When adults leave a serious relationship, they have a lot of decisions to make. Sometimes these are small decisions, about who can keep the dishes or the books, but more often they are big decisions. Things like where the children should mostly live, how their time will be divided, who should pay … [Read more...]
Effects of the Notwithstanding Clause on Human Rights
Recently, there has been much discussion of the use of the notwithstanding clause, which is section 33(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter). Section 33(1) reads: Parliament or the legislature of a province may expressly declare in an Act of Parliament or of the legislature, … [Read more...]
The Book That Didn’t Bark: Forster’s Maurice
You have no doubt heard the expression “the dog that didn’t bark – a wonderful phrase emanating from an old Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle. I would like to conduct a little touch of literary sleuthing and ask why E.M Forster, eminent English novelist, declined decade after decade to … [Read more...]
Back to the Future on Registered Charities and Political Activities
Regulation of registered charities' "political activities" has long been a bugbear of both the sector and governments. My last column dealt with an Ontario Superior Court decision that ruled parts of the current Income Tax Act (ITA) provisions governing charities' political activities … [Read more...]
Viewpoint 43-2: Much of the Criticism of Bill C-69 is Demonstrably False
“So destructive … (it) must die,” claims Licia Corbella (“Corbella: Bill C-69 is Trudeau’s bookend to his father’s disastrous NEP,” Calgary Herald, Sept. 14).A “grave danger to the Trans Mountain pipeline … This beast should be ritually slaughtered,” implores Don Braid (“Braid: Liberals’ own … [Read more...]
One’s Trash May be Police Treasure: R v Patrick
“Location is not the litmus test for determining the expectation of privacy.”R v Patrick, 2009 SCC 17, para 6Introduction In Canada, our home is our castle, at least in legal terms. We enjoy the greatest constitutional protection of privacy in our homes. What happens when our private … [Read more...]
New & Updated Resources at CPLEA – Vol. 43-2
All resources are free and available for download. We hope that this will raise awareness of the many resources that CPLEA produces to further our commitment to public legal education in Alberta. For a listing of all CPLEA resources go to: www.cplea.ca/publicationsIn this issue of LawNow … [Read more...]
Alberta’s Recreational Cannabis Landscape: An overview of restrictions in housing and public spaces
Introduction On October 17, 2018, recreational use of cannabis became legal in Canada. Canadians are now able to purchase recreational cannabis, publicly possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis and grow up to 4 plants for personal use. Does this mean that Canadians can obtain and use cannabis … [Read more...]
Housing Affordability in Canada: The Vancouver and Toronto Experience
Introduction These days, you’re bound to come across the issue of housing affordability in Canada, especially in Vancouver or Toronto. You have probably also heard about how housing affordability is especially difficult for Canadian millennials. Millennials, which are younger adults between the … [Read more...]
How Pot Smoking Became Illegal in Canada
In 1923, when it became illegal to possess cannabis in Canada, very few Canadians would have heard of the drug, let alone tried it.So why did legislators target weed?Cannabis advocates have long blamed women’s rights activist Emily Murphy. Her 1922 book on the drug trade in Canada, The Black … [Read more...]
