Marie-Andrée Vermette, BCL’97, LLB’97, nominée juge de la Cour supérieure de justice de l’Ontario. Juan Carlos Salazar, LLM’00, appointed Secretary General of ICAO. DALA profiles of Katarina Daniels, BCL/LLB’15, Julie Bédard, BCL’96, LLB’96, and Joydeep Sengupta, BCL/LLB’08. Plus new books, opinions and blog posts.
Journée des droits des femmes : « Encore un monde d’hommes »
Paul Journet, La Presse, 8 mars 2021
Les députées Véronique Hivon, BCL’94, LLB’94, députée du Parti québécois, et Christine Labrie, députée de Québec solidaire, en conversation avec Monique Jérôme-Forget, BA’71, PhD’77, LLD’18, administratrice et ex-argentière du gouvernement Charest qui agit aujourd’hui comme mentor auprès des jeunes femmes. Lire la transcription de leur conversation.
Marie-Andrée Vermette nominée juge de la Cour supérieure de justice de l’Ontario
Ministère de la justice du Canada, communiqué, 3 mars 2021
L’honorable David Lametti, ministre de la Justice et procureur général du Canada, a annoncé aujourd’hui les nominations à la magistrature de l’Ontario. Parmi ces nominations, on retrouve Marie-Andrée Vermette, BCL’97, LLB’97, associée chez WeirFoulds LLP à Toronto, a été nominée juge de la Cour supérieure de justice de l’Ontario. La juge Vermette a exercé dans les domaines du contentieux civil, commercial et de droit public pendant près de 20 ans. Lire le communiqué.
Facial recognition technology speeds ahead as Canada’s privacy law lags behind
Yuan Stevens, BCL/LLB’18, and Sonja Solomun, Ottawa Citizen, 1 March 2021
Recently, a joint investigation by four privacy commissioners in Canada determined that controversial software company Clearview AI had engaged in illegal mass surveillance. The company was found to have scraped three billion images from the web and social media, including photos of children, without consent. Their clients — which have included several police departments in Canada (several Ottawa police officers also tested it) — can use this massive database to match images of people’s faces at incredible speed and scale through the company’s automated facial recognition software. Keep reading…
Katarina Daniels: From Lawyer to Law Librarian
DALA, Lawfully Uncommon Interviews, 28 February 2021
Katarina Daniels, BCL/LLB’15, is a liaison librarian at the Nahum Gelber Law Library at McGill University. In addition to her liaison duties, she has developed and taught three upper year experiential workshop courses for McGill’s Faculty of Law: Law and Technology and Applied Innovation, Advanced Legal Research, and Law Firm Technology. Prior to joining McGill, Katarina practiced law at a boutique medical law firm, before returning to libraries as a knowledge management specialist at a national law firm. Katarina is a member of the Quebec Bar, and currently serves as VP of the Information Technology Committee of the Young Bar of Montreal. Read the interview.
Juan Carlos Salazar elected Secretary General of ICAO
IASL News, 26 February 2021
IASL alumnus Juan Carlos Salazar, LLM’00, has been appointed as the next Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Montreal-based United Nations specialised agency responsible for aviation safety and security. His three-year renewable term will begin in August 2021. Following graduation, he remained an active alumnus and ardent supporter of the Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), and went on to establish the Latin American chapter of the IASL Alumni Association. Throughout the years, he has organised and helped coordinate a number of IASL conferences and alumni events in Bogota, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. Read the announcement.
Balarama Holness wants to make Montreal more equitable and inclusive
CBC News Montreal, Black Changemakers, 26 February 2021
In 2017, Balarama Holness, BCL/JD’21, ran for mayor of Montreal North. He didn’t win, but that was only the beginning of the story. Holness, who studied law at McGill University and has a master’s degree in education, started a group called Montreal in Action, which uses law to advance social justice and promote inclusion and diversity. Their first order of business: get the city to hold public consultations about systemic racism in municipal institutions. The group, made up of about 50 young people, collected 20,000 signatures, and made the consultations a reality. Keep reading…
Related content: Balarama Holness : quand la diversité fait la force, Le Délit français, 23 février 2021
Associate Dean Laverne Jacobs receives The Canadian Bar Association’s Touchstone Award
University of Windsor News, 24 February 2021
The Canadian Bar Association has recognized Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) Laverne Jacobs, BCL’99, LLB’99, for her work to promote equality in the legal profession, the judiciary, and the legal community in Canada. Dr. Jacobs has dedicated her career to teaching, researching, and writing about law and disability, administrative law, and human rights. She is the founder and director of The Law, Disability and Social Change Project, a research and public advocacy initiative based in the UWindsor Faculty of Law. Read the announcement.
