Dalhousie University
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Interest-holder priorities for health surveillance of people incarcerated in Canada: A qualitative study
No full textObjectives: As a core function of public health, health surveillance for people who are incarcerated could address gaps in knowledge regarding their health status. The views of people who could use these data and who are included in health surveillance data should inform health surveillance. In this study, we aimed to identify the priorities of interest-holders for health surveillance of people incarcerated in Canadian correctional facilities.
Study design: We conducted an overall qualitative descriptive study with an embedded reflexive thematic analysis and a qualitative content analysis.
Methods: We conducted virtual or phone-based focus groups and interviews with people across Canada, including people with lived experience of incarceration, community-based advocates and researchers, and current correctional health care staff and leadership.
Results: Overall, 61 participants took part. We describe two types of interest-holder priorities: health conditions and issues, which we identified using content analysis, and health care characteristics and components, which we constructed through thematic analysis. The top priorities for health conditions and issues to track and monitor were mental health issues, substance use disorders and harm reduction, chronic diseases, and nutrition, diet, and healthy food. The health care themes that were priorities for health surveillance were access, wait times, health care equivalence, preventive care, and medication administration.
Conclusions: This study begins to fill the gap in population level health data for people who are incarcerated. Findings should have relevance for correctional authorities both within Canada and in other jurisdictions
Seeing is Believing: Identifying the “Ideal Manifestation of Hidden Disability” in Ontario’s and Quebec’s Social Benefits Tribunals
No full textThe phenomenon of disability skepticism, especially in relation to “hidden” disabilities like chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), has fostered a culture of doubt among medical, legal, and public entities. This paper explores the intersection of such skepticism with the social benefits adjudication processes in Ontario and Quebec. In drawing parallels to feminist critiques of the “ideal victim” in sexual assault cases, it argues that the tribunals’ biased framework for believability is based on a claimant’s conformity to stereotypical expectations of what an “ideal” claimant with a hidden disability looks like. By comparatively examining 10 years worth of Ontario and Quebec tribunal decisions featuring claimants with CFS, this study highlights how those with hidden disabilities are evaluated based on visible manifestations of their disability/emotion, medical/expert evidence, and the apparent credibility of themselves or others as witnesses. This research not only addresses a significant gap in the literature but also calls for reforms in the legal treatment of hidden disabilities, advocating for a shift away from entrenched stereotypes towards a more inclusive and equitable system.
Le phénomène du scepticisme envers les personnes handicapées, en particulier en ce qui concerne les handicaps « cachés » comme le syndrome de fatigue chronique (SFC), a favorisé une culture du doute dans les milieux médicaux, juridiques et publics. Le présent article explore l’intersection entre ce scepticisme et les processus d’évaluation des prestations sociales en Ontario et au Québec. En établissant un parallèle avec les critiques féministes de la « victime idéale » dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle, il soutient que le cadre biaisé des tribunaux en matière de crédibilité repose sur la conformité du demandeur aux attentes stéréotypées concernant l’apparence d’un demandeur « idéal » ayant un handicap caché. Par un examen comparatif des décisions rendues par les tribunaux de l’Ontario et du Québec au cours des dix dernières années concernant des demandeurs atteints du SFC, cette étude met en évidence la manière dont les personnes atteintes d’un handicap caché sont évaluées en fonction des manifestations visibles de leur handicap/de leurs émotions, de témoignages de médecins/d’experts et de la crédibilité apparente d’elles-mêmes ou d’autres personnes à titre de témoins. Cette recherche ne souligne pas seulement une lacune importante dans la littérature, mais appelle également à une réforme du traitement juridique des handicaps cachés, en préconisant l’abandon des stéréotypes bien ancrés au profit d’un système plus inclusif et plus équitabl
Legal Ethics for Government Lawyers: Lessons from Nunavut
Full text linkWhile government lawyers face legal ethics issues unique to that practice context, those issues are overlooked in the rules of professional conduct in all but one Canadian jurisdiction: Nunavut. In this comment, I canvass several provisions that are unique to the Code of Professional Conduct of the Law Society of Nunavut. These provisions are inexplicably overlooked in the Canadian legal ethics literature to date. I then assess how these provisions address the legal ethics issues unique to government lawyering. Finally, I argue that the Nunavut provisions should be considered a starting point and I consider additional changes that could be made to further recognize the realities of government lawyering
Teachers and the Law: Diverse Roles and New Challenges, 5th Edition
No full textAn invaluable resource for teachers and other education professionals, Teachers and the Law provides the legal knowledge necessary to fulfill multiple roles and to succeed in the modern Canadian classroom. Teachers will be equipped to address a wide range of issues, including technology and social media, harassment, bullying, censorship, Indigenous education, privacy, equality, and more.
