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2010

Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Concepts Of Bias And Appointments To The Governing Council Of The Canadian Institutes Of Health Research, Elaine Gibson Nov 2010

Concepts Of Bias And Appointments To The Governing Council Of The Canadian Institutes Of Health Research, Elaine Gibson

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In October 2009, the academic health research community and the pharmaceutical industry were brought closer together with the appointment of Dr. Bernard Prigent, vice-president of Pfizer Canada, to the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This bridging of the two worlds has stirred up considerable debate before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, in letters to CMAJ and in an online petition that garnered more than 4400 signatures. There are at least two distinct and vocal camps in the debate: those categorically in favour (including the federal minister of health and the president of …


Approval Of New Pharmacogenomic Tests: Is The Canadian Regulatory Process Adequate?, Yann Joly, Emma Ramos-Paque Oct 2010

Approval Of New Pharmacogenomic Tests: Is The Canadian Regulatory Process Adequate?, Yann Joly, Emma Ramos-Paque

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In the first part of our analysis, we will examine the impact which pharmacogenomics is expected to have on drug research and development, on the drug approval process and on post-marketing surveillance and clinical practice. This will allow us to show how pharmacogenomic testing could be beneficial to drug companies, regulatory bodies, and patients. The second part of our analysis will focus on the regulatory framework applicable to the approval of pharmacoge- nomic tests in Canada, although we are aware of the fact that most manufacturers decide to approve their tests outside of Canada. As mentioned, the applicable regu- lations …


Sex And The Supremes: Towards A Legal Theory Of Sexuality, Elaine Craig Oct 2010

Sex And The Supremes: Towards A Legal Theory Of Sexuality, Elaine Craig

PhD Dissertations

This thesis examines how the Supreme Court of Canada, across legal contexts, has tended to conceptualize sexuality. It focuses primarily on areas of public law including sexual assault law, equality for sexual minorities, sexual harassment and obscenity and indecency laws. There were a number of trends revealed upon reviewing the jurisprudence in this area. First, the Court’s decisions across legal contexts reveal a tendency to conceptualize sexuality as innate, as a pre-social naturally occurring phenomenon and as an essential element of who we are as individuals. This is true whether one is speaking of the approach to gay and lesbian …


Patient Safety Law: Regulatory Change In Britain And Canada, Fiona Mcdonald Oct 2010

Patient Safety Law: Regulatory Change In Britain And Canada, Fiona Mcdonald

PhD Dissertations

Did governments in different countries regulate common concerns about patient safety differently? If so how and why did they do this? This thesis undertakes a historical comparison of the regulation of patient safety in Britain and Canada between 1980 and 2005. These jurisdictions began the period with very similar regulatory frameworks, but by 2005 there were distinct differences in each jurisdiction‘s regulatory response to patient safety. Britain was very actively regulating all aspects of service provision within its health system in the name of patient safety, whereas Canada‘s regulatory direction showed adherence to the 1980s model with only scattered incremental …


Governance Of Health Research Involving Humans In Developing Countries: The Nigerian Example, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe Oct 2010

Governance Of Health Research Involving Humans In Developing Countries: The Nigerian Example, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe

PhD Dissertations

An intense debate has occurred regarding research involving humans in developing countries in recent years. Research in this area has focused mainly on examining the ways in which the economic inequalities in healthcare between developing countries and developed countries have affected the types of research conducted in developing countries by external sponsors. Research has also focused on how these inequalities, and the difficulties in applying the international ethical guidelines, give rise to ethical concerns and controversies. Recent literature has therefore examined several ethical concerns in health research in developing countries. What is missing in the literature on research oversight in …


Developing An Ecological Social Justice Framework For Ocean Energy Technologies: Case Studies From The Phillipines, Jay Batongbacal Oct 2010

Developing An Ecological Social Justice Framework For Ocean Energy Technologies: Case Studies From The Phillipines, Jay Batongbacal

PhD Dissertations

Unless subjected to skeptical and conscious scrutiny, environmentally-friendly ocean energy technologies can become Trojan machines of social inequity due to the subtle re-organizing influences of technologies on culture and the society. Environmental laws that promote or regulate ocean energy technologies can act as Trojan legal regimes in the absence of a framework for assessing and anticipating their adverse impacts on social justice. Environmental justice is inadequate for this task, so an alternative framework is proposed: ecological social justice, drawn from the Third Worlds perspective of sustainable development as equitable sharing. Though overshadowed by the prevalent notion of sustainable development as …