Protecting Freedom of Expression Online
Rachel Zuroff, BCL/LLB’16, CHRLP Blog, 16 February 2021
In her blog contribution, Rachel Zuroff compares online intermediary immunity laws in the context of social media. Drawing on the recent Capitol Hill riots, she highlights tensions between free speech and regulation of democratic discourse, and discusses policy reform opportunities in Canada. “While concern around the Internet’s role in the spread of disinformation and intolerance rises, so too do worries about how to maintain digital spaces for the free and open exchange of ideas. Within this context, countries have begun to re-think how they regulate online speech, including through mechanisms such as the principle of online intermediary immunity…” Read the article.
Julie Bédard – From McGill Law to International Litigation and Arbitration in New York
DALA, Lawfully Uncommon Interviews, 15 February 2021
Julie Bédard, BCL’96, LLB’96, heads Skadden’s International Litigation and Arbitration Group for the Americas. She sits on Skadden’s Policy Committee, the firm’s governing body. Fluent in French, Spanish and Portuguese, Ms. Bédard practices in complex international litigation and arbitration matters in four languages. She represents clients in connection with litigation and arbitration proceedings throughout the world, raising disputes on governing law, jurisdiction, the enforcement of arbitration agreements, extraterritoriality and international judgment enforcement. Read the interview.
Most officers aren’t racist, but the nature of modern policing must be reimagined
Alain Babineau, BCL/JD’19, CBC News, 10 February 2021
I am a Black man raised in French Canadian culture who came of age in the Afro-Canadian/Caribbean culture and found his roots and his soul in advocating for social justice inspired by the American civil rights movement. When I was a kid, I wanted to be either a cop or a bandit. I chose the safer route — I think. During my 30 years in the field, I was taught that it was normal to pay close attention to communities with a statistically high crime rate. As a Black police officer, I personally practiced racial profiling and was also a victim of it out of uniform. Read the article.
Platform Responsibility and Regulation in Canada: Considerations on Transparency, Legislative Clarity, and Design
Maryna Polataiko, BCL/LLB’19, et alii, Harvard Law’s Jolt Digest, 8 February 2021
Platforms and online intermediaries play a crucial role in mediating online discourse, which necessarily involves shaping what freedom of expression means on the Internet. In light of the recent policy focus on mis- and dis-information, polarization, and harmful/hateful speech on the Internet—and prompted by calls from Canadians for more robust regulation of social media companies—the federal government plans to introduce legislation imposing obligations on Internet platforms to remove unlawful speech. Read the article.
Legal and Broadcasting Mogul Hubert T. Lacroix
McGill Athletics, Alma Matters podcast, 4 February 2021
Each episode of the McGill Athletics Alma Matters podcast treats you to an in-depth conversation with a decorated varsity alum, taking you behind the scenes for an up-close look at what it takes to succeed at the highest level. The second episode featured Hubert T. Lacroix, Montreal lawyer and past-president of the CBC, who once coached the McGill women’s basketball team, and who most recently served as co-chair of the men’s varsity renaming committee. Listen to the episode [52 minutes].
Canada’s tax return system jeopardizes the privacy of millions of Canadians
Michael Beauvais, BCL/JD’21, The Globe and Mail, 4 February 2021
The CRA’s decision to leave digital filing to the private sector transforms taxpayers from citizens into consumers in a captive market…. There are currently 39 different products for online tax filing, putting the burden of figuring out which ones take our privacy seriously on citizens. Making an informed choice requires reading through long, vague and often confusing policies. Keep reading…
« Mourir au 21e siècle : entre corporalités et technologies »
Michaël Lessard, BCL/LLB’15, a codirigé un nouvel ouvrage intitulé Mourir au 21e siècle : entre corporalités et technologies. Au 21e siècle, les nouvelles technologies brouillent la frontière entre la vie et la mort. Le numérique offre aux défunt.es le spectre d’une présence sur les réseaux sociaux. L’archivage des métadonnées crée également des fossiles numériques de la personne. La médecine permet de conserver le corps après sa mort. Ces nouvelles réalités affectent notre rapport au deuil, à la mémoire et à la dignité. Devons-nous réapprivoiser la mort?
Le droit de la famille sortira-t-il un jour des années 80?
Suzanne Zaccour, BCL/LLB’16, Le Soleil, 2 février 2021
Savez-vous à quand remonte la dernière grande réforme du droit de la famille au Québec? […] la société a bien changé depuis!
Lors de la dernière campagne électorale provinciale, François Legault s’est engagé à réformer le droit de la famille, désuet selon tous/tes les experts/es du domaine. Depuis, le gouvernement a entamé des consultations et cet engagement est louable. Mais il est impératif que cette réforme mette fin aux inégalités entre les couples mariés et non mariés. Continuer la lecture…
Joydeep Sengupta: From Wall Street M&A to Litigation and Dispute Resolution in Paris
DALA, Lawfully Uncommon Interviews, 24 January 2021
Joydeep Sengupta, BCL/LLB’08, focuses on cross-border litigation, compliance and enforcement matters for financial institutions and corporations, including the resolution of administrative and enforcement proceedings involving regulators and prosecutors. He has represented major US and European banks as well as global corporations in internal investigations related to US and European anti-money laundering, economic sanctions, market manipulation and anti-corruption laws. Read the interview.