By all accounts, privacy is dead, the question is do people care? Personally, I do; but I cannot deny that if you go online then you must accept that you are leaving a trail, but that does not mean that we have to exchange our love of the interwebs and mobile computing in exchange for our privacy.

I observed this comment by a friend of mine and I feel it needs to be spread more widely: "The surveillance state did not invade the Internet; the surveillance state is the Internet".

Sadly, I am coming to believe that the above statement is true; it also gives me apprehension as to where the notion of privacy and the internet may be going.

If the centre of the curve is the mean or average, each section away from the centre is a standard deviation, so 68.2% of all results will be within one standard deviation (in either direction) of the average and 95.4% of the results will be within two standard deviations from the mean. Calculating square roots of numbers comes in here and I'm going to skip that part. I am an amateur at this and in doing research on this I discovered a post by an expert which goes into greater detail with greater understanding than I, and as I tell law students, "don't recreate the wheel, if the experts have done something, see what they had to say", so if you want to read more about this I recommend going to Jeffrey Rosenthal's "Margins of Error in Opinion Polls". For the purposes of polling just remember that the standard deviation is the measure of the distance or range between possible answers and the margin of error (plus or minus X% points 19 times out of 20) is calculated using the standard deviation represented using the curve. Polls seek to reach a 95% confidence level which is two standard deviations away (in either direction) from the mean or centre of the curve. Polls are not actually designed to predict an outcome, the 19 out of 20 simply means that 19 times the results will fall within two standard deviations of the mean. The number of people contacted in a poll affects the margin of error, or the distance between standard deviations or the shape of the curve. Most polls usually do not go beyond 1000, and many contact fewer than that, so that there is a danger that if the group of people contacted is not diverse then the poll results will be skewed.

Getting back to the tribulations of the pollsters in recent years, one wonders why this is occurring, there are a host of possible reasons, but one I wonder about is the possibity that pollsters are only contacting people who retain their land lines for phones, as more and more people abandon their land lines in favour of their mobile is it possible that those who retain land lines fall into a specific segment of society whose similarities are such that they would skew the results of a poll?

As anyone who has a law degree, or is pursuing one, can tell you it requires a lot of reading; we have a precedent based system which means that you have to be familiar with the precedent before you can act on the current situation, or in the law school context you need to read all of those decisions with the precedents your prof wants to you know. Regardless, which form of learning is being followed, practice based, theoretical based, etc., the reading still has to be done, and in my experience it is not happening with a significant portion of students. I will admit off the top that my evidence is anecdotal and observational; however, I have recently taken classes in other faculties and I've seen first hand from, the student perspective, what it does to a class and I can also attest that this is not unique to law students but we are talking about law in this forum and it holds to law students as well.

Readings are assigned as preparatory work so a student will show up to class somewhat familiar with a topic and able to engage in discourse on the topic by forming an informed opinion; unfortunately this is not occurring; readings, if they get done at all, are being done in cram sessions after the fact or in annotated notes endeavours at the end of term and this is not the purpose of assigned readings. The purpose is that they be read prior to the topic being covered in class so that some knowledge is brought to the discussion not just opinion (there is a significant difference between an informed opinion and merely "an opinion"). Education is a two-way street, you should not just show up and expect to have knowledge imparted to you with no work on your part, there is an obligation upon the student to prepare properly for the class because the class has been prepared with the expectation that the students will have done this. When a majority of students in a class show up not having done the preparatory work it leads to some of the breakdowns that are being discussed in various forums on curriculum reform but I haven't seen many of these discuss the lack of preparatory work being done on the students part. I fear that regardless of the outcome of these efforts at curriculum reform this fundamental breakdown will continue and the complaints about law school education will continue as they have unabated for over 100 years. It is a significant point and I would like to see it addressed.

[2] At the time of the assault on June 23, 2012, X.X. was 13 years old and X.Y. was 10 years old. They were both members of the …. Steel hockey team. The Accused was the coach of the …Hornets hockey team of which his son was a member. Both teams play in what is called a “Pee Wee” hockey league consisting of children aged 9 to 13 years. The incident occurred at the end of the final game of the spring hockey season – the Gold Medal championship game – won by the …. Hornets by a score of 5 – 4.

[4] The Accused was yelling at X.X. whenever he was on the ice, for the entire game, right from the start. According to a parent of a player on his XXX Hornets team, the Accused was deliberately taunting X.X., calling him names like “twinkle-toes”, ridiculing him when he didn’t score and telling him that he was a poor skater. When that parent tried to tell the Accused that those actions were not needed, the Accused replied that he was just trying to throw X.X. off of his game.

5] Parents of players from the XX team noted that X.X. broke down in tears on the bench as a result of the Accused’s taunting. The … coach held X.X. back from playing while he was crying, with the result that he was not on the ice as much as he would have been otherwise. The parent said it was upsetting to see X.X. crying on the bench.

[6] At one point in the game, X.X. scored and celebrated as he skated by the (opposing) bench. The Accused yelled at X.X.. and X.X. made an obscene gesture by giving the Accused “the finger”.

[8] X.X. got up and swung his stick at the Accused hitting him on the arm. A … coach approached the Accused but was held back by one of the other coaches. People in the stands then started yelling and throwing water bottles onto the ice and the Accused gave “the finger” to them.

[10] The incident was captured on video by various parents and was posted on Youtube where it has had over 2 million “hits”. One video of the incident was copied by Crown, played in Court and filed as an exhibit in the sentencing.

[13] Defence Counsel has submitted that the Accused had no intention of tripping X.X. and X.Y. or anyone when he entered the handshake line-up but that he just “lost it” (emphasis added) when he got closer to X.X.

How does an adult "lose it" when dealing with children playing a game?!?!? As someone who has been on the ice officiating untold hours of minor hockey games over the past 15 years I find this sad, but I can affirm that some of the behaviour mentioned above is not outside the parameters of what can happen at a minor hockey game . Hockey Canada have made efforts recently to try and curtail this type of activity which have had a positive impact, but too many adults still enter a hockey arena and believe that it gives them license to act like a buffoon while watching their child play hockey. I've often observed that I don't believe these people (whom are decent people outside of an arena) realize how they act while watching children play a game, sadly this case exemplifies that. Furthermore, I fear that this case will be cited as a singular incident where one person went "too far" and that the caes will not be observed as a moment for self-reflection for adults involved in minor hockey.

I am not a supporter of feeding at the pork barrel but I am unwilling to throw the baby out with the bath water. The Canadian Senate was designed to serve a useful pupose in our legislative system that of "sober second thought" (bonus points for naming the originator of that ironic quote without looking it up); an essentially non-partisan body composed of experienced legislators and public minded folk who have the ability to take a (more or less) neutral view of legislation and propose refinements that would help make the proposed legislation function more smoothly (coulda used some o'that with the ol' internet surveillance bill to name but one recent example) and that has regrettably changed. Do our legislators in the lower house exhibit a need for an experienced second opinion? I think that would be hard to deny, so we have the institution to that and yet popular rhetoric is aimed at getting rid of that institution. Have individual Senators and the political parties treatment of the Senate brought this about? That is undeniable but perhaps instead of calling on those parties to get rid of the institution perhaps we should be calling upon them to clean up their act in their treatment of the institution.

My concern is that the blather that is produced fails to acknowledge the purpose of the institution, I won't go into any more detail on that when I can link to an effective short story link to an article which does the job for me. The key thing from that article that I want to recite is that the Senate is "intended to provide checks and balances to Canada's parliamentary system."

In summary, I will quote Sir John A. Macdonald:"It must be an independent House, having a free action of its own, for it is only valuable as being a regulating body, calmly considering the legislation initiated by the popular branch, and preventing any hasty or ill considered legislation which may come from that body, but it will never set itself in opposition against the deliberate and understood wishes of the people."”

More Senate quotes

In case you missed it, it was announced this week that Atari has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (thus the "law" part of this post) possibly marking the end of a company that arguably launched the multi-billion dollar gaming industry and causing those of us of a certain generation to remember when 128 bytes or RAM was the most up-to-date video gaming hardware available. It was the first computer I used and set me on the path to being surrounded by several platforms and devices as I write this, as I wrote above I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom this is true, I'm sure that the younger version of myself could not have imagined that 20+ years later I could play those games on my phone.