This edition reflects updated legislation relating to the ever-evolving rights of teachers, students, and parents, as well as emphasizing the impact that courts and human rights tribunals have in shaping educational policies and practices. It also features updated coverage of both societal and national challenges facing today’s teachers, including the use of technology in classrooms, increases in school violence, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Legal Framework
Chapter 2: Teachers as Parents
Chapter 3: Teachers as Educational State Agents
Chapter 4: Teachers as Guardians of Equality
Chapter 5: Teachers as Agents of the Police
Chapter 6: Teachers as Social Welfare Agents
Chapter 7: Teachers as Employees
Chapter 8: The Role of Technology in the Classroom and Beyond
Chapter 9: The Modern Teacher: Adapting to Evolving Realities
Appendix 9A: A Framework for Ethical Decision Makinghttps://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/faculty_books/1122/thumbnail.jp
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
No full textThis Commentary presents an in-depth exploration of what is widely regarded as the most important International Maritime Organization (IMO) convention on vessel source pollution. Leading international experts provide an authoritative analysis of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973/78 and its subsidiary instruments, collectively known as MARPOL. Key Features: Examines the MARPOL system in detail including its annexes and regulations Investigates the history, purposes, rationale and regulatory approach of MARPOL Identifies legal and regulatory issues as well as the challenges of implementation and enforcement Emphasizes the vital role that MARPOL has played in the protection of the marine environment from all forms of shipping
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships is invaluable to practitioners and professionals in ministries and departments of transport, national maritime administrations, intergovernmental organizations, shipping industries and international NGOs. It is also an essential resource for students and academics in international environmental law, law of the sea and international maritime law.https://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/faculty_books/1120/thumbnail.jp
Beyond a Boundary of Systemic Anti-Black Racism in the Workplace in Canada
Full text linkIn this lecture, I will, however, focus on one of the legacies of slavery, that is, the largely untold story of racial segregation in the world of work in Canada. We have come so effectively, and rightly, to focus on the effects of discrimination, that we may have inadvertently walked past the history. Reclaiming this history will comprise the first part of my talk.
The second part of my talk will reference the emergence of the duty of fair representation. I will seek to illustrate the weight of the erasure of anti-Black racism through this duty. In other words, far from representing a peculiarity of US law that failed to travel well,8 Steele v Louisville & Nashville Railway Co’s9 foundation in racial discrimination needs to be acknowledged and engaged for an inherent tension to be addressed.
So third and finally, I will posit the paradox of unresolved “choice” at the heart of the majoritarian frame of the Wagner Act, not to try somehow to resolve it, but by refusing to allow us to all too quickly individualize it, and instead to steer us closer to a related, necessary justification for a proactive commitment that we have already, if incompletely, made— the commitment to embracing the societal transformation entailed by achieving and sustaining substantive equality through employment equit
Police Sexual Violence as Psychological Detention: Making Full Use of \u3ci\u3eCharter\u3c/i\u3e Rights
Full text linkThis paper argues that individual responsibility has been overemphasized in cases of sexual violence by police. The fact that police officers are part of a state system calls for an examination of the role of the state in contributing to the risks of sexual violence by police. The paper thus contends that Canadian law requires methods to address state blame in such cases. It analyses psychological detention under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a means to draw a connection between police powers, sexual violence, and state blame. The suggested section 9 interpretation builds on recent decisions like R v Le and R v Lafrance, which have expanded considerations of identity and social contexts. However, this paper points out that decisions in detention cases have mostly emphasized race and socio-economic factors and have set gender aside. To adapt section 9 to cases of police sexual violence, this paper recommends further incorporating three elements into the detention analysis: (1) gender, (2) intersectionality, and (3) the frequent and gendered nature of sexual violence in Canadian society. These three factors stem from academic commentaries and decisions ruling on police sexual violence, which identified commonalities in victims’ identities and experiences.
Cet article affirme que la responsabilité individuelle a été exagérément mise en avant dans les cas de violences sexuelles commises par ldes membres des services policiers. Puisque les policier.ère.s font partie du système étatique, il est impératif de s’attarder au rôle joué par l’État dans la création de risques de violence sexuelle par la police. L’article soutient donc que le droit canadien doit faire appel à de nouvelles méthodes pour traiter la question de la responsabilité de l’État dans de tels cas. Il analyse la détention psychologique en vertu de l’article 9 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertésafin d’établir un lien entre les pouvoirs de la police, la violence sexuelle et la responsabilité de l’État. L’interprétation proposée de l’article 9 s’appuie sur des décisions récentes telles que R. c. Le et R. c. Lafrance, qui ont élargi la prise en compte de l’identité et des contextes sociaux. Cependant, ce texte souligne que les décisions rendues dans les affaires de détention ont surtout mis l’accent sur la race et les facteurs socio-économiques et ont laissé de côté le genre. Pour adapter l’article 9 aux cas de violence sexuelle policière, le présent document recommande d’intégrer davantage trois éléments dans l’analyse de la détention : (1) le genre, (2) l’intersectionnalité et (3) la nature fréquente et genrée de la violence sexuelle dans la société canadienne. Ces trois facteurs proviennent de l’analyse de commentaires académiques et des décisions rendues en matière de violence sexuelle policière, qui ont identifié des points communs dans les identités et les expériences des victimes
“17 Going on 23”: Sentencing Young People to Life in Canada
Full text linkCanada is one of 67 countries worldwide that allows young people—those under the age of 18—to be sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the presumption of diminished moral blameworthiness of young people as a constitutional principle of fundamental justice and invalidated a law that presumed youth should be sentenced as adults for some serious crimes, including murder. The burden is, therefore, always on the Crown to rebut the presumption and prove that a youth sentence would not be long enough to hold the young person accountable for their behaviour. Where the presumption can be rebutted, for most crimes the judge has discretion to tailor an adult sentence to the facts of the offence and the person before them. However, for murder, a life sentence (with the possibility of parole) is the mandatory adult sentence. This paper analyzes reported Canadian cases from 2008–2022 in which young people were sentenced for murder and finds that life sentences are often imposed. The Crown regularly seeks them and the court orders them in more than two-thirds of the reported cases in which they are sought. Through a careful reading of the cases, the paper examines why and how life sentences are imposed so often and concludes with some thoughts on the normalization of this extreme punishment for youth and the need to revisit its constitutionality.
