Law Commons^™

Hearing Voices: Judicial Consideration Of Ontario’S Social Assistance Legislation, Teri Muszak

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Legal decision-makers use language that can convey unwarranted assumptions about poverty and the poor. These assumptions can be challenged by analyzing the words that judges and adjudicators use when writing about, talking about, and applying social assistance legislation. In many instances, these assumptions do not align with the lived-experience of persons who receive government income support. This thesis aims to uncover the assumptions made in appellate-level decisions through the method of discourse analysis. It uses discourse theory to suggest that the ways imprecise words are given meaning in a legal field can have a profound influence on how the law …

Policing Cyber Bullying: How Parents, Educators, And Law Enforcement Respond To Digital Harassment, Ryan Broll

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Some prior research has emphasised how adults ought to address cyber bullying, yet little is known about how they actually prevent and respond to digital harassment. This study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the formal and informal “policing” of cyber bullying by a network of security actors: parents, teachers and school administrators, and the public police. Data were collected through a mixed methods research design consisting of semi-structured qualitative interviews with eight parents, 14 teachers, and 12 members of law enforcement (n = 34) and quantitative surveys completed by 52 parents.

Drawing upon nodal governance theory as …

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 …

Shifting Grounds: Judicial Review Under Nafta Chapter 11 And The Ratification Of Icsid, Nolan Downer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

NAFTA is much more than a free trade agreement. Under Chapter 11 of the treaty, a multi-lateral investment agreement was introduced which was unprecedented in scope. For the first time, private investors from any NAFTA country were provided with an independent right of action directly against a host government. The objective underlying Chapter 11 was to facilitate foreign investment among NAFTA countries by providing assurances to investors that their investments would be protected against undue regulatory interference. As such, a central consideration as to the effectiveness of Chapter 11 is the speed, impartiality, and efficiency with which investment disputes are …