April 2012 – ABLawg

Alan Hunsberger, a Wildrose candidate who ran for election for the provincial legislature in Alberta, believes the Edmonton Public School Board’s policy of adopting anti-bullying policies to protect gay and lesbian students is wrong. He says that to adopt such policies is “godless, wicked and profane.” He says that homosexuals ” will suffer the rest of eternity in a lake of fire, hell, a place of eternal suffering.” He went on to write that others shouldn’t accept homosexuals for the way they are because “accepting people the way they are is cruel and not loving.” For the full text of his statement see here.

Should we be concerned? Is this really a freedom of speech issue? Or is it something else?

The Safe Injection Site Precedent: Parliamentary Supremacy vs. Democratic Values?

By Kathleen Mahoney

On April 24, 2012

In Human Rights

Case Considered: Canada (A.G.) v PHS Community Services Society, 2011, SCC 44

PDF Version: The Safe Injection Site Precedent: Parliamentary Supremacy vs. Democratic Values?

The recent SCC ruling in Canada (A.G.) v PHS Community Services Society (Insite) caused quite a stir when the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the Minister of Health to exempt a supervised injection site and its clients from drug possession laws.

Some editorial writers and Internet bloggers immediately described the decision as “a new tool for activism” a threat to the “peace between judges and legislators” and as “a confrontation brewing between the Harper government and Canadian courts” on everything from prostitution laws to euthanasia (For example, see Kirk Makin, Landmark Insite Decision Threatens Peace Between Judges and Legislators, The Globe and Mail, October 17, 2011; Kevin l. Boonstra, Cardus, LexView 74.0 – Can Injecting Illegal Drugs Ever Be Safe?, October 26, 2011.).

In forma pauperis: A Constitutional Right to Access to Justice

By Jennifer Koshan

On April 12, 2012

In Access to Justice, Constitutional

PDF version: In forma pauperis: A Constitutional Right to Access to Justice

Case commented on: Toronto Dominion Bank v. Beaton, 2012 ABQB 125

Access to justice is a hot topic: it is the stuff of judicial speeches; test case litigation; law society initiatives; and the list goes on. In Toronto Dominion Bank v Beaton, 2012 ABQB 125, which dealt with the seemingly routine issue of whether the court could order a fee waiver for transcripts for a leave to appeal application, Justice Joanne Veit of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench held that there is a constitutional right to access to justice, but that it was not breached in the circumstances of the case.

Kangaroo-ism

By Jonnette Watson Hamilton

On April 9, 2012

In Human Rights

Document considered: Wildrose Platform on Justice, Policing and Human Rights

PDF Version: Kangaroo-ism

My colleague, Jennifer Koshan, has written a serious ABlawg post on “The Alberta Election and Human Rights,” pointing out numerous problems with the Wildrose platform on Justice, Policing and Human Rights. The purpose of this post is much narrower and less serious, and that is to follow up on the “kangaroo courts” insult in the Wildrose policy statement.

The Alberta Election and Human Rights

By Jennifer Koshan

On April 9, 2012

In Human Rights

Document considered: Wildrose Platform on Justice, Policing and Human Rights

PDF Version: The Alberta Election and Human Rights

Several human rights issues have been raised in the Alberta election campaign to date. Perhaps most significantly, the Wildrose party’s platform on Justice, Policing and Human Rights proposes major changes to the Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c A-25.5 (AHRA), changes that are both substantive and procedural in nature. I will set out those proposed changes in this post, and raise some related concerns.