Law Commons^™

A Human Rights And Legal Analysis Of The Understanding Our Roots Report, Naiomi Metallic, Cheryl Simon

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In October 2023, the University released Understanding Our Roots - Nstikuk tan wtapeksikw Report written by the Task Force on Settler Misappropriation of Indigenous Identity. The Report recommends the creation of a Standing Committee who would verify claims to Indigenous identity by students, faculty and staff seeking to benefit from any opportunity at the University that prioritizes access for Indigenous peoples, as well as investigate and recommend sanction in cases of suspected academic fraud whereby an individual assumes an Indigenous identity. The Report does not address or respond to potential legal issues and rights violations arising from its recommendation. To …

Conditions Of Confinement In Nova Scotia Jails Designated For Men: East Coast Prison Justice Society Visiting Committee Annual Report 2021-2022, Sheila Wildeman, Harry Critchley, Hanna Garson, Laura Beach, Margaret-Anne Mchugh

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This is the second Annual Report of the East Coast Prison Justice Society (“ECPJS”) Visiting Committee (“VC”).

The purpose of the ECPJS VC is to bring increased accountability and transparency to the Nova Scotia correctional system in light of human rights standards, domestic and international. While the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia provides human rights monitoring of conditions of incarceration experienced by women and non-binary people in federal prisons and provincial jails in the Atlantic region, and the federal Office of Correctional Investigator provides further oversight of conditions in federal prisons, there is no comparable independent oversight of …

Connecting The Dots To Reveal A New Picture: A Report On Indian Act By-Law Enforcement Issues Faced By First Nations In Nova Scotia And Beyond, Naiomi Metallic, Roy Stewart, Ashley Hamp-Gonsalves

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report originated as a request by the Mi’kmaq-Nova Scotia-Canada Tripartite Forum to research the challenges facing First Nations in Nova Scotia in assuming jurisdictional control through Indian Act by-laws. In undertaking this research, we identified significant uncertainty, misconceptions and confusion around Indian Act by-laws from all parties with a stake in this issue, including federal and provincial government representatives (Indigenous Services, Department of Justice, Public Safety), the police, the public and First Nations representatives. Consequently, we felt it necessary to comprehensively unpack the various issues relating to Indian Act by-laws, from their nature and legal effect, to their development, …

Doing Better For Indigenous Children And Families: Jordan’S Principle Accountability Mechanisms Report, Naiomi Metallic, Hadley Friedland, Shelby Thomas

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In Part 1 of this report, we attempt to summarize the long history that forms the context of the need for independent accountability measures to meaningfully address the discrimination identified by the CHRT in Caring Society and prevent similar practices in the future. Drawing from this context, in Part 2, we set out what we identify as 10 key accountability needs of Indigenous children and families that must be addressed in order to provide effective accountability. Finally, in Part 3, we discuss features of effective accountability mechanisms and propose three interconnected mechanisms that we believe address the accountability …

Submission To The Province Of Nova Scotia On Its Review Of The Intimate Images And Cyber-Protection Act - Leaf, Suzie Dunn, Rosel Kim

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) commends the Nova Scotia government for reviewing its Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act (the Act) and seeking public input for this review. Nova Scotia has been, and continues to be, a leader in Canada for its role in advancing innovative laws and supports for people targeted by technology-facilitated violence (TFV), digital abuse, and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images (NCDII). As these forms of harmful behaviour evolve and become better understood, it is important to revisit this legislation to assess whether it is providing meaningful and accessible responses to such serious social …

'The Perfect Shouldn't Be The Enemy Of The Good' — What Canada Can Do Today, Tomorrow & Next Week To Enhance Equitable Access To Covid-19 Biopharmaceutical Interventions, Matthew Herder

Reports & Public Policy Documents

There is overwhelming evidence of inequitable access to a range of COVID-19 targeting biopharmaceutical interventions, including not only vaccines but also anti-viral drug therapies, diagnostic tests, and various materials that are incorporated into these products. As recently explained by Yamey et al. in the British Medical Journal, inequitable access is baked into every phase of the biopharmaceutical system—from production and allocation to affordability and deployment. Yet, it is still possible to improve access to these critically important biopharmaceutical interventions in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Intellectual property (IP) rights are one crucial site where policy intervention can make an immediate …

Recommendations On Mature Minors, Constance Macintosh

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Recommendation: The Committee should remove the requirement from the Criminal Code that candidates for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) be at least 18 years old. This is for the following reasons, elaborated upon below.

