Summer of the Gun For those in Toronto, this has become the summer of gun violence. Just a few weeks ago, a shooting in the Eaton Centre, Canada’s largest shopping mall, sent shockwaves through the city. It left two dead and a handful of innocent weekend shoppers injured. In broad daylight, shots were fired in […]
Congress Wants the Last Word on Health Care Reform The celebrations did not last long. Before you even finish saying, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Congress has already started jostling to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision. Less than two weeks ago, the Supreme Court of the United States kept the Act intact, thereby allowing […]
Conflict with the Covenant: German Court Bans Religious Circumcision After a medical complication arising in a circumcision performed on a four year old Muslim boy, a Cologne court ruled that circumcising young boys on religious grounds equated with bodily harm – even if the parents had consented to the practice. In this decision, the court […]
Obama 0, US Supreme Court 2: Supreme Court Refuses to Revisit Citizens United Decision For political and legal enthusiasts in the United States, this was a real behemoth of a week. The Supreme Court of the United States started it off with a bang – or, really, three bangs. It released three decisions on Monday, […]
Pride in Ontario: Amending the Ontario Human Rights Code Toronto is gearing up for what will be one of its proudest weeks yet. Ontario will not only be celebrating its booming pride community but also celebrating the Royal Assent of Bill 33, or Toby's Act (Right to be Free from Discrimination and Harassment because of Gender Identity or […]
Why Yes, A Dingo Stole Her Baby That was the argument that the distraught mother of Azaria Chamberlain has been making for the last thirty-two years. Azaria Chamberlain was only nine weeks old when she disappeared from a campsite in central Australia. Initially, police and the public-at-large pointed their fingers at her parents, particularly her […]
Canada Commits to Fighting Human Trafficking As a result of mounting international pressure, Canada has finally agreed to take action to combat human trafficking. The announcement was made on Wednesday in Ottawa by the Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews. According to Toews, it has been in development in years. Since 2005, provinces have been developing […]
Unholy Alliances? Gay-Straight Clubs, Catholic Opposition and Ontario’s Anti-Bullying Bill 13 The Canadian media has been awash with reports of support and opposition since the Ontario Minister of Education, Lauren Broten, announced the provincial government’s stance on certain amendments to the existing Education Act on May 25, 2012. Officially called the Accepting Schools Act (“ASA”), […]
Bill 78 – No Surprise It’s Having the Opposite Effect Responding to what some have coined anti protest legislation, protestors outside of Quebec have joined in on the Montreal student protest. On May 22, 2012, demonstrators in Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, New York, and even Paris united in red to show their support for the protestors. The […]
The Trial of a “Monster” is Over Despite claiming he is not guilty, a jury and judge have said otherwise. After being found guilty of a jury on all three counts of kidnapping, sexual assault causing bodily harm and first degree murder of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, Michael Rafferty was sentenced on Tuesday morning by Justice […]