Inherent Jurisdiction And Its Application By Nova Scotiacourts: Metaphysical, Historical Or Pragmatic?, William H. Charles Oct 2010

Inherent Jurisdiction And Its Application By Nova Scotiacourts: Metaphysical, Historical Or Pragmatic?, William H. Charles

Dalhousie Law Journal

The author explores the concept of inherent jurisdiction in the context of its use and application by the courts of Nova Scotia. A general in-depth discussion ofthe nature and source(s) of the concept is followed by an examination of three recent Court of Appeal decisions in an effort to determine that court's understanding of inherent jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal's understanding and sense of the concept is then contrasted with its use and application by the trial courts of Nova Scotia over a period of 150 years. The approach of the two levels of court to inherent jurisdiction is compared …


The Admissibility Of Electronic Business Records, Ken Chasse Oct 2010

The Admissibility Of Electronic Business Records, Ken Chasse

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The business record provisions of the Evidence Acts determine a record’s admissibility by evidence of its history, which must be the product of “the usual and ordinary course of business” (or comparable “business activity” wording). The electronic record provisions determine a record’s admissibility by the, “integrity of the electronic records system in which it is recorded or stored.” The difference is, records management (RM) based on “paper records concepts” versus “electronic records systems concepts.” The former is subjective — each business determines its own “usual and ordinary course of business”; the latter, objective — in accor- dance with authoritative standards …


Personalization, Analytics, And Sponsored Services: The Challenges Of Applying Pipeda To Online Tracking And Profiling Activities, Eloïse Gratton Oct 2010

Personalization, Analytics, And Sponsored Services: The Challenges Of Applying Pipeda To Online Tracking And Profiling Activities, Eloïse Gratton

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.


Canada's Digital Economy Strategy: Toward An Openness Framework, Michael Geist Oct 2010

Canada's Digital Economy Strategy: Toward An Openness Framework, Michael Geist

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This essay is an expanded version of my submission to the digital economy consultation. It opens with general issues such as digital policy leadership, cost issues, and emphasizes the need for a principle-based strategy that embraces the benefits associated with “open,” whether open access, open spectrum or open data. It then provides specific recommendations on a wide range of issues including tele- communications policy, privacy, and copyright.


Interpreting Copyright Law And Internet Facts, Cameron Hutchison Oct 2010

Interpreting Copyright Law And Internet Facts, Cameron Hutchison

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper probes interpretation issues elicited by the impact of digital technologies and the Internet on copyright law. The purpose of the paper is to instill a coherent framework for analyzing copyright law when it encounters Internet or digital facts. In part one, I propose a methodology of statutory interpretation that helps suitably adapt statutory language to technological developments. In essence it is this: courts should examine the language of the operative provision in its statutory context and in light of its purpose. A contextual interpretation of a broadly conceived rule can reveal a legislative intention that certain kinds of …


The Regulation Of Personal Health Record Systems In Canada, James Williams, Jens H. Weber-Jahnke Oct 2010

The Regulation Of Personal Health Record Systems In Canada, James Williams, Jens H. Weber-Jahnke

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper analyzes the regulatory regime for PHR systems in Canada. The first part of the paper consists of an introduction to some of the major issues associ- ated with these applications, with a focus on privacy, security, data quality, and interoperability. Following this preliminary discussion, the bulk of the analysis deals with the legal instruments that apply to PHR products developed by private sector organizations. Due to space constraints, the paper concentrates on legislative and regulatory instruments, deferring a discussion of the possible impacts of tort, product liability, and contract law on PHR systems. Despite this omission, it is …


A Reply To Professor Pothier's Review Of Power Without Law: The Supreme Court Of Canada, The Marshall Decisions And The Failure Of Judicial Activism, Alex M. Cameron Oct 2010

A Reply To Professor Pothier's Review Of Power Without Law: The Supreme Court Of Canada, The Marshall Decisions And The Failure Of Judicial Activism, Alex M. Cameron

