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In the early 1980s, First Lady Nancy Reagan uttered the famous phrase “just say no” in response to the United States’ war on drugs. Forty years later, it is patently obvious that such approach does not effectively address substance abuse issues. In my previous article in The Lawyer’s Daily, I discussed the etiology and ramifications of Canada’s opioid crisis, which has disproportionately affected certain marginalized and vulnerable groups within society. The causes of addiction are multifaceted, continuous and complex. In this article, I will discuss the growing movement in favour of drug decriminalization and why such approach would aid in attaining more equitable health and justice outcomes.
Friday, May 14, 2021 @ 2:36 PM
Declaiming insurance: From top to bottomry | Marcel StrigbergerAs lawyers, many of us exercise our access to justice by either fighting insurance companies or defending them. Sue or defend, we are all connected with insurance by buying it. When did insurance start? ... [read more]
Friday, May 14, 2021 @ 12:41 PM
Impact of Bill 229 on conservation authorities, watersheds | Rizwan KhanA little over a month after its introduction to the legislature, the government of Ontario passed omnibus Bill 229, Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act (Budget Measures), 2020 into law on Dec. 8, 2020. Schedule 6 of the bill introduced several fundamental changes to the Conservation Authorities Act (CAA) affecting both the scope of the CAA and the role of conservation authorities (CA). ... [read more]
Friday, May 14, 2021 @ 10:41 AM
Canada summer jobs: As seen through government’s ‘moral squint’ | Barry BusseyIn 2018, the federal government demanded that every Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) applicant “check the box” accepting the government’s ideology on abortion, marriage and end-of-life issues under the controversial rubric of “Charter values.” That requirement provoked such indignation from a wide spectrum of groups and media outlets, religious and secular alike, that the government dropped the attestation in 2019. ... [read more]
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 @ 11:34 AM
New solitary confinement office reminiscent of ‘Warden’s Courts’ | John L. HillIn a previous article, I commented on Correctional Service Canada’s use of “Structured Intervention Units” (SIU) as a replacement for solitary confinement and pointed out that professors Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott had condemned the process by pointing out that in their February report that authors, in applying the Mandela Rules to data obtained from CSC, 28.4 per cent of SIU stays were in fact old style solitary confinement and an additional 9.9 per cent of the stays fit the definition of “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” ... [read more]
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 @ 8:54 AM
Work that works: Difficulties new calls face when starting out | Charlene TheodoreYou have your law degree … now what? ... [read more]
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 @ 3:03 PM
More on the school board, the pride flag and Pope Francis | Marvin ZukerI have this vision of Caleb Smolenaars and Hayden Stagg, the two students who wrote the letter to the Halton Catholic District School Board (see part one, link below), meeting Pope Francis at Pearson airport and escorting him to the HCDSB offices to meet the administration and of course the trustees. What would Pope Francis think about pride month and the pride flag? ... [read more]
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 @ 2:18 PM
New limits of civil forfeiture in Ontario | Christine Van GeynOn May 12, the Ontario Court of Appeal will consider the limits of civil forfeiture and the power of the Attorney General to use this powerful tool to dispose of assets without compensation. ... [read more]
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 @ 11:46 AM
When the prosecutor hires the judge | Murray Fallis“It is difficult for an individual to understand something when their salary depends on them not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair ... [read more]
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 @ 9:13 AM
Reasoning and analysis: Legal skills that have not crumbled with time | William PoulosAristotle once said that “Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.” However, time does not crumble certain skills in our profession. ... [read more]
Friday, May 07, 2021 @ 2:36 PM
Windows 2021: A divorce odyssey | Marcel StrigbergerAs the Beatles song goes, “money can’t buy me love.” Bill and Melinda Gates have somewhat validated this thesis announcing their divorce intentions of ending a 27-year marriage. ... [read more]
