Symposium Essays
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Access to Justice in Data Privacy: Addressing Systemic Barriers to Privacy Protection in Canadian Law
Most Canadians do not understand their privacy rights or know how to defend them when their personal information is misused. This paper argues that Canada’s privacy protections are inadequate and fragmented, leaving citizens without consistent safeguards or meaningful remedies. The legal framework is split between federal and provincial jurisdictions, creating gaps and inconsistencies. Provincial courts…
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Problematizing The British Columbia Mental Health Act: Past, present and solutions for the future
The British Columbia Mental Health Act provides a framework for the treatment of individuals in mental health crises. However, in doing so the Mental Health Act also allows for sweeping police powers for the ability to detain individuals during mental health crises. Further, the Mental Health Act also allows for those who administer psychiatric treatments…
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Locked Up, Left Out: How the Justice System Perpetuates a Cycle of Entrapment for Individuals with Substance Use Disorders
Substance use disorders (“SUDs”) are complex biopsychosocial conditions influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Yet Canada’s historical response has relied heavily on punitive legal measures that criminalize individuals rather than addressing the root causes of addiction. This paper critically examines how criminalization perpetuates cycles of recidivism and social inequities for individuals with SUDs, particularly…
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Residency, Discrimination and Self-Government in First Nations Communities and Canadian Jurisprudence – By: Robert Houle
Residency, Discrimination and Self-Government in First Nations communities and Canadian Jurisprudence explores the long-standing practice of First Nation communities and leadership maintaining a small candidate pool for on-reserve elections. One mechanism they utilize to achieve this is the application of residency clauses which require candidates to reside on the reserve for a fixed period of time…
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Mental Health and MAiD – By: Connor Fletcher
This paper considers the roll-out of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for individuals with mental disorders. First, an overview of the Carter decision is provided before moving into an analysis of what a hypothetical prohibition on MAiD for individual with mental disorders would be viewed constitutionally. The paper then examines the present safeguards for accessing MAiD,…
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Introducing Intimacy Coordinators in Mainstream and Adult Entertainment Film Industries: Towards Legally Ensuring Performer Safety On-Set – By: Brietta Stewart
This paper first addresses legal issues of consent (or lack thereof) during simulated sex scenes in the mainstream film industry. The primary question raised in this essay is: if a performer contractually agrees to do a simulated sex scene, does the performer have legal rights to continuous and ongoing consent throughout the scene? Actresses in…