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Spring 2010 edition of the Dalhousie Law Journal contains an article by Professor Dianne Pothier, discussing my book, Power Without Law: The Supreme Court of Canada, The Marshall Decisions and the Failure of JudicialActivism. In the review, Professor Pothier strongly disagrees with the book's critique of the Supreme Court of Canada's majority decision in R. v. Marshall. In particular, she disagrees with the argument that the alleged treaty right of aboriginals to hunt, fish, gather and trade for necessaries, described in Justice Binnie's majority decision, is constitutionally flawed. Professor Pothier also suggests that the argument is the central thesis …


Long Overdue: A Reappraisal Of Section 121 Of The Constitution Act, 1867, Ian A. Blue Oct 2010

Long Overdue: A Reappraisal Of Section 121 Of The Constitution Act, 1867, Ian A. Blue

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article offers a new interpretation of s. 121 of the Constitution Act, 1867. The author re-evaluates the traditional interpretation of s. 121, found in Gold Seal Limited v. The Attorney General of the Province of Alberta. That interpretation limited the application of s. 121 to prohibiting interprovincial "customs duties" but nothing else. The author analyzes s. 121 using a purposive approach. After reviewing the provision's wording, legislative history, legislative context and its place within the scheme of the Act, the article concludes that a purposive and progressive interpretation leads to a more robust role for s. 121. Thus interpreted, …


"We Shall Not Cease From Exploration": Narratives From The Hyde Inquiry About Mental Health And Criminal Justice, Anne Derrick Oct 2010

"We Shall Not Cease From Exploration": Narratives From The Hyde Inquiry About Mental Health And Criminal Justice, Anne Derrick

Dalhousie Law Journal

When I embarked on my journey at the Hyde Inquiry I really felt I knew nothing. The place I came to know for the first time, at the end, was a place I had really not known before. I was taken there by the narratives that made up the threads of the Inquiry and it is some of these narratives I am going to discuss here.


Religion-Based Claims For Impinging On Queer Citizenship, Bruce Macdougall, Donn Short Oct 2010

Religion-Based Claims For Impinging On Queer Citizenship, Bruce Macdougall, Donn Short

Dalhousie Law Journal

Competing claims for legal protection based on religion and on sexual orientation have arisen fairly frequently in Canada in the past decade or so. The authors place such competitions into five categories based on the nature of who is making the claim and who is impacted, the site of the competition, and the extent to which the usual legal and constitutional norms applicable are affected. Three of the five categories identified involve a claim that a religion operate in some form in the public area so as to impinge on the usual protection of equality on the basis of sexual …


The Chemical Castration Of Recidivist Sex Offenders In Canada: A Matter Of Faith, Matthew R. Kutcher Oct 2010

The Chemical Castration Of Recidivist Sex Offenders In Canada: A Matter Of Faith, Matthew R. Kutcher

Dalhousie Law Journal

Chemical castration refers to the use of medication to reduce male testosterone to pre-pubertal levels. Since the mid-20th century reports have detailed this practice in attempts to control pathological sexual behaviour. In 2006, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal ruled it constitutional for the National Parole Board to require that recidivist sex offenders, if found to be long-term offenders, be chemically castrated under their conditions of release. This paper examines the chemical castration of recidivist sex offenders in Canada through a review of long-term offender hearings reported between 1997 and 2009. The practice is analyzed from ethical, medical and legal …


Law And Mental Health: A Relationship In Crisis?, Sheila Wildeman Oct 2010

Law And Mental Health: A Relationship In Crisis?, Sheila Wildeman

Dalhousie Law Journal

What is the significance of the rule of law to the area of professional knowledge and practice that is "mental health"-or to the interaction of those two aspirational, one might say euphemistically-named social systems: the mental health and justice systems? This question centres upon the rule of law-specifically, I suggest (as I relate further in closing), a thick conception of the rule of law grounded in an ideal of state-subject reciprocity-and not, or not directly, upon the individual and social good ofhealth. It is this overarching question that I wish to pursue in setting the stage for the two lectures …


Medicine And The Law: The Challenges Of Mental Illness, Beverley Mclachlin Oct 2010

Medicine And The Law: The Challenges Of Mental Illness, Beverley Mclachlin

Dalhousie Law Journal

In this lecture, I offer some thoughts on a medical/legal issue that is old, yet perennially pertinent; that is common, yet extraordinary; that is wellknown, yet all too often swept under the carpet. I refer to the issue-or more accurately the plethora of issues-that surround mental health and the law.


