Episode October 2014 – Stop!

Blast from the Past – An episode from Lillian Boctor, Alyssa Clutterbuck, and Garrett Zehr!

https://soundcloud.com/lillian-boctor/ckut-legalease-october-2014-edition

 

 

Episode 35 – Rethinking Legal Structures

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, “Rethinking Legal Structures.”

“C’est pas extrêmement du fun.”

Listen to the Episode Here

Law?

Host Garret Zehr guides us through three main topics, all of which force a reconsideration of the present legal structure in place. In order: 1) the Quebec Student Movement and the legal struggles of CLASSE and other activists in the courts – J-P MacKay speaks with Me Sibel Ataogul; 2) Adelle Blackett offers an evaluation of the legal framework of labour law, especially as it applies to workers from the global south and in relation to domestic workers; and 3) Me Étienne Poitras sur la sujet des mouvements sociales et les droits de manifestants.

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 32 – Police, Protest and Peaceful Assembly

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 groupe d’étudiants et étudiantes en droit de la communauté montréalaise. This month the program is entitled, “Police, Protest, and Peaceful Assembly.”

Listen to the Episode Here

This month LegalEase non-violently confronts the topic of Police, Protest and Peaceful Assembly. Back-drop – wide-spread protests in Quebec on tuition issues as well as the annual march against Police Brutality. Who polices the police? What does protest entail? We have an all-star line-up to discuss the pithy issues – Natalie DesRosiers, David Eby, Fo Niemi, Judy Rebick, Alex Hundert and others. The episode will bring the controversy to the table, tackling G20, Occupy and other examples of assembly from the past decade.

The G20 Sound Cannon

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 31 (Mar 2012) – Quebec: Le Plan Nord and Student Protests

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 groupe d’etudiants et eudiantes en droit de la communaute montrealaise. This month the program is entitled, “Quebec: Le Plan Nord and Student Protests.”

Listen to the Episode Here

PLAN NORD

Plan Nord is an example of the new wave of Canada’s 21th century resource extraction strategy. LegalEase focuses on Plan Nord this month, looking at environmental, Aboriginal, and women’s issues. Paul Holden and Stéphany Laperriere bring us pieces on the subject. In a final segment, J-P Mackay interviews Me. Poitras at the inaugural conference of L’association des juristes progressistes taking aim at the increasing criminalization of student protest in Montreal.

Police subdue Students

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.

Pétition : Demande d’enquête publique sur les plans stratégiques et les interventions des forces policières lors de la grève étudiante

Pétition :
Demande d’enquête publique sur les plans stratégiques et les interventions des forces policières lors de la grève étudiante

Pour signer cette pétition, vous devez compléter 3 étapes :
https://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-3047/index.html

Étape 1 : remplissez le formulaire sous le texte de la pétition et envoyez-le (vous devez accepter les conditions à respecter pour pouvoir signer la pétition avant d’envoyer le formulaire).
Étape 2 : consultez votre boîte de courriels et ouvrez le message envoyé par l’Assemblée.
Étape 3 : dans ce message, cliquez sur le lien vous permettant d’enregistrer votre signature.
Vous ne pouvez signer la même pétition qu’une seule fois.

Texte de la pétition

Considérant que les nombreuses interventions policières effectuées lors de la grève étudiante du printemps 2012 auraient été marquées par des gestes qui mettraient en cause l’application de la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne;

Considérant que, selon des témoignages, il y aurait eu entrave par les forces policières aux soins d’urgence à prodiguer aux personnes blessées lors de certaines manifestations;

Considérant que le Comité contre la torture de l’ONU avait interpellé le Canada en 2005 concernant l’emploi abusif et dangereux d’armes chimiques, irritantes, incapacitantes ou mécaniques;

Considérant que le Comité des droits de l’homme de l’ONU avait interpellé le Canada en 2005 concernant des arrestations massives faites par les corps policiers lui rappelant que seules les personnes ayant commis des infractions pénales au cours des manifestations pouvaient être arrêtées;

Considérant que la Charte québécoise des droits et libertés reconnaît le droit constitutionnel de manifester et les libertés d’expression et d’association;

Nous exigeons que le gouvernement du Québec institue une enquête indépendante qui devra permettre notamment :

d’identifier les plans stratégiques adoptés lors des manifestations qui ont eu cours lors de la grève étudiante du printemps 2012;
d’examiner le rôle et la responsabilité des dirigeants politiques et policiers dans la planification et la coordination des différentes stratégies d’intervention des forces policières;
d’examiner le recours à des balles de plastique ou autres pour contrôler des foules;
d’identifier s’il y a eu des violations de droits;
d’assurer aux victimes de violations de droits une réparation adéquate.

Episode 28 (Dec 2011) – Crackdown

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 groupe d’étudiants et étudiantes en droit de la communauté montréalaise. This month the program is entitled, “Crackdown.”

Listen to the Episode Here

Students Discuss the Nov 10 Crackdown

“Changed, Changed utterly.” Garrett Zehr examines the recent November 10th police crackdown against student protestors at McGill University in Montreal. Students mobilized against tuition increases and unexpectedly met with Riot police violence. Here is a link to the report prepared by Dean of Law Daniel Jutras Inquiry. Here is a link to the Independent Student Inquiry. For a host of articles and information on the Nov 10, see the McGill Daily’s coverage.

