Client Profile: Women’s Community Co-operative Inc.

July 23rd, 2019 by Iler Campbell

A photo of Women’s Community Co-operative

Women’s Community Co-operative Inc. is a 46 unit mid-rise building in Hamilton. The co-op houses a diverse group of women, some of whom have lived there since the beginning, choosing to age in place and others who have joined more recently. They come from all walks of life and many corners of the world – in short, they are like every other housing co-op in 2019. Despite difference, they have all chosen co-operative living.

Managed by Niagara Peninsula Homes, Women’s came to our firm a couple of years ago to help resolve some interpersonal issues among its members. Like many of our clients, it seemed to the Women’s board that the co-op world had shifted from one where their by-laws were paramount and they could largely operate in isolation from the bigger world. Now there were obligations imposed on them from the outside that they didn’t understand. At the same time, their members were using language of human rights and harassment that made the board uneasy, afraid to ignore for fear of legal implications, but not sure how to respond. The Women’s Board and the co-op staff were routinely drawn into disputes and away from broader community concerns. Their meetings were filled with lengthy discussions about members’ complaints leaving little time for discussing building related issues, City relations, upcoming federation events, and so-on.

Continue reading “Client Profile: Women’s Community Co-operative Inc.”

Free webinar: Community Land Trusts – everything you’ve wanted to know

July 17th, 2019 by Iler Campbell

Community land trusts – What do they do? How are they formed? How can you find out more about this type of organization to try to start one in your own community? Iler Campbell lawyer, Claudia Pedrero, will discuss the community land trust model, and how this form of organization can, and is, being used as a grass-roots model for community stewardship of land and community assets. Drawing on her work both as a lawyer and a board member of a Toronto community land trust, Claudia will discuss how community land trusts differ from non-profit organizations, and how community land trusts are presenting themselves as an alternative form of land ownership and management.

Join us August 8 at 12:30 PM 

Register to attend here.

Can’t attend but would like to be sent the recording afterwards? Sign up to be notified here. (We’ll send the recording out to all attendees too, so no need to sign up twice.)

Law Society elections send a message on diversity and it’s not what you’d hope

June 27th, 2019 by Shelina Ali

This article was first published on rabble.ca

The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) is once again facing a court challenge claiming that it has violated Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the right to freedom of conscience, speech and religion. This court challenge follows the LSO’s successful defence of its decision to refuse to accredit the proposed law school at Trinity Western University (TWU) because of a requirement that attendees sign a covenant agreeing not to engage in homosexual activities. The LSO took the position that this prevented equal access to the legal profession in Ontario by excluding individuals who identified as LGBTQ.

The new battle relates to a Statement of Principles that the LSO requires lawyers to provide as of last year. It’s another example of the LSO attempting to enshrine principles of diversity, anti‑oppression and anti‑discrimination in a profession that is known for its lack of inclusiveness and diversity. In this case, the opposition to advancing these values is coming from other lawyers and is proving to be divisive for the governing council of the LSO — the democratically elected body that oversees its governance Continue reading “Law Society elections send a message on diversity and it’s not what you’d hope”

Client Profile: Assisted‑Dying Resources Centres Canada

June 19th, 2019 by Iler Campbell

Logo for Assisted-Dying Resource Centres Canada
Following the Supreme Court of Canada’s Carter decision in 2015, Canadians acquired a right to receive medical assistance in death (MAiD). Legislation came into force in June 2016 amending the Criminal Code to allow MAiD in limited circumstances. Since then, thousands have exercised this right – many in their own homes, others in hospitals, and still others in other kinds of institutions.

For some, though, where to receive medical assistance in death is a needless stress. Homeless patients who might otherwise be eligible cannot exercise this right because shelters do not allow it; many hospices have policies that prevent patients from having medically assisted deaths; some nursing homes and retirement homes – especially faith based ones – have said “no” to MAiD; and finally, some patents prefer not to die in their own homes because of the memories it may leave for their loved ones. Continue reading “Client Profile: Assisted‑Dying Resources Centres Canada”

Legal aid is important. Ford government’s cuts will hurt us all.

June 13th, 2019 by Brynn Leger

The Ontario government announced considerable cuts to funding Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) as part of its first budget released in April 2019. The budget cuts provide for a nearly 30% reduction in the government’s funding to LAO, which will increase to a 40% cut in future years. LAO funds legal services for those who cannot afford representation in Ontario. They do this by providing certificates to lawyers to compensate them for representing individual clients, primarily in criminal and family law matters. They also fund community legal clinics, which in turn provide legal representation to community members, and also carry out law reform and community organizing initiatives. The province is separated into “catchment areas,” with each catchment area having a designated legal clinic. There are also specialty legal clinics, which focus on certain areas of law such as disability, HIV/AIDS, or injured workers.

On June 12, 2019, LAO announced how those cuts will be applied in the coming year.  LAO will base cuts to legal clinics on low‑income population in each catchment area and other supports available. Toronto clinics will see the largest cuts based on these recalculations. LAO is also urging clinics to preserve one‑on‑one client work and scale back its law reform and community organizing work. These changes are in addition to the freeze on providing new provincial funding for immigration and refugee law services which was announced back in April.

One clinic which will be considerably impacted by these LAO funding cuts is Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS). PCLS has been serving the Parkdale community in Toronto for over 40 years, and also functions as a student clinical education program, offering 20 student placements each year. It works in the areas of employment, housing, social assistance and immigration law. It has struggled this year to secure a lease for a new location in the neighbourhood, lacking a secure commitment from LAO to support the move. The latest announcement from LAO will mean a $1,000,000.00 cut to the PCLS budget. Continue reading “Legal aid is important. Ford government’s cuts will hurt us all.”

Human Rights: Can ethical veganism be counted as a creed?

June 5th, 2019 by Safia Lakhani

This article was first published on rabble.ca

The Ontario Human Rights Code protects individuals from discrimination in various contexts, including employment, accommodation and the provision of goods and services. While most of the 14 grounds enumerated in the code are self-explanatory, the recent case of Adam Knauff, a vegan firefighter who has alleged discrimination on the basis of “creed” for the failure to accommodate his diet raises questions about the intended scope of this protected ground, and whether it may be interpreted to accommodate his claim.   Continue reading “Human Rights: Can ethical veganism be counted as a creed?”