Episode 34 – Methods of Suppression

Welcome et bienvenue to LegalEase: a monthly Montreal-based and produced radio show on 90.3 FM CKUT – a broadcast about law, cast broadly. Le collectif LegalEase est un groupe d’étudiants et étudiantes en droit de la communauté montréalaise.This month the program is entitled, “Methods of Suppression.”

Methods of Suppression – from popular assembly to personal information to gender identity. What are the tools of the state? LegalEase speaks with Irena Ceric of the Movement Defence Committee, Michael Vaughn of BCCLA, Dean Spade Assistant Professor at Seattle University.

Listen to the Episode Here

RCMP Truth Verification – Fewlings.

LegalEase on 90.3 FM is a radio program broadcast every second Friday of the month at 11am EST from Montreal, Quebec. Originally founded by the McGill Legal Information Clinic in 1989, LegalEase is now run by a collective of progressive of law students from McGill University. Our weekly radio show deals with legal topics of interest to the community, with the intention of making the law both accessible and engaging. Tune into our show, follow us on Twitter @LegalEaseCkut, email legalease[at]ckut.ca or check our podcast library for past programming.

Episode 29 (Jan 2012) – Le Pouvoir

Welcome et bienvenue to LegalEase: a monthly radio show on 90.3 FM CKUT. We broadcast law broadly. Le collectif LegalEase est un groupe d’étudiantEs en droit de la communauté montréalaise. This month the program is entitled, “Le Pouvoir.” Power in the classroom, power in the legal profession, power in the courtroom.

Many groups oppose the Tory Crime Bill

Nous commençons avec Stephany Laperriere qui nous emporte à l’UQAM pour un table-ronde sur la projet de loi C-10 presentée par la ligue des droits et libertes. The Omnibus crime bill will have a major effect on judges, lawyers and the relationship between society and incarcerated persons. [Note – since this broadcast, the bill has passed through the Senate and has received Royal Assent. You may review Bill C-10 here.]

Next, we sit down with Ellen Schlesinger on Women in the Legal Profession and why women so often leave the field. LegalEase then transitions into a broad conversation on the subject of mental health and the practice of law.

Ellen Schlesinger

Featured Songs: Blue King Brown, “Resist”; “Pueblo Get Ready,” Las MIgrantes.

LegalEase on 90.3 FM is a radio program broadcast every second Friday of the month at 11am EST from Montreal, Quebec. Originally founded by the McGill Legal Information Clinic in 1989, LegalEase is now run by a collective of progressive of law students from McGill University. Our weekly radio show deals with legal topics of interest to the community, with the intention of making the law both accessible and engaging. Tune into our show, follow us on Twitter @LegalEaseCkut, email legalease[at]ckut.ca or check our website for past programming at https://legaleaseckut.wordpress.com

Excluding the Subject matter: Inquiring about the Missing Women Commission

Gone from The DTES, Gone from the Commission

Over the past several weeks, high profile actors have been pulling out of the B.C.’s Missing Women Comission of Inquiry, threatening its legitimacy. In recent days, BCCLA and Amnesty Canada have both withdrawn from the commission, citing a disparity of resources allocated to protecting police officers and government officials, while offering the marginalized women in question no legal counsel. Activist organizations, from whose efforts the commission was born, have decided to boycott the government effort and are organizing protests which will be led by the Coalition of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee (WMMC). They have called the inquiry a “sham”.

The commission was initially intended to shed light on the hundreds of disappearances of women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The most notable case linked to this ongoing problem is that of Robert Pickton, former pig farmer and serial killer convicted of the second-degree murders of six women, though he may have had as many as 49 victims.

Investigation or Sham inquiry?

Ian Hanomansing interviewed several of the key players in this debate on CBC’s flagship radio program The Current. You can hear their conversation here. He interviews Shirley Bond, Harsah Walia, and Ernie Crey.

For more on the subject of Commissions of Inquiry more generally, please see this link provided by the Privy Council’s Office. Indeed, for references sake, the best work on the subject – Commissions of inquiry : praise or reappraise / editors, Allan Manson, David Mullan. Toronto : Irwin Law, 2003.

More on Commissions

Will Canada protect Trans Rights?

Trans rights: coming to a Jurisdiction near you

A newly proposed law, Bill-276 (read text here), aims to protect trans rights. It died in the house this past Spring (2011) after being introduced by Bill Siksay but has found a new advocate in Hedy Fry. The Bill is formally titled: “An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression)”. LegalEase will follow its progress as it makes its way up to the Senate. Much moral support offered.

Episode 17: Gender/Sexuality and the Law

Welcome et bienvenue to LegalEase: a monthly Montreal-based and produced radio show on 90.3 FM CKUT. We broadcast law broadly. Le collectif LegalEase est un group des étudiants et étudiantes en droit de la communauté montréalaise. This episode is entitled, “Gender/Sexuality and the Law.” Listen to the show here.

LegalEase’s Preeti speaks with Ponni Arasu is a Delhi-based lawyer and queer feminist activist involved with the Voices Against 377, a broad coalition that successfully fought to decriminalize homosexuality in India. She has also been active in Bangalore’s Alternative law Forum.

Next, LegalEase contributor Meena Gupta brings us legal historian Constance Backhouse (University of Ottawa) on the first “Lesbian Sexual Assault” case in Canada, in 1955 Yellowknife. For more, see her work: Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975.

Third, LegalEase sits down with Me. Anne France Goldwater about the Lola case. The court of appeal decision makes common-law couples are entitled to spousal support upon the break-down of the marriage.

Finally, Phillip Duguay gets the views of Tara, sex worker advocate, on the recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, Bedford v. Canada.

Tune in live every second Friday of every month from 11h00-12h00 on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal or listen on-line at http://www.ckut.ca. For more programming, check us out at https://legaleaseckut.wordpress.com

Episode 16: On the Margins

Welcome et bienvenue to LegalEase: a monthly Montreal-based and produced radio show on 90.3 FM CKUT. We broadcast law broadly. Le collectif LegalEase est un group des étudiants et étudiantes en droit de la communauté montréalaise. This episode is entitled, “On the Margins.” It will focus on minority language rights, homelessness and housing inititiatives, as well as the gendered nature of legal studies. Listen to the Show here.

Daniel Mayer contribu un analyze sur la theme de la droit linguistiques minoritaires au Canada. Precisement, il discut la nouveau arret: Nguyen c. Quebec.

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Host Lainie Basman brings us into the Mile End Legal Clinic. Located in Montreal’s Plateau we meet its director, Rachel Doran. She discusses a day of action against homelessness and parliament’s housing initiative, bill C-304.

Finally, contributor Preeti Dhaliwal interviewed law student Natai Shelson on the gendered nature of legal studies.

Tune in live every second Friday of every month from 11h00-12h00 on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal or listen on-line at http://www.ckut.ca. For more programming, check us out at https://legaleaseckut.wordpress.com