Law Commons^™

The Human Right To Development: Historical And Contemporary Linkages To Colonialism, Norman R. Kimber

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis concerns the Right to Development (the R2D), which was declared an inalienable human right by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the non-binding Declaration on the Right to Development (the DR2D) in 1986. It asserts that the R2D was not declared in a realizable manner, explaining the causes of identified doctrinal shortcomings. It explores the emergence of the R2D within the confluence of two post-1945 movements, being decolonization and the international human rights project, asserting that these movements were closely intertwined and substantively influenced by jurists from the Global South. The thesis then examines the political evolution …

Legal Representation For Complainants Of Sexual Violence In The Criminal Justice System: A Proposal To Advance Women's Equality, Karen M. Bellehumeur

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Very few survivors of sexual violence choose to engage the Canadian criminal justice system despite the fact that we expect law to be an effective tool to combat sexual violence. Since the vast majority of sexual violence survivors are female, the criminal justice system is failing women. This failure is largely because of the harm it causes by re-victimizing sexual assault complainants. Much of that harm arises from misunderstandings about trauma and from the existence of rape myths and gender stereotypes.. I argue that the criminal justice system’s treatment of female sexual violence complainants violates their section 7 and 15 …

An Epidemic Amidst A Pandemic: A Critical Policy Analysis Of Supervised Consumption Sites, Vanisa Ezukuse

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study's primary purpose is to critically appraise current federal and provincial policies regarding supervised consumption sites (SCS), noting intended and unintended consequences; and how these policies could impact SCS users. This study's secondary goal is to compare current policies related to SCS in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec to provide critical insight and suggestions for ongoing policy development. Carol Bacchi’s (2009) “What is the Problem Represented to Be?” framework was applied to the Canadian policy document with a focus on SCS. Four themes are proposed: Public Health versus Criminality, Presumptions versus Assumptions, Policy Unaccountability, and Policy Duality. It …

Stewart V. Elk Valley Coal Corp.: The Rehabilitation Of Addiction Disability Law In Canada, Nadia Pronych

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Canadian human rights law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees with disabilities and protects employees’ right to workplace accommodation to the point of undue hardship. However, the analysis of the case law illustrates that Canadian legal decision makers have not consistently applied the fundamental human rights laws and principles to cases involving individuals with drug and alcohol addiction disability. Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corp. provided the Supreme Court of Canada with the opportunity to provide much needed clarity and confirm the correct approach to be applied to claims of discrimination and accommodation on the basis of drug and alcohol …

Privacy And Surveillance In The Workplace: Closing The Electronic Surveillance Gap, Christina Catenacci

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation argues that there is an electronic surveillance gap in the employment context in Canada, a gap that is best understood as an absence of appropriate legal provisions to regulate employers’ electronic surveillance of employees both inside and outside the workplace. This dissertation aims to identify and articulate principles and values that can be used to close the electronic surveillance gap in Canada and suggests that, through the synthesis of social theories of surveillance and privacy, together with analyses of privacy provisions and workplace privacy cases, a new and better workplace privacy regime can be designed. This dissertation uses …

Minding The Gap: Pay Equity And The Role Of Law In Narrowing Canada's Gender Wage Gap, Jennifer D. Beaudoin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Canada has a gender wage gap. Gender discrimination is one of the factors underlying that gap. The goal of this thesis is to determine if Canadian law can be used to narrow the gender wage gap and if so, what legal reforms should be made? To meet these ends this thesis examines the evolution of relevant Canadian human rights and pay equity law and makes comparisons between the types of laws specific jurisdictions use and the size of their respective gender wage gaps. The focus then shifts to laws enacted in foreign jurisdictions that Canada could adopt to further address …

A Study Of Six Nations Public Library: Rights And Access To Information, Alison Frayne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Contemporary Indigenous public libraries play a critical role in providing access to information in Indigenous communities. My research focuses on the relationship between rights and access to information for individuals and communities within the context of Indigenous public libraries. I use a qualitative case study methodology of the Six Nations Public Library (SNPL) in Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada. Interviews were conducted with SNPL patrons and library management and with off-reserve participants from government and library associations.

I analyse four themes, library governance, rights, library value and access to information, which are outcomes of the SNPL case study findings. This analysis reveals …

Achieving Equality For Women In Labour And Employment – A Comparative Study Of Colombia And Canada, Lina M. Hernandez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The primary focus of this thesis is to analyze and compare the legal systems enacted to protect working women in Colombia and Canada. This thesis focuses on: the protection of maternity and parental rights; the principle of equal pay for work of equal value; and discrimination in employment (including harassment). This research argues that the legislative and judicial changes made in each country to protect working women have not led to substantive equality for working women. This thesis also argues that there is a gap between international and national standards, thus a law reform is appropriate and needed in both …

The Right To Food And The Right To Intellectual Property In The United Nations (Including International Human Rights) And International Trade: Finding The Definition, Darinka Tomic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intellectual property (IP) is omnipresent in both the context of the United Nations (UN) system (including international human rights law and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)), and international trade law, while the right to food has a much lower international profile. IP moved into international trade in 1994 through the TRIPS Agreement. The right to food has no presence in international trade. These two rights are the focus of this study – but are contrasted with several other rights: the right to health and the rights of persons with disabilities. The right to health was not present in …

Accommodating Complex Disabilities: Chronic Pain Disorders In The Canadian Workplace, Maia Abbas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The duty of accommodation has enabled great progress in Canadian human rights law for persons with disabilities, particularly in the workplace. However, persons with chronic pain disorders have faced greater challenges in accessing the accommodation duty’s promise of equality, which is demonstrated through caselaw analysis. To assess the efficacy of the accommodation of persons with chronic pain disorders, we must answer three questions: (1) what is the theoretical understanding of disability and chronic pain disorders; (2) how are chronic pain disorders accommodated practically (using the workplace as our social illustration); and, (3) what happens after accommodation fails. A hierarchy of …

Elusive Peace, Security, And Justice In Post-Conflict Guatemala: An Exploration Of Transitional Justice And The International Commission Against Impunity In Guatemala (Cicig), Daniel W. Schloss

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Guatemala has, until today, struggled to achieve security and justice following the end of nearly half a century of civil war in 1996. One specific institution, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), has been implemented to rectify many of the Guatemalan state’s difficulties in establishing and maintaining the rule of law. In this thesis, I look to better explain CICIG’s role in Guatemala relative to security and justice in a post-conflict setting: I define CICIG as an institution potentially capable of building societal trust, and I explain how the inclusion of procedural justice within transitional justice can help …

Transnational Corporate Regulation Through Sustainability Reporting: A Case Study Of The Canadian Extractive Sector, Navraj S. Pannu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite the benefits transnational corporations (TNCs) offer, they remain largely unregulated entities, enabling environmental, social, and human rights violations to be overlooked. Canadian extractive sector TNCs operating internationally are frequently cited as major perpetrators of such violations. Literature on new governance and self-regulation as well as global corporate social responsibility (CSR) increasingly offers disclosure and reporting as a solution for TNC regulation. This study examines disclosure in international CSR frameworks, and the reflexive law and new governance theories explaining the role of such disclosure and reporting. Mirroring international CSR initiatives, Canadian jurisdictions are increasingly recommending disclosure for its extractive sector …