Colour is almost always contrasted with something else in law; where the ‘something else’ is right, and the ‘colour’ is blackened out as a legal non-being. Gray, C.B., “The Colour of Law: Law is Constituted from the Colour of Right,” (2008) Les Cahiers De Droit, 49:3 at p. 393 Law is infused … [Read more...]
Cannabis and Employment
Introduction While medical scientists are busy deciding the human health impacts of regular recreational cannabis use, and governments are still working out how cannabis will be cultivated, sold and taxed, and law enforcement officials consider how cannabis use will affect driving and how road … [Read more...]
Omar Khadr.2
This conduct establishes Canadian participation in state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice. Interrogation of a youth, to elicit statements about the most serious criminal charges while detained in these conditions and without access to counsel, and while knowing that the … [Read more...]
Who Makes the Law of Work in Canada?
Introduction Canada is a large country with several levels of government and different law-making authorities. Constitutionally, Canada is a federal country, which means it is organized under two levels of government: national and provincial. It is also jointly governed by legislatures and … [Read more...]
Omar Khadr.1
“That when a government violates a Canadian, any Canadian’s fundamental rights, and allows them to be tortured, there are consequences and we all must pay . . . the question is what the Government of Canada did or didn’t do and that as a deterrent, as taking responsibility, and that as actually … [Read more...]
#MeToo and Wrongful Dismissal
Introduction It is said that everyone has their own #MeToo story. Indeed that is exactly the message #MeToo seeks to communicate. I start this column with a story that comes to my mind in this context. This then leads to the main point of this piece: #MeToo makes for captivating human interest … [Read more...]
The Law of Spanking
A person commits an assault when . . . without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly . . . Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil … [Read more...]
Harassment as a New Workplace Safety Issue
Introduction Since harassment is the biggest trending topic related to the workplace, it seems opportune to highlight the harassment provisions in the new Alberta occupational health and safety ("OHS") legislation, which is known as Bill 30: An Act To Protect The Health And Well-Being Of Working … [Read more...]
Stinchcombe: Crown Disclosure of Criminal Evidence
The Crown has a legal duty to disclose all relevant information to the defence. The fruits of the investigation which are in its possession are not the property of the Crown for use in securing a conviction but the property of the public to be used to ensure that justice is done. R v. Stinchcombe … [Read more...]
Bad Behaviour 2.0: Part 2 – Employees Getting Away With . . .
Introduction We looked through the judicial and arbitral decisions and found ten more random instances of appalling employee behaviour that Canadian courts and arbitrators excused. The first five cases can be found in Part 1 of this article. In these cases, the employer fired the employee, but … [Read more...]