1.The MAID regime should always turn on the actual capacity of any person requesting MAID

2.The MAID regime’s approach to consent and capacity should be consistent with Canadian law on health care decision-making by minors

3.The MAID regime will likely be found unconstitutional if it maintains an age-based bar

4.The vulnerability of youth may require a different approach but does not justify an age-based bar

5.Removing …

Negotiating Bilateral Tax Treaties: Should Tax Treaties Involving Low-Income Countries Contain A Sunset Clause?, Okanga Ogbu Okanga

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This policy brief reflects on an underexplored proposition: that bilateral tax treaties – particularly treaties involving (middle- and) low-income countries – should contain an expiration or sunset clause. The brief examines some reasons why it may be sensible for a low-income country to make its bilateral tax treaty expirable, from its onset. It also highlights a few reasons why such a policy may not be advisable – or tenable. The brief concludes by exploring the design of a model sunset clause for inclusion in the UN Model Tax Convention.

Study On The Implementation Of Indigenous Rights Based Fisheries, Constance Macintosh

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Thank you once again for inviting me to speak with you on March 22, 2022. It was an honour. I really appreciated the questions that members posed, and the dialogue. As per your request, I am providing my core recommendations for you to consider as you develop your report on implementing the Indigenous rights-based fishery.

Pathways To Just, Equitable And Sustainable Trade And Investment Regimes, Tomaso Ferrando, Nicolas Perrone, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Kangping Du

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In this report we discuss what a Fair, Just and Equitable approach to the global, liberalized and hyper-competitive system of global trade and investments should be. The global market for goods and capital affect the life of producers and workers, stimulates the run towards cheaper products and puts farmers and workers against each other. The current vision of trade and investments is based on the silencing of gendered and reproductive labour and is responsible for the increase in inequality and relative poverty. Furthermore, it stimulates the extraction of commodities and contributes to the degradation of the planet, it has a …

Cash Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper, Shiri Pasternak, Naiomi Metallic, Yumi Numata, Anita Sekharan, Jasmyn Galley, Samuel Wong

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Picking up from Land Back, the first Red Paper by Yellowhead about the project of land reclamation, Cash Back looks at how the dispossession of Indigenous lands created a dependency on the state due to the loss of economic livelihood. Cash Back is about restitution from the perspective of stolen wealth.

From Canada’s perspective, the value of Indigenous lands rests on what can be extracted and commodified. The economy has been built on the transformation of Indigenous lands and waterways into corporate profit and national power. In place of their riches in territory, Canada set up for First Nations a …

Submission To The Toronto Police Services Board’S Use Of New Artificial Intelligence Technologies Policy- Leaf And The Citizen Lab, Suzie Dunn, Kristen Mj Thomasen, Kate Robertson, Pam Hrick, Cynthia Khoo, Rosel Kim, Ngozi Okidegbe, Christopher Parsons

Reports & Public Policy Documents

We write as a group of experts in the legal regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), technology-facilitated violence, equality, and the use of AI systems by law enforcement in Canada. We have experience working within academia and legal practice, and are affiliated with LEAF and the Citizen Lab who support this letter.

We reviewed the Toronto Police Services Board Use of New Artificial Intelligence Technologies Policy and provide comments and recommendations focused on the following key observations:

1. Police use of AI technologies must not be seen as inevitable
2. A commitment to protecting equality and human rights must be integrated …

Submission To Canadian Government Consultation On A Modern Copyright Framework For Ai And The Internet Of Things, Sean Flynn, Lucie Guibault, Christian Handke, Joan-Josep Vallbé, Michael Palmedo, Carys Craig, Michael Geist, Joao Pedro Quintais

Reports & Public Policy Documents

We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Canadian Government’s consultation on a modern copyright framework for AI and the Internet of Things. Below, we present some of our research findings relating to the importance of flexibility in copyright law to permit text and data mining (“TDM”). As the consultation paper recognizes, TDM is a critical element of artificial intelligence. Our research supports the adoption of a specific exception for uses of works in TDM to supplement Canada’s existing general fair dealing exception.