It would seem that I'm not the only one who feels this way as the Atari has been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame and has a museum dedicated to it. If all this talk has made you reminiscent for one of those games take a few minutes and see if you can get that Frog across road.

What makes Oak Island of interest in a law blog is that, as the title suggests, there is an act for that, which several people I talked to at the time seemed unaware of. The Oak Island Treasure Act, SNS 2010, c 39 passed in 2010 succeeded the Treasure Trove Act which was repealed at the time. The Treasure Trove Act, RSNS 1989, c 477 was originally passed in 1954 RSNS, c 299 to regulate treasure hunting on Oak Island and was then soon expanded to regulate treasure hunting on and off-shore of Nova Scotia. It is debatable whether the province was concerned with safety or with making sure the prescribed royalty be enshrined in law should treasure be discovered. Despite the change in attitudes regarding treasure hunting in NS the 2010 act still retains the clause, at s 9: "Upon payment of a royalty at the rate prescribed by a licence, the Minister may confirm to the holder of the licence the right to retain for the licence holder's own use and benefit any treasure discovered and recovered by the holder of the licence within the area covered by the licence".

In 2010 the government determined that they would repeal the Treasure Trove act in a bid to protect Nova Scotia's "underwater and cultural heritage resources"; however, it seems that Oak Island required special attention as Long John Silver remains at large:
“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest –
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

What interested me was the actual legal particulars about the story which I was able to track down because Iceland is considerate enough to provide easily accessible English translations to much of the legal content. Firstly, the law in question: The Personal Names Act which establishes that a Personal Names Register and how it shall be applied. The law in question is applied by the Ministry of the Interior, whom, I assume would also be responsible for the following information on naming a baby.

The "How To" guide for naming a baby in Iceland, includes a quick summary of the rules:

Rules for names

Rules for Icelandic personal names provide that names must:

be able to have a genetive ending or have been adopted through custom in the Icelandic language,

must be adaptable to the structure of the Icelandic language and spelling conventions and

does not cause the bearer embarrassment.

Girls should be given a female name and boys should be given male names.

No person can have more than three personal names.

The following is from the department of Registers Iceland (the national registry), which does not contain the actual approved list of names but does provide some statistical information about names in Iceland and the most popular names of the past year (for male: Jón and female: Guðrún).

I want to be clear I am not making any commentary on this issue because, as I said above, there is some context to the story but more significantly I greatly appreciate that Iceland makes all this material easily accessible in English. However, if I had to make a bet, my money would be on the light wind continuing to blow and Blaer will be able to retain her name.

As disturbing as that may sound, the continuing debate over the "omnibus" has creepy characteristics itself.

In fairly recent times the Omnibus has been the subject of a few posts here at Slaw, The Unreasonable and Transgressive Nature of Omnibus Bills (Michael Posluns, June 24, 2011) , & Library of Parliament Paper on Omnibus Bills back in November by Michel-Adrien Sheppard. and myself when the storm of Bill-38 was occurring. Well I'm back with an update. In recent years all of us in Canada have been riding public transportation whether we know it or not; we have been riding the Omni-Bus (Bill).

The current incarnation (Bill C-45) has 516 section plus 2 schedules making it the third longest budget implementation Bill of the past 10 years; however, Bill-C-45 does not stand alone, as the title says, C-45 is: A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures". So adding the 516 sections to the 753 sections from Bill C-38 last June makes the 41:1 budget 1269 sections, which remains only the second longest budget implementation Bill to that of 40:3, which dwarfs everything else from the last 10 years by a factor of at least 3.

from my previous post here is the list:

41st Parl-1st Session: Bill C-45: 516 section = 41:1 Budget Implementation Bills – 1269 sections

41st Parl-1st Session: Bill C-38: 753 sections.

40-3: Bill C-9: 2208 sections

40-2: Bill C-10: 471 sections

39:2: Bill C-50: 164 sections

39-1: Bill C-52: 154 sections

39:1: Bill C-13: 217 sections

38-1: Bill C-43: 143 sections

37-3: Bill C-30: 50 sections

37-2: Bill C-28: 97 sections

The Dodge Omni at one point had a controversy regarding the steering and the ability to control the car; it would seem that the Omnibus Bill has similar limitations.

Ontario details some of the duties and responsibilities of directors and trustees which include:

Duty to be Reasonable, Prudent and Judicious

Directors and trustees must handle the charity's property with the care, skill and diligence that a prudent person would use. They must treat the charity's property the way a careful person would treat their own property. They must always protect the charity's property from undue risk of loss and must ensure that no excessive administrative expenses are incurred.

However, "excessive administrative expenses" is not defined. So in short, what do you consider to be "excessive administrative expenses"?

A rudimentary CanLII search reveals that "Maple Syrup" has appeared in court cases 49 times. discussing some rather significant issues as is evidenced by the fact that maple syrup has played a more or less central role in 2 cases at the Supreme Court of Canada: Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec v. Regroupement pour la commercialisation des produits de l'érable inc., 2006 SCC 50 and Motorways (Ontario) Ltd. v. R., [1974] SCR 635.

Furthermore, maple syrup has appeared in 30 cases before assorted Boards and Tribunals; however, it is in Canada's and the various provincial jurisdictions legislation where the central role of maple syrup is driven home. There are 56 piece of legislation in Canada that, at minimum, mention Maple Syrup, Federal and Quebec legislation being the most prominent but also in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon.

I don't know about you but I suddenly have a hankerin' for some maple baked bean, or perhaps some maple bacon or maple curry pasta or maple……….

That is exactly what Bob Kohn did in submitting his brief as a comic strip and makes a very convincing argument at that.

More explanation

I particularly like how the citations were worked in. Is this perhaps a future trend?

I have for sometime past been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the championship team in the Dominion.

Deriving from Lord Stanley's original words and the trust that was created to oversee the the cup the "Wednesday Nighters" made an application to the Ontario Superior Court in 2005, challenging the NHL's claim to ownership of the Stanley Cup. The origins of the story are explained in a Lawyer's Weekly article from 2005: Does the Stanley Cup belong to the NHL or the Canadian people? The resolution to that application was an out of court settlement of which the details were only partly revealed in 2006, but led to the following article by Richard Blackwell in in the Globe and Mail in February of 2006 Hockey buffs win faceoff with NHL over Stanley Cup which led with the lines:

Hockey teams outside the NHL might get a chance to play for the Stanley Cup — if there's ever another lockout or strike that kills an entire season.

In an out-of-court settlement expected to be finalized today, the National Hockey League acknowledged that the trustees who control the prize can award it to a non-NHL team in a year where the league doesn't operate.

I have only mentioned the broad strokes of the issue as Jeremy De Beer wrote an excellent article in 2008 which covers the topic in depth and I would highly encourage you to read if you find this interesting and you can find with the preceding link at his website.

In light of all this there is a part of me that hopes that the NHL is so brazen as to wipe out another season and we can see the original spirit of the Stanley Cup returned as an amateur team gets presented with the cup in the Spring that has been crowned Champion of the Dominion.

Orientation week is drawing to a close. 2L and 3L classes have begun with 1L to begin on Monday. To all 1Ls, here is my advice. I know that not all who have experienced law school will agree with these and that's fine, I hope that Slawyers will contribute their pieces of advice in the comments. Here are mine:

• Go to Class

I know this seems self-explanatory and I also know that one of the guilty pleasures of being a student is the occasional skipped class, so if you are going to skip classes be very judicious in choosing those few occasions. Your profs don't appreciate the missed classes and if shows when you write an exam if you have missed substantial time. Some believe you can skip class and rely on CANS (see below) that might get you through but you won't excel and you won't really know what you are talking about, and it shows, on exams and when you go out to work.

• Keep up on the Readings

The corollary to the first item; this also seems self-explanatory; however, (and I hope you are already aware of this) there is a lot of reading in Law School, plan for it, allocate substantial amounts of time for it and get on top of it early because it is difficult to catch up once you fall behind. The semester is relatively short and if you fall behind you are going to find yourself three weeks out from exams with a substantial amount of reading undone and trying to prepare for exams ill-equipped (even if you have good CANS) and going into exams with incomplete knowledge. Also, going to class without having done the readings shows. Your profs are pretty clever and whether or not they call you on it, they have a good idea.

