Articles 2021

Today
Today

16th Annual Charter Conference

  • January 17, 2018

The 16th Annual Charter of Rights and Freedoms Conference took place on October 2, 2017 at the OBA’s offices in Toronto. This article summarizes the Conference’s four panels, as well as the Year in Review presentation.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Childcare, Summer Jobs, and Religious Discrimination in Canada*

  • January 17, 2018
  • Derek Ross

Disqualifying otherwise eligible recipients from a public benefit because of their religious beliefs is unacceptable in a liberal democracy. Yet that is the effect of two recent government initiatives in Canada.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

The New Law Society Requirements to Address Barriers Faced by Racialized Licensees: Steps Law Firms Are Taking

  • November 23, 2017
  • Ashley Schuitema is a lawyer at Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP. Her practice focuses on the representation of trade unions, associations and employees. Ashley can be contacted at aschuitema@upfhlaw.ca.

The Law Society is implementing various recommendations approved by Convocation in December 2016 to address barriers faced by racialized licensees and to address issues of systemic racism in the legal profession. Three partners at three different law firms are interviewed to find out what steps their firms have taken in preparation to meet these new requirements.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Gehl v Canada: Circumscribing the Role of Charter Values?

  • November 16, 2017
  • John Wilson and Guy Régimbald

In Gehl v Canada (2017), the concurring reasons of Justices Lauwers and Miller include a sustained criticism of the concept and application of Charter values in judicial reasoning. We reply to the concurring judgment’s critique of Charter values.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Naming Appropriate Respondents in Human Rights Applications

  • November 15, 2017
  • Wade Poziomka

Over the past few years, a troubling trend has emerged in the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s case law relating to the naming and removal of individual respondents. In an effort to counter the inappropriate naming of individual respondents, the Tribunal's jurisprudence now encroaches into the territory of appropriately named individual respondents.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Supreme Court of Canada Confirms Termination of Disabled Employee Not a Breach of Human Rights

  • June 21, 2017
  • Shivani Chopra and Kathryn Bird

In Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corp., the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a decision of the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) which concluded that an employee who had a cocaine addiction was not dismissed because of that addiction; rather, he was dismissed for breaching his employer’s Alcohol, Illegal Drugs & Medical Policy (Policy). No prima facie discrimination was found and the decision of the Tribunal dismissing the employee’s complaint was therefore reasonable.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Racial Profiling: How Do You Fight a Deeply Ingrained Thought System?

  • May 26, 2017
  • Richa Sandill

Despite the Ontario Court of Appeal’s guidance in its seminal ruling on racial profiling in R v. Brown fourteen years ago, this continues to be a pervasive and widespread issue. This was highlighted in a recent joint program held by the OBA Criminal Justice and Constitutional, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights Law Sections.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

The Torture Cases: Interview with Phil Tunley, Trial Lawyer Representing Canadian Victims of Torture in a Suit Against Canada

  • May 08, 2017
  • Interview by Saba Ahmad

In February, 2017, the plaintiffs’ months-long trial was set to begin before the Honourable Justice Lederer. Following a recently announced settlement, lawyer Phil Tunley provides insights about trial preparation, client management and advancing Charter claims in the context of some of the worst human rights abuses ever litigated in Canada.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

What is the Cost of Racial Profiling?

  • May 02, 2017
  • Laura J. Freitag and Ranjan K. Agarwal

Note on Elmardy v. Toronto Police Services Board - a recent decision by Ontario's Divisional Court, which awarded $50,000 for Charter breaches against the TPSB and a police officer in its employ.

Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law