Empirical research shows that more publication of citable research takes place in countries with “open” …

Wolastoqiyik And Mi’Kmaq Grandmothers - Land/Water Defenders Sharing And Learning Circle: Generating Knowledge For Action, Sherry Pictou, Janet Conway, Angela Day

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report is a summary of the Grandmothers/Defenders’ stories and are interwoven with corresponding news articles, press releases, and other public documents. This is followed by an overview of some of the critical common issues and importantly, strategies for moving forward proposed by the Grandmothers/Defenders.

The Grandmother’s Report is a collection of stories told by Wolastoqiyik Grandmother/Defenders against the Sisson Mine in New Brunswick and Mi’kmaq Grandmothers against the Alton Gas project in Nova Scotia at the event, Indigenous Grandmothers Sharing and Learning Circle: Generating Knowledge for Action, held at the Tatamagouche Centre in Nova Scotia, January 26 to 27, …

Adult Capacity And Decision Making Act Review, Sheila Wildeman

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act is for adults who can’t make some or all decisions for themselves because of a learning disability, mental illness, brain injury or other reasons. This law respects the rights of adults to make their own decisions, while allowing someone else to help make important decisions for them when they can’t.

You can read the results of the review in the Report on the Review of the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act.

In 2021, government consulted with Nova Scotians about the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act. The results of the consultation informed the review. You …

Do Independent External Decision Makers Ensure That “An Inmate’S Confinement In A Structured Intervention Unit Is To End As Soon As Possible”? [Corrections And Conditional Release Act, Section 33], Jane B. Sprott, Anthony N. Doob, Adelina Iftene

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Government of Canada established Correctional Service Canada’s (CSC) Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) to be a substitute for “Administrative Segregation” as it officially was known, or Solitary Confinement as it is more commonly known. The goals – explicit in the legislation governing federal penitentiaries (the Corrections and Conditional Release Act) – included provisions that SIUs were to be used as little as possible and that prisoners would be transferred from them as soon as possible.

This report examines some aspects of the operation of the IEDMs – the only SIU oversight mechanism that is currently active – using administrative data …

International Working Group On Polar Shipping: Report To The Executive Council And Assembly Of The Comité Maritime International, Aldo Chircop

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report covers the reporting period from 1 November 2020 to 31 May 2021. The IWG Chair acknowledges updates provided by the subgroup chairs. The IWG continues to operate through three subgroups, namely on Antarctic Shipping (chaired by David Baker), COLREGS in Polar Environments (chaired by Stefanie Johnston) and Cruise Passengers’ Rights (chaired by Lars Rosenberg Overby). While progress has been made, unfortunately the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect aspects of the IWG’s work.

Amicus Brief By Amnesty International And Others, Mark Gibney, Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Ashfaq Khalfan, Paula Litvachky, Ana María Suárez Franco, Sara L. Seck, Sigrun Skogly, Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli, Jernej Letnar Černič, Tom Mulisa, Nicholas Orago, Wouter Vandenhole, Jingjing Zhang

Reports & Public Policy Documents

On September 2, 2020, six Portuguese youth filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against 33 countries. The complaint alleges that the respondents have violated human rights by failing to take sufficient action on climate change, and seeks an order requiring them to take more ambitious action.

The complaint relies on Articles 2, 8, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect the right to life, right to privacy, and right to not experience discrimination. The complainants claim that their right to life is threatened by the effects of climate change in Portugal such …

A Modern Copyright Framework For The Internet Of Things (Iot): Intellectual Property Scholars' Joint Submission To The Canadian Government Consultation, Pascale Chapdelaine, Anthony D. Rosborough, Aaron Perzanowski, Bita Amani, Sara Bannerman, Carys Craig, Lucie Guibault, Cameron J. Hutchison, Ariel Katz, Alexandra Mogyoros, Graham Reynolds, Teresa Scassa, Myra Tawfik

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In response to the Canadian government consultation process on the modernization of the copyright framework launched in the summer 2021, we hereby present our analysis and recommendations concerning the interaction between copyright and the Internet of Things (IoT). The recommendations herein reflect the shared opinion of the intellectual property scholars who are signatories to this brief. They are informed by many combined decades of study, teaching, and practice in Canadian, US, and international intellectual property law.