• CANS

Ahh CANS or – Condensed Annotated Notes I would never be so bold as to suggest you ignore the grey market for CANS, even though I believe that your best CANS are ones you create yourself. Those legendary CANS that are floating around the law school are likely several years old and there are likely at least one or two cases which have been superseded or overturned. SO what I will suggest is that you take the CANS and update them yourself, use that legendary copy as a template. Furthermore, you stand a better chance at understanding your own work than that of someone else.

• Don't listen to your classmates

I'm not suggesting that your classmates are dumb or malevolent, this simply means don't let talk affect you. As in: "I read xx number of pages" or "Did you study xxxx" or the pre and post exam talk (albeit this one is difficult to avoid), whether it is intended or not this type of talk psyches a lot of people; you can only take care of yourself don't let what others say they are doing, affect you. I'm not saying avoid your classmates, you will make friendships in law school that last a lifetime. And in fact a small group of friends whom you trust and rely on can be extremely helpful. I'm simply saying that there is a wave of hysteria that can pass through a law school and catch many people in the wake. It is the type of talk referred to above that fuels the wave, don't let it affect you.

• (At the Risk of self aggrandizement) Get to know your friendly neighbourhood law librarian

While we can't do whatever a spider can; action is our reward. Or more concisely, stopping short of writing your exams or doing your studying for you, we can make your life a lot easier. We know the databases that are available whether that be case-law, legislation, citation managers, legal literature indexes or full-text, blogs, wikis you name it, that is our stock in trade. Furthermore, and perhaps more significantly we know our way around the law school and the university you are attending- what support is offered, good places to study, tips, talks and what we like to call our ninja tricks AND we remember that the 2Ls and 3Ls were just like you a short time ago. We also know legal citation.

Above all, enjoy yourself! Law School is a lot of work but if you wanted to go to law school you should find most of the work interesting. You may feel that you have entered a different dimension, but the three years goes by in a relatively short time and when it is over you will look back on student life fondly. And to finish with the thoughts of local artist Matt Mays "You gotta move your mind; if you wanna feel welcome; around here".

Given that most law students have an undergraduate degree prior to arriving at law school the list for the students arriving on Tuesday is the Class of 2012 Mindset List.

From the introduction to the list:

The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.

It is a multicultural, politically correct and “green” generation that has hardly noticed the threats to their privacy and has never feared the Russians and the Warsaw Pact.

Some tidbits from that list include:

• Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option
• The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
• Caller ID has always been available on phones
• Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born
• The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens

So this year I have to drop Red Dawn references (btw I just learned that there is a remake of Red Dawn, that is just plain wrong!), I'll spend my weekend getting in to the right mindset, I hope you are entering your weekend with right mindset too!

Legal Research and Writing

As a dual degree student, I currently reside in the alternate universe in between finishing the first year of the Library & Information Studies program and starting the first year of the Law program. Having worked in the law library for a year now, both at the circulation desk and as a reference intern over the summer, I feel like I’ve gotten a fortunate glimpse into the 1L lifestyle before being plunged into the deep end in my first year. One of the great things about law school is that the first and second rules don’t apply like they do in Fight Club: everyone here seems to want to talk about law school. As such, I’ve received a wide range of advice from librarians, upper year students, research students, and professors.

One of the most confusing attitudes I’ve come across was the general disdain for the Legal Research and Writing (LRW) course. Some students weren’t interested, some felt it was a distraction from their “real courses” and some seemed to hate it just on principle. This was confusing to me for the very simple reason that the two main goals of most graduating law students are: (1) finding a job and (2) keeping and doing well at said job. Here’s how I did the math, from my admittedly limited perspective as a 0L:

Finding a Job

One of the biggest determining factors in securing a job upon graduation is your grades, including your first year grades. Exams are most, if not all, of your mark in a lot of courses. Writing is the key component in the vast majority of your exams. Legal Research & Writing teaches you how to write. Conclusion? Do well in LRW.

Keeping a Job / Doing Well

Legal Research and Writing teaches you how to do research and how to communicate this research effectively. It makes life easier for a firm to have a summer or articling student that is already capable of efficient research and coherent legal writing. Making life easier for the firm makes your supervisors happy. Making your supervisors happy is directly related to your success. Conclusion? You guessed it, do well in LRW.

Hearing the complaints about this course gave me a new respect for the Legal Research and Writing instructors who have the courage to teach a course that few students grasp the long-term importance of or even have the courtesy to pretend that they can stand. For all of the LRW instructors out there, how do you convince your students that your course is important?

Law Library of the Future in 1959

Let's compare the concerns of 1959 with 2012: Economy (the new tech costs less), Space saving (we all have better uses for space), Convenience (a.k.a. ease of access, dare I say on your desktop?), No binding costs or problems (a thing of the past), No bookshelves (see space). Does this sound familiar?

I do note that this new technology wasn't cheap. Using the Bank of Canada inflation calculator: The SCRs that cost $118 in 1959 would cost $941.69 in 2012; this represents a 698% change. Similarly the viewer which cost $195 in 1959 would cost $1556.18. I thought technology was supposed to make information cheaper?

So on this Friday, I decided to look around a bit and see what is out there on Friday. Of course here at Slaw we have the patented Friday Fillip which invariably has some interesting tidbits to capture your attention. Elsewhere, Neurotic Physiology has a regular feature: Friday Weird Science which I find highly appropriate for Friday. If one enters "Friday" into Google today's suggestions are: "Friday night lights", "Friday after next", "Friday the 13th". We have Good Friday, Black Friday, Casual Friday/Dress Down Friday, FF or Follow Friday and a restaurant named after Friday, I would venture that all other days that end in "day" do not have the special names or attributes attached to Friday. Living in this part of the country it is also pertinent to mention that in nautical circles it is considered bad luck to begin a voyage on Friday. Another interesting Blog Illustration Friday "is a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation." And to bring this little post full-circle there is indeed a Friday library, I can only begin to imagine the queries they have to deal with on a Friday afternoon.

41st Parl-1st Session: Bill C-38: 753 sections.

40-3: Bill C-9: 2208 sections

40-2: Bill C-10: 471 sections

39:2: Bill C-50: 164 sections

39-1: Bill C-52: 154 sections

39:1: Bill C-13: 217 sections

38-1: Bill C-43: 143 sections

37-3: Bill C-30: 50 sections

37-2: Bill C-28: 97 sections

The pattern I detect from this, admittedly very simple, analysis is that the use of omnibus bills, at least to pass the annual Budget Implementation Act, is growing. The trend of using a hammer where a screwdriver is required with regards to law, is one I find troublesome. Law is usually a more effective tool when used as a precision instrument rather than a tool of blunt force.

…..and for something completely different; an update on a post from over a year ago, Citadel on the city of Halifax suing the Federal Government over the tax value of the land that the Halifax Citadel rests on, has been decided by the SCC in favour of Halifax. Which means that the value of the land that the citadel stands on has been officially assessed at $19 million.

In 1952 the SCC was adapting to recent changes as the court and indeed the nation entered a new phase of maturity as appeals to the Privy Council had been abolished in 1949 by 13 Geo IV c 37, whereby the SCC became the final court of appeal for all civil and criminal matters. In the same 1949 Act the number of justices at the SCC had been increased from seven to nine. Those nine justices in 1952 were:

Chief Justice: Thibaudeau Rinfret
Puisine Justices:
Patrick Kerwin
Robert Taschereau
Ivan Cleveland Rand
Roy Lindsay Kellock
James Wilfred Estey
Charles Holland Locke
John Robert Cartwright
Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux

1952 being a Statute Revision Year the Supreme Court also had a shiny new act, R.S.C. 1952 c 259 which consolidated the changes that had occurred in 1949.

Some notable cases from 1952 include:
Parent v. Lapointe, [1952] 1 SCR 376 (Automobile Negligence cited well over 700 times).

P.E.I. Potato Marketing Board v. Willis, [1952] 2 SCR 392 (Regulation of Interprovincial Trade)

C.P.R. v. A.G. for Saskatchewan, [1952] 2 SCR 231 (Mineral Taxation)

Kissick v. The King, [1952] 1 SCR 343 (Criminal Evidence)

Kissick was one of the last cases to have King in the style of cause at the SCC but not the last which was a tie on February 5, 1952: The King v. Assessors of Sunny Brae (Town), [1952] 2 SCR 76 regarding taxation and Grossman et al. v. The King, [1952] 1 SCR 571 on the duty of the crown to make airports safe. The first case to have Queen in the style of cause was: Malanik v. The Queen, [1952] 2 SCR 335 on May 12, 1952, a criminal appeal.