A Conflict By Any Other Name Would Smell As Foul: A Comment On The Appointment Of A Vice-President Of Pfizer To The Cihr Governing Council, Jocelyn Downie Jul 2010

A Conflict By Any Other Name Would Smell As Foul: A Comment On The Appointment Of A Vice-President Of Pfizer To The Cihr Governing Council, Jocelyn Downie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

If one had to pick the pharmaceutical company most associated with unethical and illegal conduct this past year, it would likely be Pfizer. So it seems reasonable to respond with disbelief and outrage to the federal government’s October 5, 2009 appointment of Dr. Bernard Prigent – Vice President, Medical Director and registered lobbyist for Pfizer Canada – to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Governing Council (CIHR GC). This is the body that sets the strategic direction for most federally funded health research in Canada. A senior executive from a for-profit pharmaceutical company should not be given a seat at …


Inadequate: The Apec Privacy Framework & Article 25 Of The European Data Protection Directive, Stuart Hargreaves Jun 2010

Inadequate: The Apec Privacy Framework & Article 25 Of The European Data Protection Directive, Stuart Hargreaves

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The EU and APEC approaches represent two different ways of thinking about the purpose of privacy rights in personal information (a.k.a. “informational privacy” or “data privacy”). The European approach sees integrity and control over information about oneself as inherent to human dignity; informational privacy is treated as a fundamental right subject only to limited restrictions. In contrast, the approach evinced by APEC is a market-oriented cost/benefit calculus; control over personal information is seen as a beneficial policy goal when it can increase consumer confi- dence and promote economic growth — the implication being that it can also more easily give …


La Cyberintimidation: Analyse Juridique, Karen D. Levin Jun 2010

La Cyberintimidation: Analyse Juridique, Karen D. Levin

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Dans ce mémoire va être traitée une analyse juridique de la cyberintimidation. Dans une première partie, nous tenterons de définir le terme « cyberintimidation » et les enjeux qui s’y rattachent. En deuxième lieu, nous examinerons la motivation qui mène à la cyberintimidation, ainsi que la manière dans laquelle l’acte se produit. Troisièmement, nous évaluerons les provisions du droit criminel fédéral, des droits de la personne, et du droit des délits civils afin de déterminer l’efficacité de notre système juridique à détourner la cyberintimidation. Finalement, nous trancherons la question de réforme qui se propose au Canada, la comparant aux réformes …


Canada's Current Position With Respect To Sound Marks Registration: A Need For Change?, Marie-Jeanne Provost Jun 2010

Canada's Current Position With Respect To Sound Marks Registration: A Need For Change?, Marie-Jeanne Provost

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper analyses and criticizes Canada’s position on sound marks registration in order to recommend the ways in which Canadian policy-makers could further act in order to advance this area of law. The first part of this paper exposes the fundamental concepts of trade-marks as they are necessary to the comprehension of the problems surrounding the registration of sound marks. In the second part, legal considerations associated with the registration of sound marks are discussed. More specifically, the visual requirement, the issue of “use,” the concept of distinctiveness and the question of overlap with copyright are assessed. In the third …


Canadian Personal Data Protection Legislation And Electronic Health Records: Transfers Of Personal Health Information In It Outsourcing Agreements, Dara Lambie Jun 2010

Canadian Personal Data Protection Legislation And Electronic Health Records: Transfers Of Personal Health Information In It Outsourcing Agreements, Dara Lambie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Personal data protection and privacy of personal health information in the electronic era is a broad topic that includes consent, security measures and access considerations. The focus of this article is on one component of the larger picture: data transfers of personal health information that occur in the context of informa- tion technology (“IT”) outsourcing. If the societal good envisioned by an inter-jurisdictional EHR is to be fully realized, then the necessity of outsourcing is a reality that must be addressed.


