Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer, O. Brian Fjeldheim, and his staff at Elections Alberta are very busy people! As Sean Rathwell reveals in his article, Riding the Elections Cycle: The Role of Elections Alberta in the November/December issue of LawNow, they run on a four-year cycle. Since an … [Read more...]
How does the American electoral system differ from our Canadian system?
Tuesday November 6 is election day in the United States. This election is one of the most hard-fought and fractious contests in modern memory. The polls at this point can’t predict who will win. The result in Canada’s closest neighbour might turn on a little-known and somewhat mysterious body … [Read more...]
Bench Press: Reid This: Police Tactic Oppressive
The “Reid Technique” was invented in the 1950s by an American company and is used extensively by police forces in North America for interrogating suspects. A Calgary daycare worker was questioned for over eight hours using the technique, after a child at the daycare suffered serious injuries. She … [Read more...]
Bench Press: A Task for Solomon?
An Alberta judge had the daunting task of deciding whether or not to remove a toddler from life support. One of her doctors testified that the child existed in a state between brain death and a persistent coma, and was completely dependent on technology to survive. Her medical team recommended … [Read more...]
Bench Press: What do We Mean by Public Standing?
In British Columbia, an individual and a Society in Vancouver who have worked with prostitutes for over 30 years asked for standing to challenge Canada’s prostitution laws under the Charter. The Supreme Court of Canada said that in determining whether to grant public standing to applicants, courts … [Read more...]
Bench Press: Children and Cyber-bullying
A 15-year-old Nova Scotia girl discovered that someone had posted a fake profile about her on Facebook, using her photo, slightly changing her name and posting unflattering comments and sexually explicit references. She was successful in obtaining a court order that the Internet provider disclose … [Read more...]
Public Private Partnerships
To build infrastructure, public and private parties may take on a cooperative venture called a public-private partnership or a P3. Some examples of P3s include the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Panama Canal, and the Confederation Bridge. The same situation has made the news recently in Edmonton with … [Read more...]
Teacher’s Talk LawNow – A Report Card for Canada
LawNow magazine is an incredible resource for teachers. Each issue offers engaging articles about law in language suitable for students. Teachers Talk LawNow is a series of lesson plans for teachers based on these articles. Social Studies teachers will find many different uses for the … [Read more...]
The Lastest News on Prostitution in Canada
Canada’s prostitution laws are once again in the news. On September 21, 2012 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the case of Attorney General of Canada v. Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society, that the Society had standing to bring a constitutional challenge to … [Read more...]
What laws govern food safety?
We often don’t think of the law or government regulation when we sit down to eat. That is, until something like the recent E. coli beef recall occurs. Then we begin to question what protects us from dangerous food and what the role of the government is in doing so. So what laws govern food … [Read more...]