The beginning of v.1 of the SCR (or Canada Law Reports Supreme Court) 1952 has an "in memoriam" for the late King and a pledge of allegiance to the new Queen:

In Memoriam

Grantland is an online forum that is born digital and has worked backwards, so-to-speak, to the point where it also publishes, in print, a quarterly edition which is intended to highlight some of the more notable pieces at the site over the past quarter. It is this born digital and then published in print significantly later that I find interesting. In this case the print form is being used as a review or perhaps sober-second-thought. I do not think that this is paradigm shift in the nature of publishing but it do find it interesting that it exists. The current quarterly is only the second issue, so I cannot ascertain whether the print venture has been a success or what it means, perhaps it is an exception that proves a rule but the existence of the print edition in this form is something to note.

Speaking of paper, today is a special day at the Schulich School of Law as it is the day we hand out special paper or parchment that takes at least three years to obtain. I just want to use this platform to wish our graduates the best. I know many of them and can attest that they will do well for themselves and represent the school well in their future endeavours. If you happen to be an alumnus or are just interested in convocation and a well done valedictory address you can find a web archive at this linked url.

The shoes, or dominoes, are: UBC which in announcing it will not sign the model deal, described the move as ""taking the bolder, more principled and sustainable option." The University of Calgary, in a nuanced statement has announced it will respond in the affirmative in intent and use the the interval before signing the deal to more closely examine the implications and options that are available. Athabasca University has also stated it will not sign the deal. MacMaster has announced it is signing on.

I'm not going to go into great detail here but a quick summary of the most objectionable points in the model deal include:

• Defining of a link as a "copy" of a work, despite what the Supreme Court of Canada stated in Crookes v Newton, 2011 SCC 47. The definition of a link in that case and previously in Canadian precedents seemed fairly clear to me where a hyperlink was described in para 2 "….as being a portal to additional, related information. Clicking on the hyperlink connects the reader to that information."
• Timing. A loooooooooooooooooooooooooong awaited Bill to amend the Copyright Act in on the precipice of being passed with revised definitions of the educational exemption and fair dealing. Perhaps this might have something to do with the timelines in the model deal?
• Licensing. Most universities already pay substantial amounts to various databases for the use of the material that is covered in the model deal so those that sign on, are signing on to pay for that material twice.
• Research. As in how to do it, the model deal attempts to dictate to scholars how they conduct their research and how they collaborate with their colleagues.

The above list is not exhaustive, I could go on but will refrain; but given that, why would an institution sign on? In short, cost certainty. There is little, that administrators like more than cost certainly and risk aversion, the model deal provides them with that, as in $26 per student, that will no doubt be added on to tuition fees this coming September. There really is not more nuance to add to it. This is simply a case of cost certainty winning over principle…. yet again.

My first CALL/ACBD conference was in 2002 in Victoria. My memories from that conference include being somewhat awed by the conference itself and impressed with my new-found colleagues but what rings more than that was the announcement that was made in the middle of that conference that shifted the face of legal publishing in this country. In the words of CALL/ACBD Honoured Member Denis LeMay from v 27:3 of Canadian Law Libraries (as it was then):

Quicklaw makes an announcement! The moment was grave and solemn when Professor Lawford in person informed us that he was forced to "sell the family farm." This is a crucial move in the history of Canadian legal publishing. Lexis/Nexis was chosen to form a new partnership where both parties are firmly committed to offer the best of their culture, knowledge and technology. Professor Lawford noted common views in the philosophy of both enterprises. Quicklaw's loyalty, generosity and excellence were recognized by a standing ovation – a testimony to the place that they will always have in the hearts of CALL/ACBD members.

My memories from that announcement include a murmur in the room and the feeling that something had happened to a member of the family, a figurative bombshell had been dropped in the room. I was early in my career at that point but I understood the significance of this event but perhaps not all of the implications that went along with it. Given all the change that has occurred in the past ten years it is safe to say that this announcement was a hinge-point in how we think about Canadian Legal Information. In many ways it is difficult to believe that it was ten years ago. 2002 was CALL/ACBD's 40th anniversary, I wonder what might be in store for the next ten years and the forty after that; regardless, it would take a significant event to top the announcement that was made in Victoria in 2002.

• What makes Prince George Canada's "most dangerous" city? Do you ever wonder about the crime statistics you read in the media? Or do you just accept them as indicators that the world is getting more perilous?
• Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled." Why is this the worst statistic ever?

A line I have often heard when discussing statistics with colleagues is (to paraphrase) "statistics are great and all, but you academics are really the only ones who have use for that, we don't need that in my organization." Nothing could be further from the truth, especially with the recent development of CANSIM being made available for free. As my colleague here at Slaw stated

CANSIM is Statistics Canada's key socioeconomic database, receives periodic updates daily to its various tables, and "provides fast and easy access to a large range of the latest statistics available in Canada"

Anyone who does not have the ability to utilize that vast wealth of data, is placing themselves, and their organization, at a competitive disadvantage. The session which will be hosted by the Committee to Promote Research and conducted by Prof. Nicole Doyle, of the School of Justice and Emergency Services at Durham College, is intended to be an introduction to the use of statistics and illustrate how they can be used to your advantage. Or as the summary says,

Does looking at a statistical table make you dizzy? Does the thought of opening Microsoft Excel make you want to turn off your computer? Whether you realize it or not, statistics and research studies are a huge part of our everyday lives and the lives of our libraries….Once we see how easy it is to understand statistics, we'll discuss how they can be used to make you and your library shine!

The line quoted at the beginning of this post, is one of my favourites but it is also one of the most falsely attributed quotes of all time. Many attribute the quote to Mark Twain in his autobiography; however, in his autobiography Twain attributes the quote to Benjamin Disraeli. Twain himself actually wrote,

Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

However, further research has shown that Disraeli is not likely the originator of the line. There are several possible origins of the line all coming in the from the early 1890s, take your pick for the true origin of the line making the quote, a bit of a lie itself.

While we may have been expecting this transition to occur in the future, the question was always when does that future become the present? For now, that time looks like it is 2014, the question being is this the right time to make this transition?

The most recent data from Statistics Canada indicates that roughly 20% of Canadian Households do not have internet access at home, with age and income level being significant determinants in those numbers. With the impending end of the CAP program are we, as a society, comfortable with one-fifth of the population being unable to access government publications without some degree of difficulty?

One of the areas in which the Titanic disaster still resonates is in law. On November 12th, 1913 the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, more commonly known as SOLAS, was signed, which through revisions in 1929, 1948, 1960, 1974 and 1980, exists to this day as the most significant treaty regulating safety in ocean going vessels and thus ensuring that whether they are near or far, hearts will go on for both kings of the world and paupers alike whilst they are at sea.

In the United States An Act to Regulate Radio Communication was passed in 1912 which mandated continuing monitoring of distress frequencies amongst other measures. Another aspect of this act is that it would lead to the creation of the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1913 the family of a steward on the Titantic sued for compensation in Cheverton v. Oceanic Steam Navigation Co(1913) 6 B.W.C.C. 574 which was then cited in 1934 by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in Wolfe v. Canadian National Railways, [1934] 3 W.W.R. 497,

"In this latter case the deceased, a steward on the SS. "Titanic," was drowned when that ship went down. He had been in the habit of contributing about $$18 a year to the support of a crippled sister. His average earnings were $$2 9s. a week. The County Court Judge awarded $300 compensation. The Court of Appeal held that, there being no reason to doubt that the Judge had made the award in the exercise of his judicial discretion, and there being nothing to show that he had misdirected himself, the award must stand."

In 2001 in British Columbia a compass from the Titantic was at issue. To further illustrate the Titanic in our popular conciousness the Titanic was used in a significant Tort case concerning the "but for" test in 2004 at UKHL Chester v. Afshar, [2004] UKHL 41, where in dissent , Lord Bingham stated at para 8 "But for your negligent misdelivery of my luggage, I should not have had to defer my passage to New York and embark on SS Titanic".

