For the past twelve years in a row, I have dedicated the month of February to watching and ranking all of the films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. I am unsure as to how or why I started this silly little tradition, but it has become very near and dear to my heart. My opinion of a film can be shaped by the bias of how my life is going when I watch it...
Unbeknownst to many staff and students currently walking the halls, Osgoode Hall Law School has a long and illustrious history of playing ice hockey. The Osgoode Hall “Legalities” legacy began over 130 years ago, and this year, after a two and a half year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the revival of the Osgoode Hall hockey team continues to...
I love watching professional football/soccer. Personally, the beautiful game evokes tremendous levels of emotional passion, desire, excitement, anger, and despair. It is truly one of the greatest forms of entertainment that the world has to offer. When life is hard, people often turn to activities that comfort them. For many around the globe, that activity is enjoying soccer matches. However...
Usually, the NBA trade deadline is horrible. The NBA has perfected the use of social media to create tremendous levels of hype that consistently lets fans down. However, this year’s deadline brought huge fireworks that have completely shifted the balance of the league. In my opinion, here are the five most important moves. Kevin Durant to the desert KD was eviscerated by NBA fans for joining the...
Sports generally fall in one of two broad categories: those anyone can score and those only experts can score. It is easily discernible who wins in a freestyle relay, but it is harder to recognize ...
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...