LawNow articles from October 1999

LawNow archives from October 1999

Public policy/private tragedy.
October 1, 1999... The Supreme Court of Canada recently reviewed the tragic case of a six-year old boy who suffered catastrophic injuries prior to birth when his mother was involved in a car accident. Delivered by emergency caesarean section, he suffers...

Prison for road rage.
October 1, 1999... A Victoria man suffering from Huntington's Disease, an incurable and terminal illness, was sentenced to fifteen months in jail for attacking another driver's dog with a golf club. The first driver had stopped to allow a family of ducks to...

Be careful with e-mail.
October 1, 1999... A Calgary treasury analyst for a Credit Union sent an email her employers thought was inappropriate. She was disciplined by being placed on probation, and her trading authority was suspended. She refused to sign the memorandum of discipline,...

Gambling addiction leads to prison.
October 1, 1999... An Alberta woman was convicted of stealing over $100,000 from her employer because of a gambling addiction. She was given a conditional sentence of eighteen months to be served in the community. The sentencing judge acknowledged that time in...

Ships bring controversy with migrants.
October 1, 1999... The summer months have brought four unseaworthy ships of hopeful migrants to the shores of Vancouver Island, and with them, has raised an often vitriolic controversy about how to deal with the four hundred plus people from China. Voices...

Yukon projects awarded nearly $115,000 under the National Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention.
October 1, 1999... In mid-September, Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and Lawrence MacAuley, Solicitor General of Canada, announced that the Government of Canada has awarded close to $1 ! 5,000 to fund six crime prevention...

Students work for public interest.
October 1, 1999... Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) is a new program designed to provide underrepresented and disadvantaged community organizations with pro bono (free for the public good) legal services. Co-ordinated from the University of Alberta Faculty of...

Land of 3 nations.
October 1, 1999... The Canadian federal system is the foundation of all political life in Canada. Many Canadians hold a traditional view of the federal system in terms of a division of powers between the federal level and the provincial level of government and...

Red sash speaks: Metis rights.
October 1, 1999... It was the first day of school and the grade 11 students sat excitedly in their seats waiting for their new teacher. Mr. Dumont entered the room and a hush fell instantly over the class. The teacher was dressed like a typical teacher,...

Paper tiger for aboriginal women's rights.
October 1, 1999... The question of whether a government should attempt to make amends for past wrongs is something of a philosophical question. In the case of aboriginal women who lost status because of enfranchisement legislation, the Government of Canada took...

Best interests of the First Nations child.
October 1, 1999... The Alberta Child Welfare Act (as in other provincial child welfare legislation) mandates that the court exercises authority and makes decisions in the best interests of the child when considering protection and adoption issues. Under the...

Sentencing aboriginal offenders.
October 1, 1999... R. v. Gladue (1999) hit the front page of the Globe and Mail as the seminal case on sentencing Aboriginal offenders. Indeed that was the initial response of those working within the criminal justice system. The question now is whether Gladue...

Storytelling: law and a human tradition.
October 1, 1999... We don't know when human speech began, but we can safely assume that storytelling was not far behind... stories of hunting exploits and new discoveries from fire, plants, and clay were undoubtedly told around the early campfires. Centuries...

Internet security: perceptions and solutions.
October 1, 1999... Introduction * one of your favourite family-owned Canadian bookstores will fly books to you across the country * E-bay is auctioning a beautiful homemade quilt that you can bid on in the blink of a credit card Are you ready? ...

Practical steps to protect your privacy in the Internet age.
October 1, 1999... Our email messages are passed from computer to computer in plain sight (like a postcard), and are stored as plain ordinary text in a file somewhere on your, your employer's, or your service provider's computer. Thus, it is a mundane task for...

Privacy in the private sector.
October 1, 1999... New Legislation on Personal Information and Electronic Documents Part of Canada's E-Commerce Strategy On October 1, 1998, the federal Minister of Industry introduced Bill C54, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents...

It's in the electronic mail!
October 1, 1999... Stealing Time Introduction The nifty invention called electronic mail is what Marshall McLuhan must have had in mind when he wrote this. Those of us who have email wonder what we would do without it. We can compose or copy text and...

Getting paid.
October 1, 1999... Getting paid for the goods or services you provide is one of the keys to running a successful business. Yet business owners -- through no fault of their own -- often find themselves in the unhappy position of having to go to court to obtain...

Statutes and regulations on the Internet.
October 1, 1999... Happily, more provincial and territorial governments are following the lead of the federal government and using the Internet as a means of providing access to their statutes and regulations. Below is a review of seven jurisdictions and the...

"I didn't understand a word you said".
October 1, 1999... Children, particularly young children, don't always say what they mean or mean what they say. When a child's experiences are at the centre of criminal or civil legal proceedings, it takes considerable skill and experience to sort out the true...

Angel of darkness.
October 1, 1999... Clarence Darrow was America's greatest lawyer. Once upon a time I thought so. No doubt Darrow remains the land of liberty's most famous legal defender. It's remarkable to consider just how many sensational trials he participated in from the...

Lord's prayer in classrooms and freedom of religion.
October 1, 1999... In Saskatoon elementary schools, students of non-Christian faith felt awkward and uncomfortable when elementary school classes and assemblies opened with the recital of the Lord's prayer. Such students were often chided by teachers or other...

Aboriginal justice initiatives in Alberta.
October 1, 1999... Bridging the Cultural Divide (1996), the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples stated the following: "The Canadian criminal justice system has failed the Aboriginal peoples of Canada -- First Nations, Inuit and Metis...

Do you know what your employees are doing?
October 1, 1999... The past several years has seen a spate of news stories involving claims of sexual abuse of children and clients by those charged with their care. The media have provided a steady stream of stories detailing this unpleasant topic. Soon after...