Posts by Safia Lakhani

Taking racist sports logos to court: Sports, tropes and prospects for change

November 25th, 2016 by Safia Lakhani

This article was first published on rabble.ca

On October 14, 2016, the Superior Court of Ontario heard an application for an injunction preventing the display, broadcast, and dissemination of the team name and logo of the “Cleveland Indians,” a U.S. baseball team scheduled to play at the Rogers Centre later that day. The team, whose offensive logo has long been the subject of criticism amongst Indigenous Americans, was playing against the Toronto Blue Jays as part of the American League Championship Series. While the court refused to grant the injunction, the application has called attention to the issue of racial stereotyping and has raised questions about the viability of addressing this issue through the courts and/or human rights tribunals in Canada.

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Inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women brings hope and challenges

April 28th, 2016 by Safia Lakhani

This article was first published on rabble.ca

On December 8, 2015, the federal government announced that it was launching a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. The announcement followed repeated calls for action by human rights advocates and Aboriginal women’s groups who have reported an overrepresentation of Indigenous women amongst Canada’s missing and murdered women. While the RCMP estimated that 1,012 Indigenous women were missing or murdered between 1980 and 2012, the number is expected to be higher than 1,200, and possibly as high as 4,000.

Since the government’s announcement, many have expressed high hopes for the inquiry. A recent headline in the Toronto Star went so far as to state that the inquiry, properly conducted, “could heal decades-old wounds and perhaps begin to restore trust in the justice system.” To be sure, the inquiry represents a departure from the Harper government’s reductive characterization of the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women as a familial issue, rather than one borne of poverty, marginalization and systematic racism towards Indigenous peoples, and girls and women, in particular.

But is the public’s faith in the healing powers of the inquiry justified? What tangible changes will it bring about? And what challenges may the commission face in carrying it out? Continue reading “Inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women brings hope and challenges”

Carter & Assisted Suicide: Where We Stand One Year Later

March 2nd, 2016 by Safia Lakhani

This article was first published on the Ontario Bar Association’s website. It is an update to an earlier article which was first published on Rabble.ca.

February 6, 2016 marked one year since the Supreme Court released its ruling in Carter v. Canada, 2015 SCC 5. That decision struck down the constitutionality of Sections 14 and 241(b) of the Criminal Code, which prohibit assisted suicide, on the basis that they infringed on the individual’s right to life, liberty and security, and the right to equal protection under the law, in a manner that could not be justified under Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Carter was a departure from the Court’s earlier ruling in Rodriguez, in which the provisions prohibiting assisted suicide were found to violate the individuals’ right to life, liberty and security, but in a manner that was justified under Section 1 of the Charter.

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The state of assisted-dying legislation after Carter

December 7th, 2015 by Safia Lakhani

This post was first published on rabble.ca

On November 13, 2015, newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided his Minister of Justice, Jodi Wilson-Raybould, with a mandate letter. First on the list of priorities is that Ms. Wilson-Raybould “lead a process, supported by the Minister of Health, to work with provinces and territories to respond to the Supreme Court of Canada decision regarding physician-assisted death.”

It has been nine months since the Supreme Court released its ruling in Carter v. Canada, 2015 SCC 5, striking down the constitutionality of Sections 14 and 241(b) of the Criminal Code which prohibit physician-assisted suicide. The Court in Carter departed from the 1993 ruling in Rodriguez, which also dealt with the issue of physician-assisted suicide. In that case, the Court found that the provisions prohibiting physician-assisted suicide violated the individual’s right to life, liberty and security, but in a manner that was justified under Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. By contrast, the Court in Carter found that the offending provisions of the Criminal Code infringed on the individual’s right to life, liberty and security, as well as the right to equal protection under the law in a manner that could not be justified. Continue reading “The state of assisted-dying legislation after Carter”

What’s next in housing? Getting ready for the 2015 election

July 2nd, 2015 by Safia Lakhani

This post was first published on rabble.ca

Toronto’s housing crisis is well documented: the skyrocketing and prohibitive cost of rent, the lack of funding for repairs to community housing structures, and the growing wait list for affordable housing are just a few of the issues that have received media attention in the past year.

The facts are equally grim across the country: one in four Canadians spends more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, and an estimated 733,275 low-income Canadians are in extreme housing need, spending more than 50 per cent of their income on housing. Over 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness every year, and some 365,000 households are at risk of rent increases or eviction as a result of the end of operating agreements.

Continue reading “What’s next in housing? Getting ready for the 2015 election”

The Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act: Meeting your obligations as an employer in 2015

January 14th, 2015 by Safia Lakhani

The Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act was passed by the Ontario legislature in November 2014. The Act amends five statutes relating to employment and labour relations, and introduces new obligations for employers in 2015.

Below is a brief summary of amendments to existing legislation under the Act. It is important that employers are familiar with their obligations as these changes come into effect.

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