So give pause for a moment on Saturday night and think of the 1500+ lives that were lost and the legacy of the disaster which still affects us today.

This bit of news caused me to wonder what other jurisdictions have done regarding tattooing so I did a bit of searching (via CanLII) of all Canadian jurisdictions, which revealed that there are 13 acts across the country that cover tattoos or tattooing. What I found interesting is that of those 13 statutes; 9 dealt with to tattoos for animals or livestock, 3 are in regard to humans and lastly Nova Scotia has had legislation regarding the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo prior to having anything regarding about humans actually getting tattoos. There are 60 regulations across the country that cover tattooing; of that 60; 40 have to do with tattoos on animals or livestock and 20 have to do with tattoos on humans.

Make of all this, what you will. Perhaps, this should not have come as a surprise to me given the importance of livestock in this country and our affinity for pets; but maybe because it is Friday, or possibly because the silly season has hit law schools, this struck me as meriting mention.

I'm keeping many of the same headings from the September post because most of that advice relates to the exam writing advice:

Obviously, you can't do much about this if you haven't gone all semester, but hopefully you did, and took decent notes. If you missed a couple find a classmate who hopefully takes good notes and ply them with baked goods in the hopes that they will share. Use your class notes to help with preparing your own CANS (below).

Again, hopefully you have done this. If not you have about a week to get caught up. If you are very far behind, skimming is a fine art that you have hopefully already nurtured as a skill set through the first 3 months of law school. Remember, first and last sentence of a paragraph. You probably don't have a lot of time to do this right now, but the Science of Word Recognition is quite interesting.

I'm going to try and not revisit what I wrote before, so all I will say is make sure that whatever CANs you use are liberally sprinkled with content that has been generated by you.

The hysteria mentioned previously reaches its zenith right about…….now. Do not succumb to it, which I acknowledge is sometimes harder than it sounds. If you need to avoid the law school whilst studying then find another good study spot. Don't let whatever the talk is, get to you, and don't engage in or even try to listen to the
conversations that take place immediately preceding or post exam.

To quote, "…is the decrease in the marginal (per-unit) output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is increased, while the amounts of all other factors of production stay constant." In exam writing terms this means to get the amount of rest you need in order to be alert and have a properly functioning mind while writing. If you need 8 hours of sleep to feel refreshed, the value you might gain from studying until 3am is offset by the sluggishness brought on by only getting 5 hours of sleep. Or quite simply, at a certain point it no longer pays to keep on studying, get some sleep and focus on what you know, the return you get on studying until 3am is going to be greatly diminished.

The enemy of studying; but to be honest, your mind needs to have short breaks every so often. Around here there is usually a dominant procrastination theme for an exam period, recent ones have included: Mafia Wars, Assassins or placing themed post-it notes on a world map. I'm always interested to see what the exam period will bring.

Good Luck to all who are writing, I'll see you on the other side!

In doing a bit of research it seems that the term "hyperlink" has been around since the early 1960's but I would guess that it did not enter the common lexicon of terms until the early to mid-90's; which is when the hyperlink as we know it started to become prominent. I would be so bold as to assert that the hyperlink has not been topped. The closest development I would say, would be mobile computing; however, mobile computing relies on the hyperlink in order to function and the phrase "mobile computing" is more about the delivery mechanism than the actual functionality. Applications, or Apps, could also be held up to the hyperlink. Apps do not rely on the hyperlink as much as has been the norm in the past; however, apps still require hyperlinks in order to function as well. The App also has not yet displayed the staying power needed to contend for the top of the heap.

So I'm asking Slaw-yers, has the hyperlink been topped?

Previously hyperlink has been legally defined in in the lower court ruling 2008 BCSC 1424 in para 29 where hyperlink was defined as: "A hyperlink is like a footnote or a reference to a website in printed material such as a newsletter. The purpose of a hyperlink is to direct the reader to additional material from a different source. The only difference is the ease with which a hyperlink allows the reader, with a simple click of the mouse, to instantly access the additional material."

The SCC in 2011 SCC 47 at para 2 has defined a hyperlink as: "…a device routinely used in articles on the Internet whereby a word or phrase is identified, often with underlining, as being a portal to additional, related information. Clicking on the hyperlink connects the reader to that information."

In para 6 of Crookes the SCC defined a shallow hyperlink: "…a shallow hyperlink, which takes the reader to a webpage where articles are posted". Additionally, at para 6 a deep hyperlink was described: "deep hyperlink, which takes the reader directly to an article" (this definition from Collins, Law of Defamation and the Internet 3rd ed.)

As Simon mentioned the SCC mentions social networking but does not describe it, at para 38: "The rapid expansion of the Internet coupled with the surging popularity of social networking services like Facebook and Twitter has created a situation where everyone is a potential publisher, including those unfamiliar with defamation law. A reputation can be destroyed in the click of a mouse, an anonymous email or an ill-timed Tweet."

Previously 2007 SCC 34 went to some length on hyperlinks in the context of contracts at para 97:

A Web page may contain many links, each of which leads in turn to a new Web page that may itself contain many more links, and so on. Obviously, it cannot be argued that all these different but interlinked pages constitute a single document, or that the entire Web, as it scrolls down a user’s screen, is just one document. However, it is difficult to accept that the need for a single command by the user would be sufficient for a finding that the provision governing external clauses is applicable. Such an interpretation would be inconsistent with the reality of the Internet environment, where no real distinction is made between scrolling through a document and using a hyperlink. Analogously to paper documents, some Web documents contain several pages that can be accessed only by means of hyperlinks, whereas others can be viewed by scrolling down them on the computer’s screen. There is no reason to favour one configuration over the other. To determine whether clauses on the Internet are external clauses, therefore, it is necessary to consider another rule that, although not expressly mentioned in art. 1435 C.C.Q., is implied by it.

These definitions represent a significant portion to which technological terms associated with Internet have been legally been defined in Canada. So while it is great that Crookes adds to the body of knowledge, the fact that Crookes adds so much to the body of legally defined internet technology terms is somewhat troubling. Even, a search for the term Internet in the CanLII SCC database returns 37 cases, which sounds like a significant portion but the Internet has been our constant companion for well over a decade and in light of that the number seems a bit low. As we march towards new copyright legislation and as more technology related cases reach the SCC, I wonder how quickly this body of definitions will expand?

…no person shall import, send, take or transport, or cause to be imported, sent, taken or transported, into any province from or out of any place within or outside Canada any intoxicating liquor, except such as has been purchased by or on behalf of, and that is consigned to Her Majesty or the executive government….

In short, the wine producers are not allowed to ship their product over provincial borders as only liquor agencies are allowed to ship alcohol between provinces. While, on the whole, prohibition, specifically prohibition in the United States, has been very good for Canada's economy and a source of legend of lore (the shipbuilding contract of the 20's and 30's, so-to-speak) this legislative holdover from Canada's own foray into prohibition is a significant drag on legitimate business in Canada.

On October 3, 2011, a private member's bill was introduced in Parliament. Bill C-311 – An Act to amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (interprovincial importation of wine for personal use) seeks to amend RSC 1985, c I-3, by striking out the word "and" in one paragraph, adding the word "and" to another and inserting the following paragraph into the act

(h) the importation of wine from a province by an individual, if the individual brings the wine or causes it to be brought into another province, in quantities and as permitted by the laws of the latter province, for his or her personal consumption, and not for resale or other commercial use.

The effect of these seemingly minor changes, would be that Canadian Wineries will be able to ship their product across provincial boundaries and that; perhaps, in the not-too-distant future, a movie can be made about Canada's wines becoming a worldwide force. While private member's bills (a topic on its own) often face an uphill climb to being passed, let's hope that this one has smooth sailing so that in the future the sailing vessel does not need a false bottom.

Initially, there was some conjecture as to whether such an event might be considered illegal under the constitution but such conjecture dissipated and in light of the rousing success of this match Fenerbahçe is moving forward with plans to limit a certain section of the stadium, comprising 470 seats, to women only. From the Guardian: "The match was considered such a success – with a less confrontational atmosphere and generous support for the opposition team – that the club has decided to set up the women-only area for a trial spell."

