An article in yesterday's NYT identifies Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms as being now more influential in the world than the US constitution, "a source of inspiration for many countries around the world". Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg (US Supreme Court justice) recently recommended it over the US constitution for anyone writing a constitution in ( Read more... )

I've just been reading about a case of an American getting charged at the Canadian border because he had what customs deemed to be child pornography on his computer. The "Comic Book Legal Defense Fund" is fighting the case apparently on the grounds that the material would have been legal in the US, that the Canadian analogue of freedom of ( Read more... )

An editorial from my hometown paper, sad and bedraggled though it has become, makes a fairly controversial suggestion upon discussing some new draconian drunk driving laws in BC.  These new laws require, among other things, immediate suspension of driving privileges and having one's car impounded without any sort of court appearance.  Apparently ( Read more... )

Why Stephen Harper turned downtown Toronto into an occupied city

Downtown Toronto is a ghost town [...] Stephen Harper and his buddies have [...] made a bloody mess of the downtown [...] They have transformed a bustling, prosperous city into a microcosm of the world they wish to create. Governed by martial law, cordoned off, leaders isolated from ( Read more... )

From Michael Geist.ca:
As expected, the Government has taken another shot at lawful access legislation today, introducing a legislative package called the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century (IP21C) Act that would require mandated surveillance capabilities at Canadian ISPs, force ISPs to disclose subscriber information such as name and ( Read more... )

MP Ruby Dhalla hires two Phillipino caregivers for her mother, under immigration work permit program. They are paid $250/week for 11-16hour days, doing work outside caregiving such as cleaning cars, and the chain of chiropractor clinics. Dhalla is reported to taken their passports away. This breaks employee standards act, Human Rights Act, etc, etc ( Read more... )

In light of the recent House of Commons meeting about the state of the Sex Offenders Registry, what do you think about how we handle sexual offenders.

Some bg:

A Win for the Sex Offender RegistryBasically, Albertan Judge Jerry LeGrandeur keeps trying to get sex offenders off (or not even put on in the first place)the registry. The Supreme Court ( Read more... )

It seems that a group of sex trade workers has incorporated a co-operative with the intent of opening a brothel in Vancouver.  Is this a good idea for Vancouver in particular or for Canada in general?

I think that prostitution is mostly a social ill, an industry that exploits vulnerable women (and, to a lesser extent, men) and probably not great ( Read more... )

So is anybody else following this Elections Canada veil thing? It all seems really silly to me. If the politicians would actually sit down for five minutes and read the act, they'd see quite clearly that it actually doesn't require you to have photo id. If you don't have photo id, exactly what purpose is there to removing a veil ( Read more... )

Here is a sad, but important, story which illustrates that freedom of religion is alive and well ( Read more... )