Legislation and Cases Commented On: Fatal Accidents Act, RSA 2000, c F-8, Argent v Gray, 2015 ABQB 292, FRN v Alberta, 2014 ABQB 375, SM v Alberta, 2014 ABQB 376More than 775 children with some involvement with child protective services in Alberta have died since 1999. This past year alone, … [Read more...]
Signs of Safety
Signs of Safety is a child protection casework practice model currently being rolled out by Child & Family Services in Alberta. It was developed in the 1990s in Australia by Andrew Turnell and Steve Edwards in response to the question: “Is there a better way of doing child protection casework?” … [Read more...]
Privacy Considerations for Families Involved with Child and Family Services
Parents involved with Child and Family Services (“the Director”) may not want extended family members, friends, and the general public to know. The Child, Youth, and Family Enhancement Act (“CYFEA”) is the legislation under which intervention services are provided by the Director in Alberta. CYFEA … [Read more...]
Marriage Breakdown Affects Taxes and Child Benefits
Significant financial and non-financial issues arise during the breakdown of a relationship. This article addresses the various tax claims and related benefits for children that should be considered in the finalization of a separation or divorce agreement. These issues can also be relevant for … [Read more...]
Magna Carta
The Great Charter The Magna Carta of 1215 is one of the most significant historical documents in the English speaking world. The Great Charter marked the first instance of a King being compelled to accept a list of terms drafted by his subjects. In 1770, British Prime Minister William Pitt the … [Read more...]
The Emergence of a Human Rights Legal Culture: A Quick Tour Through 800 Years of Western History
The river of refugees from Syria reminds us that human history is full of examples of how states have abused their unlimited sovereign power against their citizens. They may have denied them basic rights to express themselves or to vote for their political leaders. People may have been tried and … [Read more...]
How Magna Carta Came to Canada
Let us begin with a confession. When presented with the opportunity four years ago to become involved in bringing Magna Carta to Canada for its 800th anniversary commemoration, we were not very well-versed in what exactly Magna Carta was. For starters, we were still calling it “the Magna Carta” … [Read more...]
Magna Carta: A Guide for Educators
In a world that increasingly asks our students to tweet, post, snapchat, google, and otherwise digitize their educational experiences, Magna Carta Canada has done the extraordinary by bringing to Canada a document that provides a direct link to eight centuries of legal history, including humanity’s … [Read more...]
Technology Transforms Criminal Law
As with society in general, the practice of criminal law has changed significantly over recent decades as a result of the amazing growth and development of technologies which, until now, were only ideas and imaginings of science-fiction writers. The lawyer of 20 or 30 years ago would likely be … [Read more...]
Social Media and the Law
I. INTRODUCTION In today’s world, a number of social networking sites (“SNSs”) have arisen, whereby people from all over the world are beginning to communicate with each other in new ways on the Internet. SNSs are a cultural phenomenon which have revolutionized interpersonal communication and will … [Read more...]
