Rona Ambrose, Minister for Status of Women, held a press conference today at the Punjabi Community Health Service Centre in Mississsauga, Ontario, during which she addressed so-called honour killings. The speculation — see the National Post story, for example — is that her publicity exercise was in reaction to the release last week of a report by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy entitled Culturally-Driven Violence Against Women. An executive summary is available here; and the whole 21-page report is available in PDF.

During the press conference, Minister Ambrose said that the government is considering . . . [more]

In a prosecution that has garnered steadily growing criticism since it’s inception in 2008, two Russian art exhibit organizers were convicted today under the Russian Criminal Code section that sanctions “incitement of national, racial, or religious enmity.” See the Associated Press story. A 2008 post on GiF.ru – Art of Russia sets out a careful translation into English of the (long) Russian indictment. The text of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation reads as follows in English:

Article 282. Incitement of National, Racial, or Religious Enmity

1. Actions aimed at the incitement of national, racial,

This is an internal Heenan Blaikie piece which my colleagues Michel Gamache and Chantal Belanger (Technicienne en documentation) wrote to help those of us who have problems finding Québec official proclamations and the like. I think the tips are well worth noting for all Canadian legal researchers.

Some history

The Gazette officielle du Québec is the means by which the Quebec Government makes its decisions official. Published continuously since 1869, it makes public, on a weekly basis, all texts whose publication is required: statutes, regulations and other statutory instruments. . . . [more]

I have been following a discussion about the concerns regarding the government’s cancellation of the long-form questionnaire for the 2011 Canadian Census. The following message just went out over the Canadian law libraries listserv CALL-L. I have reproduced it here with the author’s permission:

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to draw your attention to a serious issue that has arisen regarding the upcoming 2011 Canadian census. The government has decided to cancel the census long-form questionnaire and replace it with a voluntary survey, which cannot be counted on to produce reliable information.

The decision poses a severe

I was in Whistler, British Columbia, for a law firm retreat and stayed at one of the best hotels – you know, one of those places with the ultra plush bedding, towels that stack high and spa-inspired toiletries that smell good enough to taste. 

About a month before my stay, this hotel started a pilot program to accept dogs. So, not only did my family join me, so did our beloved Golden Retriever. After two nights in the palace, complete with The Dog, I spent the better part of an hour filling out their dog service survey. I used every . . . [more]

The Canadian Bar Association recently released the report Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches [pdf, 125 pages]. From the CBA:

As part of its renewed approach to advancing access to justice, the CBA has released a 125-page research report, Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches. Prepared for the CBA by Melina Buckley, LL.B., Ph.D., the report considers the current state of legal aid policy development, both in Canada and internationally, as well as innovative approaches to delivering access to justice.

You may read a longer summary and download a . . . [more]

China confirmed earlier today that it will renew Google’s license in the country for another year, after a month-long stand-off between the two. Google had publicly claimed on Friday that an agreement had been reached.

David Canton, David Bilinsky, Simon Fodden, Michel-Adrien Sheppard and I all commented on the standoff previously here on Slaw.

In January 2010, Google ceased omitting search results deemed by the Chinese government as subversive or pornographic, after complying for the past 4 years. The decision was made after allegations of Chinese hackers attacking Google’s server to obtain information about anti-government activists. ISPs . . . [more]

“If you build it, he will come.” (Field of Dreams (1998))

If you write it on Slaw, be prepared to be quoted.

I was watching Roy Halliday pitch, tonight. The game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds was on TV. It was scoreless through almost 11 full innings. Philly scored in the bottom of the 11th to win, 1-0. The Reds pitcher – a rookie making only his 3rd start in the show – lost his perfect game in the top of the 9th. He surrendered his first and only hit. Halliday was “almost” as good. . . . [more]

Today marks the opening of the Calgary Stampede with the annual Stampede Parade. Prime Minister Harper attended. I have always wondered how public figures, like the Prime Minister, balance security with openness. Our Calgary office closes on parade day so I won’t wear my boots until I visit next week.

The Stampede Parade is an exciting kick-off to ten days of good ol’ fashioned western fun. Led by our own World Champion Calgary Stampede Showband, the parade showcases floats, bands, riders, cultural entries, and many more! Downtown streets are closed from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., so get your

The Torontoist has an excellent run-down today on the various security, civil liberty and Charter issues that have arisen from the recent G20 meeting in Toronto–see Did police break the law during the G20?.

Ontario Ombudsman André Marin has announced he is launching an investigation into the controversial Ontario regulation made under the Public Works Protection Act prior to the G20. From the Ombudsman’s press release posted this morning:

The investigation, to be conducted by the Special Ombudsman Response Team (SORT), will examine the involvement of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services in the origin of Regulation

or, as I might title it today, “The Good, the Bad, and the American.” And it’s about nothing more contentious than language.

The Good? There are, of course, all sorts of species of “good” in writing. For us in law, one kind of a sometime good is plain language. For decades now, supporters of plain language in law have been urging lawyers to, well, learn to write so that others can understand them easily. Which isn’t easy. The U.S. government has a site replete with examples and tools and a page referring to foreign resources — none of which is . . . [more]

I have in the past hoped for good (or better) interfaces to the massive amounts of older Canadian legal materials being digitized on the Internet Archive.

While that hope still remains (since I think there is a need for it), I was pleasantly surprised this morning that by simply searching the words “ontario AND regulations AND 1979” in the “Canadian Libraries” database, the result came first and it was relatively easy to get to the particular regulation I was looking for by choosing the PDF format of the document (although the PDF file was a bit large at over . . . [more]