I have applied for many jobs in both the private and public sectors in Canada. Some were full-time, most were part-time. Several employers follow a long, drawn-out application process involving several phases: asking for numerous personal and work experience referees;written examinations; telephone … [Read more...]
Access to Justice: Potential Alternatives for Indigenous Peoples
About a year ago, there had been some publicity concerning Louie v. Louie BCCA, a court case where I acted as barrister and solicitor for an intervenor at the B.C. Court of Appeal. The case had involved a band member who sued his Chief and Council for a breach of fiduciary obligation. I was … [Read more...]
Access to Legal Services in Womens’ Shelters
In December 2015, the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family (CRILF) published a new report, Access to Legal Services in Women’s Shelters, authored by myself and Dr. Lorne Bertrand, examining access to legal services among clients of women’s domestic violence shelters. The study sampled … [Read more...]
Why Do Some Human Rights Complaints Take So Long?
From time to time, concerns are expressed about the length of time human rights complaints take to resolve. There are some circumstances where resolution of these cases does seem to take too long. Unfortunately, those who criticize the existence of human rights commissions often take these … [Read more...]
Right to Counsel Includes Access to Counsel
Introduction The right to counsel upon arrest is a constitutionally protected right under section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. On July 18, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the importance of this right in the case of R v Taylor (Taylor). In this case, the police … [Read more...]
Tips and Gratuities – Some Taxing Issues
A Simple Gift, Right? In 2012, Statistics Canada estimated the total underground economy in Canada to be $42.4 billion. What comprises this significant amount? It has been a very popular and strong focus in recent years to attribute this activity to high net worth individuals, business owners and … [Read more...]
Call to Action: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report
For over a century, generations of Aboriginal children, mostly First Nations, were taken from their families, often by force, and placed in residential schools usually far from home, where they were to be assimilated into white society. For most of that time, the schools were run by churches: Roman … [Read more...]
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Sets the Stage for First Nation Discrimination Cases
In late January, 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) ruled that children living on First Nations reserves have been discriminated against because of underfunding of education and child welfare. (see: First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al v Attorney General of … [Read more...]
The Best We Can Do? – Sybille Bedford’s Classic Account of a Famous British Murder Trial
During Canada’s most talked about court case of the year, the sexual assault trials of Jian Ghomeshi, defence counsel Marie Heinen in her final argument quoted the American jurist John Wigmore. He memorably stated that cross-examination in a trial is the greatest legal engine for the discovery of … [Read more...]
Making a Mockery of the Justice System
The new Netflix obsession, Making a Murderer, is a sensation. Blogs, news programs, articles, magazines, newspapers and water cooler conversations are all immersed in the quest to answer the eternal question: did he do it? The evidence seems to point in both directions. The Netflix documentary … [Read more...]