Given the conjecture referred to above I thought it would be interesting to look at the Turkish Constitution which states in the General Principles:

Article 10 Equality before the Law

(1) All individuals are equal without any discrimination before the law, irrespective of language, race, colour, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect, or any such considerations.

(2) Men and women have equal rights. The State shall have the obligation to ensure that this equality exists in practice.

(3) No privilege shall be granted to any individual, family, group or class.

(4) State organs and administrative authorities shall act in compliance with the principle of equality before the law in all their proceedings.

The Turkish Constitution also mentions women's rights in Chapter III – Social and Economic Rights and Duties:

Article 50 Working Conditions and Right to Rest and Leisure

(1) No one shall be required to perform work unsuited to his age, sex, and capacity.

(2) Minors, women and persons with physical or mental disabilities, shall enjoy special protection with regard to working conditions.

(3) All workers have the right to rest and leisure.

(4) Rights and conditions relating to paid weekends and holidays, together with paid annual leave, shall be regulated by law.

.

However; this does not mean that equal rights necessarily flourish in Turkey as a Turkish Journalist has pointed out, "…there is not a single woman in the ranks of the Turkish Football Federation and that, of the 18 Turkish Super League clubs, only two have a woman on their boards". The sections of the constitution mentioned above were inserted in 2004; in 2002 the Turkish Civil Code abolished the supremacy of men in marriage. As Women for Women's Human Rights (a Turkish NGO) eloquently puts it: "Individuals need to internalize and develop a critical understanding of their rights before they can embrace and exercise them "; (follow the preceding links for more information). Nonetheless, a small step was made in Instanbul last week when Fenerbahçe S.K hosted a unique match.

In Switzerland article 80 of the Federal Constitution states:

Art. 80 Protection of animals

1 The Confederation shall legislate on the protection of animals.

2 It shall in particular regulate:

a. the keeping and care of animals;
b. experiments on animals and procedures carried out on living animals;
c. the use of animals;
d. the import of animals and animal products;
e. the trade in animals and the transport of animals;
f. the slaughter of animals.

I've done some cursory searching for an English source for the specific law in question but have yet to discover one, please feel free to add a link in the comments if you find one. All of this does beg the question of whether or not there might be a technological solution for lonely guinea pigs, perhaps a smart phone equipped with social network apps?

While the Swiss are leaders in animal rights, they have, interestingly, turned down the option of allowing animals to have lawyers, substitute your own joke here: ___________________________

• Go to Class

I know this seems self-explanatory and I also know that one of the guilty pleasures of being a student is the occasional skipped class, so if you are going to skip classes be very judicious in choosing those few occasions. Your profs don't appreciate the missed classes and if shows when you write an exam if you have missed substantial time. Some believe you can skip class and rely on CANS (see below) that might get you through but you won't excel and you won't really know what you are talking about, and it shows, on exams and when you go out to work.

• Keep up on the Readings

The corollary to the first item; this also seems self-explanatory; however, (and I hope you are already aware of this) there is a lot of reading in Law School, plan for it, allocate substantial amounts of time for it and get on top of it early because it is difficult to catch up once you fall behind. The semester is relatively short and if you fall behind you are going to find yourself three weeks out from exams with a substantial amount of reading undone and trying to prepare for exams ill-equipped (even if you have good CANS) and going into exams with incomplete knowledge. Also, going to class without having done the readings shows. Your profs are pretty clever and whether or not they call you on it, they have a good idea.

• CANS

Ahh CANS or – Condensed Annotated Notes I would never be so bold as to suggest you ignore the grey market for CANS, even though I believe that your best CANS are ones you create yourself. Those legendary CANS that are floating around the law school are likely several years old and there are likely at least one or two cases which have been superseded or overturned. SO what I will suggest is that you take the CANS and update them yourself, use that legendary copy as a template. Furthermore, you stand a better chance at understanding your own work than that of someone else.

• Don't listen to your classmates

I'm not suggesting that your classmates are dumb or malevolent, this simply means don't let talk affect you. As in: "I read xx number of pages" or "Did you study xxxx" or the pre and post exam talk (albeit this one is difficult to avoid), whether it is intended or not this type of talk psyches a lot of people; you can only take care of yourself don't let what others say they are doing, affect you. I'm not saying avoid your classmates, you will make friendships in law school that last a lifetime. And in fact a small group of friends whom you trust and rely on can be extremely helpful. I'm simply saying that there is a wave of hysteria that can pass through a law school and catch many people in the wake. It is the type of talk referred to above that fuels the wave, don't let it affect you.

• (At the Risk of self aggrandizement) Get to know your friendly neighbourhood law librarian

While we can't do whatever a spider can; action is our reward. Or more concisely, stopping short of writing your exams or doing your studying for you, we can make your life a lot easier. We know the databases that are available whether that be case-law, legislation, citation managers, legal literature indexes or full-text, blogs, wikis you name it, that is our stock in trade. Furthermore, and perhaps more significantly we know our way around the law school and the university you are attending- what support is offered, good places to study, tips, talks and what we like to call our ninja tricks. We also know legal citation.

Above all, enjoy yourself! it is a lot of work but if you wanted to go to law school you should find most of the work interesting. You may feel that you have entered a different dimension, but the three years goes by in a relatively short time and when it is over you will look back on student life fondly. And to finish with the thoughts of local artist Matt Mays "You gotta move your mind; if you wanna feel welcome; around here".

Lesson #1. Don’t screw up the job interview

I was not the first choice for the summer reference internship at the Sir James Dunn Law Library. I kept my beige trench coat on throughout the interview (a pen had exploded on my sweater minutes before the interview was scheduled to start) and nervously made some jokes about a province some of the interviewers were from. These were the first lessons. Wear a blazer. Keep the jokes to a minimum. Be professional in the job interview.

Lesson #2. Sometimes “The Answer” does not exist.

In June slews of undergraduates were taking a business law course and came to the library on a semi-regular basis. They frequently requested my help in searching for case law or legislation that had very specific criteria and I frequently went home feeling frustrated by my inability to find “the answer”. I eventually realized that it is unlikely that “the answer” would be found in a single document. Legal research is a time consuming process and well-crafted legal arguments are usually constructed from a variety of resources. The answer is a myth. Legal research rarely works that way.

Lesson #3. Reference librarians are trained in the art and science of answering questions. Reference librarians are not lawyers. Don’t play one on TV!

The questions that people ask in a law library differ significantly from the questions that get asked at other academic libraries. The questions can be complicated and weighty and often quite depressing. Your heartstrings will be tugged. Show restraint. Provide instruction and show patrons how to use the available resources. Do not get involved. Do not provide legal advice!

Lesson #4. Law libraries attract a weird and wide variety of patrons. Be prepared to help everyone.

I should qualify this by stating that I do receive the normal everyday questions about citations and databases. However, many questions seem to border on the absurd. Fridays are especially rough days at the reference desk. The research students have decided to take the day off, the faculty have made tracks for their summer homes, and the residents of Arkham have come to play.

I’ve met: a gentleman who does not “believe or trust computers”, several individuals who sue people for a living, and a host of conspiracy theorists attempting to prove that the Federal Income Tax Act is illegal. Law librarianship is a service profession. The law library is here to serve students and faculty, but we are also available to help anyone who wants to learn to navigate our resources. I’ve helped students with Quicklaw, assisted professors in their search for obscure newspaper articles, and have tracked down various amendments to the Income Tax Act for several very enthusiastic conspiracy theorists. The final and most important lesson has three parts: treat everyone with respect, teach everyone to use the library, and know when and how to exit a conversation that’s taken a turn for the weird.

Lesson #5. I want to be a legal librarian or an academic librarian. Please give me a job.

The most important thing that I have learned is that I want to work in this field. Before accepting this position, I only had a vague sense of what being a legal reference librarian entailed. I imagined that the reference librarians at the Sir James Dunn Law Library mainly created library guides and sat behind the information desk looking knowledgeable. The reality is very different. Besides working the reference desk the librarians create information guides for library users, they collaborate on policies and procedures, test drive new technology, committee work, present at conferences, collaborate with faculty on research, conduct their own research, catalog the collection, shelf read, work in acquisitions, and a host of other things. Their schedules are varied and interesting and their days rarely seem routine. Most importantly, the legal librarians here have an opportunity to teach research skills to students in a classroom setting . That’s the aspect of this career that seems most interesting. Having the ability, time, and opportunity to teach research skills would be amazing.