Book Review - Intellectual Property Rights And The Life Science Industries: Past, Present, And Future, Chidi Oguamanam Jun 2010

Book Review - Intellectual Property Rights And The Life Science Industries: Past, Present, And Future, Chidi Oguamanam

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Our so-called post-industrial society is one whose axial feature is the interac- tion between computer-driven digital and life science-driven bio-technologies. The primary legal mechanism that undergirds the allocation of rights in this new infor- mation-centred epoch is intellectual property. Perhaps only a few industrial sectors have benefitted more from the dynamics of that interaction than the pharmaceutical industry. Perhaps also, only a few industrial sectors have fully appreciated and opti- mally exploited the power of intellectual property than that sector. How did that happen? How has it continued to unfold, and what does the future hold for the continued co-evolution …


Mediation In Environmental Assessments In Canada: Unfulfilled Promise?, Meinhard Doelle, A John Sinclair Apr 2010

Mediation In Environmental Assessments In Canada: Unfulfilled Promise?, Meinhard Doelle, A John Sinclair

Dalhousie Law Journal

The federal environmental assessment (EA) process and most. provincial EA processes in Canada either specifically provide for mediation as an option or implicitly allow for it. Inspite of this, the actual use of mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has been almost non-existent in Canadian EA. There is an emerging view, however that mediation could be applied usefully at points of the process when there is conflict among the parties. Such adjustments in process would signal the need for approval agencies -andproponents to give serious consideration to more collaborative techniques of participation. The objective of this article …


Clarifying Causation In Tort, Erik S. Knutsen Apr 2010

Clarifying Causation In Tort, Erik S. Knutsen

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article argues that there is nothing overly confusing about the law ofcausation in negligence. It attempts to define the current state of causation in Canadian negligence law with a simple goal in mind: to have a clearer more productive conversation about the law with the fundamental concepts clearly on the table. The author argues that while the leading decisions on causation are often couched in broad-based, universal terminology to refrain from inhibiting conceptual portability,the cases can be read as a sustained continuum of conversations about causation. A cohesive framework for the law is offered by taking a longitudinal perspective …


Alex M. Cameron, Power Without Law. The Supreme Court Of Canada, .The Marshall Decisions, And The Failure Of Judicial Activism, Dianne Pothier Apr 2010

Alex M. Cameron, Power Without Law. The Supreme Court Of Canada, .The Marshall Decisions, And The Failure Of Judicial Activism, Dianne Pothier

Dalhousie Law Journal

Alex Cameron's book, Power WithoutLaw, is a scathing critique ofthe Supreme Court of Canada's 1999 decisions in R. v. Marshall upholding Donald Marshall Jr.'s Mi'kmaq treaty claim. Cameron's book has attracted a lot of attention because of the author's position as Crown counsel for the government of Nova Scotia. Cameron was not involved as a lawyer in the Marshallcase itself. As a fisheries prosecution, Marshallwas a matter of federal jurisdiction pursuant to s. 91(12) of the Constitution Act, 1867, and Nova Scotia chose not to intervene. However, Cameron did become involved in a subsequent case dealing with the same series …


Section 2(B) Advertising Rights On Government Property: Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, Anew Can Of Worms And The Liberty Two Step?, Elaine Craig Apr 2010

Section 2(B) Advertising Rights On Government Property: Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, Anew Can Of Worms And The Liberty Two Step?, Elaine Craig

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Supreme Court's recent decision inVancouver Transportation is problematic for two reasons. First, the majority adopts an analytical framework for determining whether a claim triggers the positive rights Dunmore/Baier analysis, which means that policies restricting expressive rights based on groups rather than content could be less likely to fall within the scope of section 2(b). A better approach would be to characterize section 2(b) cases based on the nature of the claim rather than the nature of the restriction and to apply the positive rights Dunmorel Baier criteria only where the claim is for an audience with the government or …


Reading The Judicial Mind: Predicting The Courts' Reaction To The Use Of Neuroscientific Evidence For Lie Detection, Jennifer Chandler Apr 2010

Reading The Judicial Mind: Predicting The Courts' Reaction To The Use Of Neuroscientific Evidence For Lie Detection, Jennifer Chandler

Dalhousie Law Journal

How will the courts react to the emerging technology ofdetecting deception using neuroscientific methods such as neuro-imaging? The sociological theory of the autonomy of technology suggests that if neuroscientific techniques come to be seen as reliable for this purpose, other objections will soon be abandoned. The history of the judicial reaction to DNA evidence illustrates this pattern. As DNA evidence came to be seen as highlyreliable, the courts rapidly abandoned their concerns that juries would be overwhelmed by the "mystique of science" and that the justice system would be "dehumanized." The legaljustifications for rejecting polygraph evidence are explored in order …