Le Canada est l’un des 67 pays qui permettent que des jeunes âgés de moins de 18 ans soient condamnés à la prison à vie. En 2008, la Cour suprême du Canada a reconnu la présomption de culpabilité morale diminuée des jeunes comme un principe constitutionnel de justice fondamentale et a invalidé une loi qui présumait que les jeunes devaient être condamnés comme des adultes pour certains crimes graves, dont le meurtre. Il incombe donc toujours à la Couronne de réfuter la présomption et de prouver qu’une peine pour mineur ne serait pas d’une durée suffisante pour le tenir responsable de son comportement délinquant. Lorsque la présomption peut être réfutée, pour la plupart des crimes, le juge a le pouvoir discrétionnaire d’adapter la peine pour adulte aux faits de l’infraction et à la personne qui comparaît devant lui. Toutefois, pour le meurtre, la peine obligatoire pour un adulte est la réclusion à perpétuité (avec possibilité de libération conditionnelle). Cet article analyse les jugements rendus au Canada entre 2008 et 2022 dans lesquels des jeunes ont été condamnés pour meurtre et constate que la peine d’emprisonnement à perpétuité est souvent imposée. La Couronne la réclame régulièrement et le tribunal l’inflige dans plus des deux tiers des cas signalés où elle est demandée. Après une lecture attentive de ces jugements, nous examinons dans cet article le pourquoi et le comment de cette fréquence et nous concluons par quelques réflexions sur la normalisation de cette peine extrême pour des jeunes et sur la nécessité d’en réexaminer la constitutionnalité
Legal Ethics for Crown Attorneys on Appeal
Full text linkWhile there is extensive legal literature and case law addressing the role and ethical responsibilities of Crown attorneys, questions about that role and those responsibilities at the appellate stage are largely absent from the literature and somewhat scattered across the case law. In this article, the authors seek to address this gap by answering four key questions. The first is whether the ethical obligations of the Crown, as expressed in R. v. Boucher, apply at the appellate stage. Against the backdrop of this first question, the authors discuss when an appellate Crown may bring an appeal from an acquittal or from a sentence, when an appellate Crown may make concessions or abandon an appeal, and when an appellate Crown may take a different position than the Crown attorney at trial or upon sentence. The answers to these questions are important, though not especially surprising. The authors argue that both Boucher and prosecutorial discretion require appellate Crowns to resolutely — but fairly — seek justice on appeal, as at trial, even when this means taking a different position than the trial Crown or conceding an error by the trial Crown or the trial judge
Learning Canadian Criminal Procedure
No full textThis fifteenth edition has been updated and reorganized. We have removed out-of-date material and have added new cases, including these recent major rulings from the Supreme Court: Bykovets – reasonable expectation of privacy in IP addresses Stairs – search incident to arrest in the home Tessier – cautions re voluntariness of a confession Lafrance – additional consultations with counsel Beaver – “fresh starts” after a Charter violation McColman – seriousness of the offence in exclusion of evidence decisions Kruk – ungrounded common sense assumptions and myths and stereotypes Tayo Tompouba – grounds for appeal
A major feature of this edition has been to reorganize the materials, especially those dealing with searches, detentions, arrests, and interrogation, to more closely resemble the structure of a Charter analysis of the relevant rights. Chapter 2, dealing with search and seizure, begins by analysing reasonable expectation of privacy, which establishes whether there was a search at all, and then moves on to consider whether the search was reasonable, looking at the various sources of authorization. In doing this it follows the approach to a s. 8 Charter analysis. Chapter 3 follows a similar structure, looking first at whether there was a detention at all and then whether it was arbitrary, as s. 9 of the Charter requires. Other chapters have been revised to remove older material which no longer provides helpful guidance about the law or to students. Similarly, in many instances cases have been edited further, to give greater focus on the key issues.https://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/faculty_books/1125/thumbnail.jp