Of course, this isn't the first time that a cup of joe has lead to the court room as was detailed previously here at Slaw.

In, Libman v. Quebec (Attorney General), [1997] 3 SCR 569 at para 40:

The purpose of spending limits in an election or a referenda campaign is to promote fairness as primary value or objective of the democratic process. . . .

Fairness is promoted in order to ensure that to the greatest extent possible that various sides in an election or a referenda [sic] have a reasonable equal opportunity to present their case to voters in the hopes that their case will influence the vote and that voters themselves will have a reasonable opportunity to hear the various views put forward by the participants before they cast their vote.

Thomson Newspapers Co. v. Canada (Attorney General), [1998] 1 SCR 877

While I support this particular proposal [the 72-hour blackout period], people must understand its purpose. The purpose is not, as has been said even in the Senate, to give voters a rest or breather from a flood of public opinion polls published just prior to election day. In fact, voters find that polls are useful information to them. They have a right to those polls. In terms of the electoral contest as we know it, the more polls the better.

The issue here is twofold. Public opinion polls purport to be scientific and are reported as such by the press. There is a question of the accuracy of public opinion polls in reading public opinion. There is clearly some need for regulation, given that particular assumption.

P]arties and candidates need access to the polls and this requires some time. In particular, it means they have to be able to respond to the poll. They cannot do that if the poll is published either on election day or the day before an election. Therefore, the ban of 72 hours is to ensure that polls cannot be published after a point in time where candidates and parties cannot respond. It has nothing to do with giving voters a breather. [Emphasis added.]

As a country that concerns itself with how we govern ourselves, we are certainly poorer for the passing of Peter Aucoin but greatly enhanced for his lifetime of work in the field.

Canadian Constitutional documents being specifically:
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Canadian Constitution Act 1867, aka British North America Act – (CanLII Version)
- Constitution Act 1982- (CanLII Version) in what was known as "Bringing Home the Constitution".

Note: the 1867 Constitution is an act of the UK being: Constitution Act, 1867 (UK), 30 & 31 Vict, c 3, reprinted in RSC 1985, App II, No 5.

The 1982 Constitution Act is schedule B of the UK Canada Act 1982, c 11. as is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Some secondary material selections include, but are certainly not limited to:

- Peter Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada (in various forms)
- Gerald Gall, The Canadian Legal System
- Patrick Monahan, Constitutional Law
- Gerald Beuadoin & Errol Mendes, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Journals
- Constitutional Forum
- Review of Constitutional Studies
- National Journal of Constitutional Law.

Annnnnd we had an earbug of a Centennial Song

On the surface many believed that "the Moose" would be a natural name for a St. John's AHL team as Moose are a majestic part of Canadiana and a prominent fixture in NL. While Moose are prominent in NL, they are not native to the province. In 1904 four Moose from New Brunswick were introduced to Newfoundland for the purposes of big game and providing meat for island inhabitants. It was a wildly successful introduction as the landscape particularly suits the Moose and there are no natural predators on the island, to the point where currently there are somewhere between 125,000-150,000 Moose on the island.

Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that Moose is not such a good fit for a team name in St. John's. While Moose are a prominent feature of NL there are negative connotations to naming a pro sports franchise after them. There are approximately 800 vehicle Moose collisions in NL each year causing many deaths and serious injuries for the people involved, to quote former premier and team owner Danny Williams:

Too many negative connotations, with all the moose-vehicle accidents we have in this province…We don’t want to be launching a team nicknamed Moose in September when there are reports of accidents involving moose all over the news.

The topic of Moose in NL is charged to such an extent that a lawsuit has been launched whereby victims of Moose collisions are suing the provincial government over the introduction of the animal to the island in 1904, claiming that the provincial government is legally responsible for the many damages to lives caused by those collisions. Earlier this month this lawsuit was certified and it will proceed through the courts. There are, as yet, no court docs, to link to which I could find.

While this is a serious topic in Newfoundland, Newfoundlanders are also famous for their sense of humour and felt it might be appropriate to see how the Moose themselves might feel about all of this.

The lesson in all of this being that if a Thrasher flaps its wings in Atlanta and a Jet lands in Winnipeg a Moose will feel a breeze in St. John's.

So where is the legal aspect of this? Well I did use the word notwithstanding above…

…..however even the simple pleasure of ice cream is specifically set out in the Food and Drug Regulations, CRC c 870, as:

B.08.062 – Ice Cream

(a) shall be the frozen food obtained by freezing an ice cream mix, with or without the incorporation of air;
(b) may contain cocoa or chocolate syrup, fruit, nuts or confections;
(c) shall contain not less than
(i) 36 per cent solids,
(ii) 10 per cent milk fat, or, where cocoa or chocolate syrup, fruit, nuts, or confections have been added, eight per cent milk fat, and
(iii) 180 grams of solids per litre of which amount not less than 50 grams shall be milk fat, or, where cocoa or chocolate syrup, fruit, nuts or confections have been added, 180 grams of solids per litre of which amount not less than 40 grams shall be milk fat; and
(d) shall contain not more than
(i) 100,000 bacteria per gram, and
(ii) 10 coliform organisms per gram,
as determined by official method MFO-2, Microbiological Examination of Ice Cream or Ice Milk, November 30, 1981.

B.08.061 – Ice Cream Mix (a) shall be the unfrozen, pasteurized combination of cream, milk or other milk products, sweetened with sugar, liquid sugar, invert sugar, honey, dextrose, glucose, corn syrup, corn syrup solids or any combination of such sweeteners.

You can also find a definition of sherbert, ice milk and ice milk mix at this location. Sadly, the legislation uses the word Ice Cream rather than "Iced" Cream. Ice Cream also appears in many other pieces of legislation in throughout Canada.

In R v. Bear, 47 Alta LR (2d) 255, Cioni J. used ice cream to make a point about facts in cases, "…an ice cream vendor who optimistically wants to ring his bell for business in a quiet neighborhood at midnight can hardly raise his freedom to do so as a defence to a by-law prosecution. Some cases can be decided directly in fact." And, in Decision No.: 2009-344 the Appeals Commission for Alberta Worker's Compensation determined that an ice cream vehicle drivers was indeed an employee under the Alberta Worker's Compensation Act.

So celebrate the solstice in whichever way you see fit and if are in that group of people who pays the price of enjoying your frozen treat with a stabbing pain that lasts for a very long 20-30 seconds, remember to curl your tongue and that even ice cream cannot escape legal implications.

With that background, it is a great tool for "keeping in touch" with the office and work items (half-hearted "yay"); not the hard core nose-to-the-grindstone work but great for keeping tabs on what is going on whilst you are away. I expect the nose-to-the-grindstone stuff will become better with the keyboard. It is also a great communication device, especially personal communications, Skype, Facetime, you name it. It is a great social media tool; on the iPad it is easy to quickly survey the social media landscape, make your contribution and move on. I haven't tried the dictation app yet, but have downloaded one (Dragon Dictation) and intend on giving it a go. Several years ago I went to an electronic daytimer and found the experience unsatisfactory and moved back to the conventional print daytimer (my guess is that I am in the minority on this), I'm now giving an e-daytimer another go on the iPad; however, it is too early to report back. The iPad is also a great tool for news and current events but most of you are aware of this and have seen it discussed elsewhere.

I use both Safari and Mini-Opera web browsers and am using this as a public call for Firefox to get in the game in a substantial way. Both Safari and Mini-Opera have different issues with handling things such as java and some course content software used at this institution but between the two of them most of the functionality I want is there, but there is room for improvement. In my line of work a PDF reader is essential, as I'm sure it is in many lines of work, where I find it especially useful is for the multitude of committees one finds themselves on at a university. Agendas, minutes, whatever files are being examined in PDF are great for use on the iPad. I think I can safely say that this is the first time since the proclamations of the paperless office began (30-40 years ago?) that I can honestly say I'm using something that consistently cuts down on the amount of paper I handle. I am currently using several apps to determine which suits me best, GoodReader, PDFReader and even iBooks and there are more out there. The more annotating features these apps have the better. On the subject of iBooks, this is my first real foray into a personal ebook reader. I rather like the experience in many respects but there are also limitations to it. The tablet is not as convenient to hold and read for a prolonged period of time and not as convenient on a dock at the cottage. For academic study, annotating features in ebooks are valued, but differs from tabs and highlighting not in a better-or-worse type of way but in how these features affect your workflow. That and legal publishers have been slow to move legal books to ebooks (before you make comments I said "slow" to do it rather than "not" doing it). In many respects I believe that comparing ebooks and print remains an apple and orange type comparison, they are different experiences each with their own merit and demerits, similarly I don't think print is going to disappear quite yet. Lose market share? Absolutely and quite dramatically, but disappear altogether? Not yet. Will print remain relevant? For the short to medium term, yes.