Preeti Dhaliwal interviews McGill law student (and former LegalEase contributor) Melanie Benard who shares her first-person narrative of the November 10 crackdown.

Paul Holden and Mark Phillips close the first half of the show by updating our listeners on the MUNACA strike for the last time. The strike is over, but LegalEase presents a case study on how the strike affected student communities. Namely, LegalEase investigates its own nest in the law faculty – observing the McGill Law Student Association’s Referendum and General Assembly processes, canvassing the opinions of students. Est-ce que c’est un ‘crackdown’ sur la proces démocratique?

In the second segment, LegalEase shifts gears: how can we crack down on corporations using the tools of Canadian criminal law? Rana Alrabi presents two guests on the subject of business and human rights, criminal Corporate Responsibility. Elise Groulx and Helen Dragatsi, two members of the Quebec bar, implore us to look closely at the role of Canadian corporations operating abroad. Me Dragatsi discusses her recent book, “Criminal Liability of Canadian Corporations for International Crimes.” La deuxième invitée, Me Groulx, éxplique les nuances de la commerce et la droit de la personne dans la contexte globale. She predicts the development of international criminal law to enable the prosecution of private corporations who perpetuate global conflict through rogue actions.

The two experts discuss the case Association canadienne contre l’impunité (ACCI) c. Anvil Mining Ltd., 2011 QCCS 1966 where the Superior Court accepts jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed by a Canadian corporation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For further discussion on this subject, consult recent article by Yale graduate student, James Yap, “Corporate Civil Liability for War Crimes in Canadian Courts
Lessons from Bil’in (Village Council) v. Green Park International Ltd.” published at Journal for International Criminal Justice (2010) 8 (2): 631-648.

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 27 (Nov 2011) – Remembering and Responsibility

LegalEase – CKUT 90.3 Montreal – Episode 27 (Nov 2011) – Remembering and Responsibility

Bread and Roses

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 etudiants et etudiantes en droit de la communaute montrealaise. This month the program is entitled, “Remembering and Responsibility.” Listen to the Episode Here

On this Remembrance Day, LegalEase remembers the past, honours the past, and asks questions on how to build a society with lasting peace. Host Preeti Dhaliwal dedicates this episode to life of Alexandra Dodger, a fellow law student and one-time contributor to LegalEase.

We bring you original and hard-hitting content this month. First, we return to the ever present Munaca Strike with an Update from Katrina Peddle. Stephanie Lapierre and Kieran Gibbs nous offrir un presentation de la mouvement “Occupy” a Montreal: Ground footage of la place des peuples et une entrevue avec prof Eric Pineau. Third, we present you a feature lecture by lawyer Veena Verma on Seasonal Agricultural Workers in Canada. Finally, Garret Zehr does a piece on drone assassinations and the rule of law.

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

The Representation in Representative Democracy

Electoral Ridings in Montreal

Some hullaballoo about new seats for Ontario, BC and Alberta. The NDP and Quebec oppose the change and root their opposition in this decision: Reference re Prov. Electoral Boundaries (Sask.), [1991] 2 SCR 158 Read below for a backgrounder.

“The Commons has 308 seats at present. Our Constitution guarantees 75 of those to Quebec. That’s 24.4% of the seats for a province with 23.2% of the national population. (Ontario, by comparison has just 34.4% of the seats despite being home to 38.8% of Canadians.) Even if the federal Tories move ahead with plans to add 30 seats to the Commons – 18 in Ontario, seven in British Columbia and five in Alberta – Quebec will still have 22.2%.

After adding the planned new seats, Quebec would still come as close as any province but B.C. to having the proper number of seats for its population. If more seats are added, Quebec’s representation will be one percentage point below its share of the national population, Alberta’s will be 1.2 percentage points under and Ontario’s will be 2.1 points under. Only B.C., which would then be 0.6 percentage points under-represented, would be more equitably treated than Quebec. (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and all the Atlantic provinces already are over-represented, and would remain so under the new plan.)

But in 1991, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that electoral districts in Canada do not have to honour the one-person, one-vote standard. (Well, actually, the Supreme Court said the oneperson, one-vote rule was sacred in a democracy, but then listed so many allowable exemptions as to make the rule meaningless.)

The majority on the court explained that “relative parity of voting power is a prime condition of effective representation.” The judges then added that “deviations from absolute voter parity, however, may be justified on the grounds of practical impossibility or the provision of more effective representation. Factors such as geography, community history, community interests and minority representation may need to be taken into account to ensure that our legislative assemblies effectively represent the diversity of our social mosaic.” Other than all those exceptions, though, “dilution of one citizen’s vote, as compared with another’s, should not be countenanced.”” – Thomas Mulcair’s numbers game, Lorne Gunter, National Post

Episode 24: Racial Discrimination and Profiling in Quebec

Listen to the Episode Here: http://goo.gl/lmKl3

Do you find this image problematic?

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 etudiants et etudiantes en droit de la communaute montrealaise. This month the program is entitled, “Racial Discrimination and Profiling in Quebec.” Listen to it here.

Jesse Gutman sits down with Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR). The discussion focuses on the Quebec Human Rights Commission’s 2011 Report: RACIAL PROFILING AND SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION OF RACIALIZED YOUTH: REPORT OF THE CONSULTATION ON RACIAL PROFILING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

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