to decriminalize possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain drugs by those over 18, which is the first exemption of its kind in Canada. Given the overdose and drug crisis that is occurring in the province, the government’s response in decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of these drugs is aimed to reduce barriers and stigma...
Car-window smashing in Hamilton: A microcosm of archaic approaches to community problem solving At the risk of sounding like a familiar graphic t-shirt or hoodie: Hamilton is my home. I moved to the city in 2017, drawn to the blackened, flaming chimneys that straddle Nikola Tesla Boulevard, and line the shore of the harbour. Though the sight of the factories touched a deep-seated awe for human...
The present intrigue around AI and its potentially detrimental effects on the future In 1984, pop culture staple The Terminator was released in theatres to what I would imagine was largely fanfare and positive reception premised on its interesting concepts of what the future may look like. The chiseled frame of Schwarzenegger enacting sweet violence against another sentient robot touches on a key...
The events of 2022 have served to vindicate Francis Fukuyama and his now famous dictum on history Revisiting the End of History “What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such … That is, the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the...
Since coming to law school, I have been rejected more times than ever before. Like many of my classmates, I participated in this year’s 1L Toronto Recruit. This recruit is typically described as a small recruit for Toronto Big Law firms, and I knew my chances were slim. A typical firm may only choose to interview and then hire a handful of extremely qualified candidates from all of Canada’s law...
“Their story took one of the most gruesome details of the Atlantic Slave Trade and reframed it. The murder of enslaved women was reimagined as an escape from murderous oppression, and the founding of a utopian civilization.” Written by Rivers Solomon (they/them), The Deep is a creative collaboration between Solomon and the members of the experimental hip-hop group clipping., made up of Daveed...
Complicated feelings about an important celebration The 2023 Grammys were a mishmash of the heartfelt (Kim Petras giving the late, pioneering SOPHIE their flowers), the predictable (“Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers” winning Rap Album of the Year), and the shocking (Bonnie Rait!). However, the singular moment that towers over the flashiest of Harry Styles’ fits was the celebration of hip-hop’s...
When I was the Arts & Culture Editor last year, I wrote a couple “My Music” pieces. I always enjoyed working on these articles the most. I truly adore music of all kinds, and these pieces were a way for me to share the songs that were carrying me through the semester. In my last year of high school, one of my best friends was fortunate enough to buy himself a car. The day he first...
The National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star break has concluded, and Leafs fans had the opportunity to watch Mitch Marner fail to score on retired goaltender Roberto Luongo. This also means that the second half of the regular season is officially underway. The first half of the season was a roller coaster with injuries plaguing the entire defence core. However, the team rallied behind their young...
It is no longer the “Barclays Premier League” but the memories remain. The season has just reached the midway point, and the title and top four contenders are shaping up. However, do not forget the relegation battle, as some really significant clubs could be dropping out of the Premier League. Here are five developing storylines for the remainder of this 2022–2023 season. The Gunners Are...
Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles kicks off on Sunday, 12 February, as one of the most anticipated events of the year. With a halftime performance by Rihanna and two MVP-caliber quarterbacks, this year’s Super Bowl will surely not disappoint. In this preview, we take a deep dive into what we expect will happen and who will ultimately host the Vince Lombardi...
Each year of law school is so vastly different from the one that precedes it. I would even go as far as to say that each semester takes on a life of its own. Amidst the chaos, it is easy to wonder whether your particular experience is the common one; you may wonder if everyone found 1L as difficult as you did, or you may be curious to know if you’re the only 3L who still hasn’t ordered their...
Irreversible environmental harm, nonsensical urban planning and accusations of corruption After a mere thirty-day public consultation period, the Ontario government has officially decided to go ahead with its plan to remove 7,400 acres from the protected Greenbelt. This announcement came just last month, ten days after the public consultations on the initial proposal had closed. The government...
With the House of Representatives returned to the hands of the Republicans, almost two dozen GOP governors have imposed the long overdue ban on TikTok over the past five weeks, ranging from restricting government employees’ access to the application to removing it altogether from government internet networks. While the majority of the left-wing Democrats are still living in their illusory vision...
In 2016, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) was legalized in Canada. This allowed for doctors and nurse practitioners to use medication to cause a person’s death at their request. When the bill was first introduced, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the Liberal government was focused on, “respecting Canadians rights, defending their choices…while at the same time, protecting the most...
The normalization of prenups Written on behalf of the Osgoode Family Law Association. As 1L students studying contract law for the first time, we immediately took notice of the intersection between contracts and family law in discussions surrounding the court’s general avoidance of enforcing agreements within the private sphere. Namely, general verbal agreements are typically deemed promissory...
History and beyond The resurgence of isolationism in the United States is significantly intensified by a small group of Trump loyalists within the GOP (Republican Party) in recent years. The reality of American isolationism is a complex paradox that never actually departs from the fringes of the foreign policy debate. However, while the debate is always in the air, isolationism is never...
With the recent arrest and looming trial of the Tate brothers, what better time than now to evaluate how we got to the point where people (virtually) shout for the liberation of alleged human traffickers? For those unaware, a police raid of the Romanian residence of popular internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, ended with the two in custody on human trafficking charges...
Note: For those readers looking for more information on the Jake Paul and David Dobrik apologies, please note that they discuss suicide and sexual assault, respectively. In a previous article, I briefly addressed my proclivity for YouTuber apology videos and while I do not engage with the content created by those mentioned in this article, I find their apologies fascinating. This is still an...
A definitive, very objective list of the best albums of the past year DISCLAIMER: I am aware that there is a strong contingent of Taylor Swift fans at Osgoode—the omission of Midnights from this list is solely because I have not listened to it yet (please forgive me). Renaissance – Beyonce I’ve hinted about my unabashed love for this album throughout previous Obiter articles, so regular...
“I’ve fallen in love with the warrior woman who walked through fire, the one who came through stronger, reshaped by sorrow, reformed by grief, reborn in joy.” Yasmen & Josiah fell in love and got married young, had two children, and built a successful local restaurant from the ground up. But after a series of devastating experiences that neither of them could control, their combined trauma...
Written and Drawn by: Maria-Claire
In a world with tens of streaming services, with thousands and thousands of TV shows and movies accessible to us at any time, Nathan For You does something that is hard for a comedy to do. It stands out. The show introduces us to Nathan Fielder, a graduate of the University of British Columbia in (insert degree here). He helps people. He finds struggling businesses, and gives them solutions in...