I applaud the existence of the Quicklaw app, discussed here previously but my thoughts are similar to Ted's. WestlawNext is an app, unfortunately my academic password doesn't work on this app. Martindale-Hubbell and Lawyers.com have apps, here I don't have a quibble with the functionality of the app but the content, there seem to be a paucity of information for Canadian lawyers and firms. While I readily acknowledge that the iPad is not a device one should be using for hardcore word processing, I still want to do word processing, say in those committee meetings, and I've yet to find an app that satisfies my humble word processing wants, suggestions are welcomed both for this purpose or any other that works for you.

This is a sport which was once referred to by U.S. Senator John McCain as "human cockfighting"; while he later softened that stance it was only after some years and a concerted effort on the part of the sport to round off its harder edges. The comparison that is most often drawn to MMA as implied by the regulation is Boxing. Which caused me to think about the rules of such sports and the definitions we have in the Criminal Code. Boxing has long been accepted the world over, as an acceptable form of athletic endeavour, in no small part owing to a defined set of rules or code of conduct (which really is code for law) known as the Marquess of Queensbury Rules. These rules were published in 1867 and form the core of the modern set of rules of Boxing, they simply state:

1. To be a fair stand-up boxing match in a twenty-four foot ring or as near that size as practicable.
2. No wrestling or hugging allowed.
3. The rounds to be of three minutes duration and one minute time between rounds.
4. If either man fall through weakness or otherwise, he must get up unassisted, ten seconds be allowed to do so, the other man meanwhile to return to his corner; and when the fallen man is on his legs the round is to be resumed and continued until the three minutes have expired. If one man fails to come to the scratch in the ten seconds allowed, it shall be in the power of the referee to give his awart in favour of the other man.
5. A man hanging on the ropes in a helpless state, with his toes off the ground, shall be considered down.
6. No seconds or any other person to be allowed in the ring during the rounds.
7. Should the contest be stopped by any unavoidable interference, the referee (is) to name the time and place as soon as possible for finishing the contest, to that the match can be won and lost, unless the backers of the men agree to draw the stakes.
8. The gloves to be fair-sized boxing gloves of the best quality and new.
9. Should a glove burst, or come off, it must be replaced to the referee's satisfaction.
10. A man on one knee is considered down, and if struck is entitled to the stakes.
11. No shoes or boots with springs allowed.
12. The contest in all other respects to be governed by the revised rules of the London Prize Ring.

It was only after MMA adopted a similar set of rules, (which are too long to post here in their entirety) that it moved from the periphery of athletic endeavour and into the mainstream. This further goes to show that law enters into all phases in life including striking intentional blows, "in whole or in part with the hand, elbows, knees or feet" where the person at the receiving end of the blows has consented to be struck.

The term was tossed about during the campaign with conjecture on how social media would impact the election; so now that the election is over and we have had some time to reflect, was it the "social media election"? I am unsure, but my inclination is that it was not. Primarily because I did not see a lot of content generated specifically for social media, nor have I observed an impact that can be attributed to social media. I saw of lot of content generated in a traditional fashion and then migrated to the social media platform but I did not see a party use social media to a competitive advantage. Despite initial projections of high voter turnout the eventual number did not match those projections.

Social media was used a great deal by individuals, such that #Elxn41 and #CdnPoli became popular hashtags; my impression of that commentary was largely of individuals commenting on what they perceived in the election. I remain unsure about my inclination to a negative answer to the question because there easily could have been something I missed, but what I saw was a campaign conducted in a largely traditional fashion and I have difficulty perceiving the impact social media had on the election, so that is why I'm posting the question here at Slaw.

I believe that a party or candidate that seizes social media and uses it is as a primary means of communicating with an electorate will have a competitive advantage, I just didn't see it this time. I think #Elxn41 was a trial run and that #Elxn42 will be the true social media election. Hopefully, by that time we will have figured something out regarding s 329 of the Canada Elections Act

"No person shall transmit the result or purported result of the vote in an electoral district to the public in another electoral district before the close of all of the polling stations in that other electoral district."

An act, by the way, that mentions "the Internet" twice….. without ever really acknowledging what it is. In both 319 and 324: "…on what is commonly known as the Internet." The act must either recognize the internet exists, accept it and drop the prohibition on broadcasting or simply keep results confidential until all polls in the country have closed. This section has been tried before in R v Bryan, 2007 SCC 12; however, that judgment does not lend clarity to the fact that social media is here, it cannot be silenced and that the line between communicating and broadcasting is becoming blurred.

So to reiterate, was #Elxn41 the "Social Media Election"?

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The Open Data Pilot is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to open government, which is being pursued along three streams: open data, open information and open dialogue, and aims to drive innovation and economic opportunities for all Canadians.

While the content remains somewhat sparse as of yet, I applaud the thinking behind making data more widely available. I hope that the current rumpus does not diminish the commitment to making datasets available; however, given the general direction of FOIPOP legislation being used as a shield rather than a mechanism to liberate information over the past several years, I look forward to being convinced that this is simply not a token gesture. The fact that the RSS feed has not been updated since September 30, 2010 is not a good sign. Open data is too important to let wither on the vine.

In short, the municipality feels that the feds did not pay enough for the Citadel for an extended period of time and is trying to get the money it feels is owed to it.

Long form: 2010 FCA 196 at para 1:

Lands and property owned by the federal Crown are exempt from provincial and municipal taxation by virtue of section 125 of the Constitution Act, 1867. In order to compensate municipalities for the resulting loss of revenue, the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. M-13 (PILT Act or Act), authorizes the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada (Minister) to make payments in lieu of the taxes (PILT) that would have been paid to the municipality if the federal property in question had been taxable.

And from the SCC Case Summary:

Administrative law – Judicial review — Municipal law – Taxation – Real property tax – Payments made by Federal Crown in lieu of real property tax — Assessed value of Halifax Citadel — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in holding that the Minister is unconstrained by the assessed value of the property determined by the assessment authority in determining the property value of a federal property for purposes of the PILT Act — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in holding that the Minister acted reasonably in determining the property value of the Halifax Citadel lands (adopting the determination of the Dispute Advisory Panel appointed under the Act), and in particular in valuing the portion of the lands upon which are located improvements which are exempt from payments in lieu of taxes, representing 47 of 49 acres of the site, at $10 – Whether the Court should consider the present case as it raises similar issues as Montréal (City) v. Montréal Port Authority 2010 SCC 14, [2010] 1 S.C.R. 427, but from the perspective of assessed value — Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. M-13.

In this situation the municipality disagrees with the value that the minister applied to the land to the tune of $12.7 million over a period of roughly 12 years and the case has been argued at various levels with various results over the last 3 years (2009 FC 670, 2008 FC 1159 2008 FC 1034and )and is now going to the SCC .

Ironically, many Nova Scotians and especially Haligonians have had issues with their property assessments skyrocketing in value in recent years and had their applications to appeal the assessment summarily dismissed.

3D printing would seemingly be mind-blowing for Access Copyright; I'm sure some of you are aware of the approximately 1300% increase they have proposed for the post-secondary educational institution tariff that has become quite a quagmire in post-secondary circles as institutions try to grapple with the changes and figure out how to approach copyright. In light of this copyright mess I was pleased to see an announcement from Crown Copyright and Licensing (CCL) recently announcing "…that permission to reproduce Government of Canada works is no longer required, in part or in whole, and by any means, for personal or public non-commercial purposes, or for cost-recovery purposes, unless otherwise specified in the material you wish to reproduce." More info here. I can tell you that these copyright questions are affecting the law school casebook that we know (and either love or loathe) so well.