Canada severing ties with the Royal Family requires amending the Constitution and reviewing treaties signed with Indigenous Peoples.In 1931, Canada became part of the British Commonwealth. It remains one of 54 Commonwealth nations to this day. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, which means it is … [Read more...]
Social Media, the Law and Social Justice
We've seen social media as a tool for social justice but its relationship with the law is challenging.Given the rapid growth of our interconnected world, few people would deny the role that social media plays - a repository of information, a driver of ideas and innovation, and increasingly a tool … [Read more...]
Posting Perils: Defamation in the social media era
Social media and the Internet have raised new issues in defamation law and challenged Canadian courts.U.S. Congresswoman Taylor Greene was in the news recently for posting controversial comments on Facebook about Democrats and the FBI. In response to a CNN article about these comments, Greene … [Read more...]
Social Media Platforms: Should you be worried about your privacy?
By agreeing to Terms and Conditions, you are signing an online contract allowing social media to collect and share some personal information.Have you ever scrolled down the long page of terms and conditions for social media sites and immediately pressed the “I agree” button without even reading … [Read more...]
Social Media and Criminal Investigations: Public content and its role in solving crimes
Publicly available social media influences criminal investigations, with costs and benefits to both society and police services.Social media has introduced new ways of both committing and solving crimes into our increasingly digitized world. Services like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram create … [Read more...]
Social Media Posts and Employment: A perilous playground
An employee's social media or Internet activity can have unexpected impacts on their employer. And their job.Social media, and the Internet generally, has become the preferred pastime of our age. Social media may have begun its life as a glorified digital bulletin board. But it has blossomed into … [Read more...]
Can Canada Effectively Address Hate and Racial Discrimination on Social Media?
When regulating the Internet, Canada struggles with it being borderless and how to uphold freedom of expression.In the past months, we have seen increased concern about hate speech and racial discrimination on social media in Canada and around the world. There are renewed calls for increased … [Read more...]
Comparing Canada’s Corrections to Europe, the United States and Aboriginal Communities
How a society responds to and deals with its members who break or fail to follow its most basic rules is often rooted in its history and cultural values.Canada’s background is intimately tied to British traditions and practices in light of our history as a colony from the 1760’s up to the 20th … [Read more...]
The Many Faces of ‘Corrections’: A call for universal reform
It is perhaps time (if not long overdue) to re-evaluate what we mean by justice and corrections.In my study of our court and prison methods, I found… a great wastage of human lives – a failure to reclaim and utilize them.Perhaps the least understood part of our criminal justice system is the … [Read more...]
How Inmates in Canadian Prisons Suffer
These are the tip-of-the-iceberg issues faced by inmates in Canada’s federal and provincial prisons. And according to advocates for better inmate treatment, much more needs to be done.According to Statistics Canada, in 2017/2018, Canadian prisons held just under 39,000 adults:Investigations by … [Read more...]