In what follows, we explain:

•The importance of approaching the questions raised in the consultation with a firm commitment to maintaining the appropriate balance …

A Modern Copyright Framework For Artificial Intelligence: Ip Scholars' Joint Submission To The Canadian Government Consultation, Carys Craig, Bita Amani, Sara Bannerman, Céline Castets-Renard, Pascale Chapdelaine, Lucie Guibault, Gregory R. Hagen, Cameron J. Hutchison, Ariel Katz, Alexandra Mogyoros, Graham Reynolds, Anthony D. Rosborough, Teresa Scassa, Myra Tawfik

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In response to the Canadian government consultation process on the modernization of the copyright framework launched in the summer 2021, we hereby present our analysis and recommendations concerning the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI). The recommendations herein reflect the shared opinion of the intellectual property scholars who are signatories to this brief. They are informed by many combined decades of study, teaching, and practice in Canadian and international intellectual property law.

In what follows, we explain:
- The importance of approaching the questions raised in the consultation with a firm commitment to maintaining the appropriate balance of rights …

Maid Legislation At A Crossroads: Persons With Mental Disorders As Their Sole Underlying Medical Condition, The Halifax Group, Melissa K. Andrew, Jennifer A. Chandler, Jocelyn Downie, Colleen M. M. Flood, Arthur Frank, Mona Gupta, Kwame Mckenzie, Tanya Park

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Legislation permitting medical assistance in dying (MAiD) came into force in Quebec in December 2015, and in the rest of Canada in June 2016. The Quebec and federal MAiD laws contain detailed eligibility criteria as well as procedural safeguards. In particular, Quebec’s MAiD legislation requires that to be eligible for MAiD, a person must be “at the end of life,” whereas the federal legislation requires that a person’s “natural death” must have become “reasonably foreseeable.” At the time the two laws were introduced, legal experts warned that some eligibility criteria would require further clarification and could even face Charter of …

End-Of-Life Decision Making: Policy And Statutory Progress (2011-2020), Jocelyn Downie, Mona Gupta, L. Wayne Sumner, Joshua Wales

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In 2009, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) identified a series of urgent scientific and public policy questions. It established a series of five Expert Panels to study the issues and provide recommendations for next steps. It is now timely to revisit the findings of these Expert Panel Reports. What impact have they had? Have their recommendations been implemented? What are the next steps in terms of policy options?

To answer these questions, the RSC is establishing Policy Briefing Committees (PBC) to:

• describe the context, findings, and recommendations of the report;
• track policy developments in relation to the panel’s findings …

Overview: Will Great Power Politics Threaten Arctic Sustainability?, Yoon Hyung Kim, Oran R. Young, Robert W. Corell, Lawson W. Brigham, Jong Deog Kim, Arild Moe, Charles E. Morrison, David Vanderzwaag

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The eight Arctic states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation, and the United States) wish to maintain a position of preeminence when it comes to dealing with matters of Arctic Ocean governance. However, major non-Arctic states, while recognizing the sovereign rights of the coastal states in their economic zones and on their continental shelves, have growing interests in the maritime Arctic relating to activities such as commercial shipping, oil and gas development, fishing and ship-based tourism. They are increasingly claiming to have a legitimate interest in being consulted when it comes to addressing matters relating to the …

The Arctic In World Affairs: A North Pacific Dialogue On Will Great Power Politics Threaten Arctic Sustainability, Lawson W. Brigham, Robert W. Corell, Jong Deog Kim, Yoon Hyung Kim, Arild Moe, Charles E. Morrison, David Vanderzwaag, Oran R. Young

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The eight Arctic states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation, and the United States) wish to maintain a position of preeminence when it comes to dealing with matters of Arctic Ocean governance. However, major non-Arctic states, while recognizing the sovereign rights of the coastal states in their economic zones and on their continental shelves, have growing interests in the maritime Arctic relating to activities such as commercial shipping, oil and gas development, fishing and ship-based tourism. They are increasingly claiming to have a legitimate interest in being consulted when it comes to addressing matters relating to the …

An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit And Métis Children, Youth And Families: Does Bill C-92 Make The Grade?, Naiomi Metallic, Hadley Friedland, Aimée Craft, Jeffery Hewitt, Sarah Morales

Reports & Public Policy Documents

On Thursday, February 28, 2019, the federal government introduced Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Métis and Inuit children, youth and families for first reading. After many years of well documented discrimination against Indigenous children, there is much hope in this legislative process to reverse this trend, empower Indigenous peoples to reclaim jurisdiction in this area, and ensure the rights of children are affirmed. To realize those hopes, we have drafted this analysis with the aim to improve the current legislation as it moves through committee and the Senate.

