Mark Dance prend la plume au sujet de la présomption d’innocence à l’ère de #MoiAussi; Jesse Hartery présente les obstacles au fédéralisme au Myanmar; Jose Mauricio Gaona explique en quoi la paralysie du gouvernement qui a marqué le premier anniversaire de l’élection de Donald Trump est différente de toutes celles qui l’ont précédée; Brian Bird signe un texte d’opinion sur les Emplois d’été Canada et la liberté de conscience; Pierre-Alexandre Cardinal incite le gouvernement canadien à clarifier sa position ambigüe relativement à la monarchie saoudienne; Florence Ashley applaudit la décision de CBC de ne pas diffuser le documentaire Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?; et Julia Selman Ayetey dénonce les failles du Space Industry Bill.
Courts don’t have a monopoly on justice
Mark Dance, BCL/LLB Candidate, Macleans, 29 January 2018
Looking down his microphone at a room full of journalists-turned-prosecutors, Patrick Brown’s only hope last Wednesday night was a jurisdictional gambit: “I have instructed my attorneys to ensure that these allegations are addressed where they should be: in a court of law.” But the bedraggled Progressive Conservative leader’s manoeuvre didn’t work. And nor should it have: in the eyes of his caucus, the media and the public, credible accusations of preying on teenage women did not befit a party leader months out from a provincial election. Keep reading >
The Military’s Role in Sub-National Institutions: An Obstacle to Federalism in Myanmar
Jesse Hartery, BCL/LLB candidate, Tea Circle – Oxford Forum for New Perspectives on Burma/Myanmar, 25 January 2018
When international observers and media outlets discuss Myanmar’s constitutional structure, they largely focus on the military’s role in national institutions. While the 2008 Constitution does leave an important place for military officials in governing the Southeast Asian state at the federal level, it is important to recognize that the same document gives them an equally pervasive role in sub-national institutions. I am acutely aware that the constitutional structure imposed in 2008 is not the only obstacle to federalism in Myanmar. That said, the following will shine a light on some of the very real barriers that exist from a strictly constitutional standpoint. Keep reading >
Trump’s self-induced government shutdown
Jose Mauricio Gaona, DCL candidate, The Star, 22 January 2018
The last day of Trump’s first year in office revealed the most common trait of his presidency: Chaos. On Saturday, the United States government was officially shut down. However, unlike previous government shutdowns in U.S. history — that is, those that took place under the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton, H.W. Bush and Obama — President Trump’s government shutdown had three characteristics that make it quite unique. Keep reading >
Canada Summer Jobs and the Charter problem
Brian Bird, DCL candidate, Policy Options, 16 January 2018
It is troubling when the state coerces citizens to think as it does on controversial moral issues. This tactic is expected in undemocratic states. It is concerning to witness it in a liberal democracy like Canada. The Trudeau government is using this tactic in a peculiar context: the Canada Summer Jobs program. Keep reading >
Trudeau et l’humanitarisme variable
Pierre-Alexandre Cardinal, doctorant, Le Devoir, 22 décembre 2017
Malgré un discours sans équivoque, les actions du gouvernement Trudeau concernant le rôle du Canada dans la sécurité internationale demeurent ambiguës. S’il cherche à retrouver son rôle clé en 2018, le gouvernement fédéral doit d’abord retirer son soutien direct à la monarchie saoudienne. Poursuivre la lecture >
Transgender Kids doc doesn’t present facts fairly. CBC was right not to show it
Florence Ashley, LLM candidate, CBC News, 18 December 2017
When CBC decided not to air the documentary Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?, multiple commentators saw it as an affront to empiricism and free debate. Transgender Kids is a BBC documentary that challenges the “gender affirmative” approach to supporting children with gender dysphoria — that is, children whose gender identity does not align with that assigned at birth. Keep reading >
Black Holes in the Proposed UK Space Legislation
Julia Selman Ayetey, DCL candidate, Jurist, 11 December 2017
The global space market was valued at $329 billion in 2016 and private sub-orbital flights and launches of small satellites alone are anticipated to be worth £25 billion pounds over the next 20 years. It is therefore unsurprising that the UK seeks to become a major player in the private commercial space industry. Keep reading >