Introduction Most Canadians are familiar with “tickets” for minor offences. If we have personal experience at all with the legal system, it is most likely through receiving the occasional ticket for parking, seat belts, rolling through a stop sign, speeding or some other traffic offence. There … [Read more...]
Sacco and Vanzetti: The Never-ending Wrong
I’ve got no time to tell this tale the dicks and bulls are on my trail But I’ll remember these two good men That died to show me how to live -Woody Guthrie, Two Good Men, from Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti I have long been fascinated by the American case that was … [Read more...]
Who is a Parent? Not a Simple Question!
If anything could be said about the law, it is slow to change. Our social structure continues to evolve at a faster pace than the law, which is creating difficulties in society and the courts. We are seeing impacts on individuals and couples who are having children in non-traditional ways as the … [Read more...]
No Right to “Know One’s Past”: The BCCA in Pratten v British Columbia (Attorney General)
In a decision released on November 27, 2012, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) in Pratten v British Columbia, 2012 BCCA 480, reversed the British Columbia Supreme Court’s (BCSC) decision that provisions of the provincial Adoption Act are unconstitutional as a result of their failure to … [Read more...]
Legal and Ethical Support for Newborn Safe Havens
In May 2010, Providence Health Care in Vancouver announced the opening of the first newborn safe haven in Canada at St. Paul’s Hospital. Four months later, Providence confirmed a healthy baby was dropped off at the hospital, setting off a further round of national and international media … [Read more...]
Vol 38-2: Birth and the Law
Full PDF of this issue Table of Contents Featured Articles: Birth and the Law Special Report: The Law and Christmas Departments Columns Featured Articles: Birth and the Law Few events in life are as intimate and personal as giving birth, but even this aspect of life has legal … [Read more...]
Bench Press 38-1: Student Uprising
A group of students brought a class action against George Brown College in Ontario. They complained that the course description in the College’s calendar negligently misrepresented the benefits of its graduate international business management program in violation of the Consumer Protection Act. … [Read more...]
Situation in the Supreme Court
An interesting and unprecedented situation is unfolding at the Supreme Court of Canada. The newest designate to the Court, Marc Nadon, has stepped aside for the time being because a challenge to his appointment has been filed. A Toronto lawyer alleges that Justice Nadon does not meet the … [Read more...]
Bench Press 38-1: Cabinet Tries to Flip the Bird
A group of Alberta and Saskatchewan environmentalists asked former environment minister Peter Kent to issue an emergency protection order for the sage grouse under the federal Species at Risk Act. There are very few of the birds left and scientists worry they could disappear altogether if their … [Read more...]
A New Danger for the Urban Forest
LawNow received this article response from one of the lawyers involved in a recent cases that was featured in a Bench Press post called A Tree Grows in... Toronto? A new danger has been added to the many challenges facing the urban forest in Ontario. It arises from an unexpected source - the law … [Read more...]