The Promise And Pitfalls Of C-92: An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, And Métis Children, Youth And Families, Naiomi Metallic, Hadley Friedland, Sarah Morales

Reports & Public Policy Documents

On June 21, 2019, Bill C-92 An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families became law. The Bill is a huge and unprecedented step forward in Canada. It is the first time the federal government has exercised its jurisdiction to legislate in the area of Indigenous child welfare.

In this article, we identify both the improvements in Bill C-92 since our last report as well as key problems that remain in the five following areas: 1) National Standards 2) Jurisdiction 3) Funding 4) Accountability 5) Data Collection We also suggest strategies to assist Indigenous communities in …

Competencies Of The International Seabed Authority And The International Maritime Organization In The Context Of Activities In The Area, International Seabed Authority, International Maritime Organization, Aldo Chircop

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report studies the interface of competencies of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) with respect to activities in the international seabed area (the Area). The study is undertaken within the context of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982 the Part XI Implementation Agreement, 1994 and the Seabed Disputes Chamber’s Advisory Opinion on Responsibilities and Obligations of States with respect to Activities in the Area, 2011. The report has been prepared against the backdrop of the agreement on cooperation concluded between ISA and IMO in 2016.

From Paris To Projects: Clarifying The Implications Of Canada’S Climate Change Mitigation Commitments For The Planning And Assessment Of Projects And Strategic Undertakings (Full Report), Robert B. Gibson, Karine Peloffy, Daniel Horen Greenford, Meinhard Doelle, H Damon Matthews, Christian Holz, Kiri Staples, Bradley Wiseman, Frédérique Grenier

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Canada has signed the Paris Agreement and made other international commitments to doing our fair share of what is needed to keep overall global warming to the Paris Agreement limit of well below 2ºC, and to aim for 1.5ºC, to avoid devastating climate change. However, we have not yet progressed far in translating these commitments into implications for decision making on proposed undertakings with significant implications for meeting those commitments.

Clarifying those implications and determining how best to incorporate them in deliberations and decision making is overdue and now imperative. The federal government’s new Impact Assessment Act, which is now …

Race, Slavery And Justice: A Justice System Case Study, Camille Cameron

Reports & Public Policy Documents

We do not have to look far today in Canada to see the legacies of slavery in their full effect. One of these legacies is the way in which we have chosen to forget slavery, or perhaps to deny it, and to create a different narrative. “Slavery is Canada’s best-kept secret, locked within the national closet,” asserts Afua Cooper. Ask many Canadians about the history of slavery in Canada and they will talk about the Underground Railroad. This is what many of us learned in school, that slavery existed in America, not in Canada, and that Canada’s heroic, romantic role …

From Paris To Projects Clarifying The Implications Of Canada’S Climate Change Mitigation Commitments For The Planning And Assessment Of Projects And Strategic Undertakings (Summary Report), Robert B. Gibson, Karine Peloffy, Daniel Horen Greenford, Meinhard Doelle, H Damon Matthews, Christian Holz, Kiri Staples, Bradley Wiseman, Frédérique Grenier

Reports & Public Policy Documents

By signing the Paris Agreement, Canada made a commitment to do our fair share to limit global average temperature rise to “well below 2°C” relative to pre-industrial levels, and to pursue “efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.” The federal Impact Assessment Act that is now before Parliament requires consideration of whether assessed undertakings would “hinder or contribute to” meeting Canada’s climate change commitments.

So far, however, Canada has done little to define what the Paris Agreement entails for planning, assessment and decision making on projects and other undertakings with significant implications for meeting the Paris commitments. That leaves a …