Freeze on overdose prevention sites engages Charter rights

August 30th, 2018 by Brynn Leger

This article was first published on rabble.ca

On August 10, 2018, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long‑Term Care announced a freeze on new overdose prevention sites (OPS) in the province. The freeze was effectively immediately, meaning it has impacted three OPS slated to open in Thunder Bay, St. Catharines and Toronto.

A new OPS in Toronto was scheduled to open on August 13, 2018 in the city’s Parkdale neighbourhood, just days after the freeze. Activists, organizers and members of the community were outraged by the news, especially in light of a safety warning issued by Toronto Police on August 14, 2018 about a spike in overdose deaths. The opioid crisis is a national public health emergency, and the Government of Canada supports supervised consumption sites, including OPS, as part of its national strategy to address the crisis.

Continue reading “Freeze on overdose prevention sites engages Charter rights”

Articling position filled for 2019-2020

August 16th, 2018 by Iler Campbell

We were gratified to receive a strong field of articling student candidates again this year. Of the 137 (!) applications we received we conducted 10 interviews. Our top choice, Karly Wilson, accepted our offer. We’re looking forward to working with her and are confident she will make a great contribution when she arrives in a year’s time, joining the ranks of some terrific students we’ve had over the years.

In the meantime, some lucky clients of ours will have the privilege of working with Brynn Leger, our current articling student. She joined us in July and her articling term runs until May next year. Stay tuned to our blog for more about Brynn and for articles from Brynn over the next months.

Iler Campbell LLP is unusual as a place where young lawyers can gain experience working for non-profits, charities, co-ops, social enterprises and the like. We see hiring articling students as an obligation to the legal profession and to the progressive organizations that we serve. It allows us to give our clients quality, supervised work at lower cost, and have great satisfaction in knowing that even if we don’t hire back, we have contributed to someone’s early start in law.

Our tagline is “A law firm for those who want to make the world a little bit better.” Articling here and in other like-minded firms helps build a cadre of advocates for that better world.

Thank you to all those who applied for a position for the 2019-2020 articling period. We wish all those seeking articling positions the best of luck in their search. We will advertise again next May for the 2020-2021 articling period.

The Law Society is flirting with the idea of doing away with articling. Should it?

July 26th, 2018 by Celia Chandler

This article was first published on rabble.ca

One hundred thirty-seven — yes, that’s right: 137. And last year, 150!

These are the number of applicants we received for one articling position for the period July 2019 to May 2020. For readers not in law in Ontario, articling is a 10-month work placement under the supervision of a lawyer. Completing articles is a condition to practising law in Ontario.

The competition for securing articles is so intense that the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has explored alternatives and is flirting with the idea of giving up on articling altogether.

Bad idea. We don’t want to lose an important training ground for progressive lawyers. Our law firm, Iler Campbell LLP, is unusual as a place where young lawyers can gain experience working for non‑profits, charities, co‑ops, social enterprise and the like. We see hiring articling students as an obligation to the legal profession and to the progressive organizations that we serve. Our tagline is “A law firm for those who want to make the world a little bit better.” Articling here and in other like‑minded firms helps build a cadre of advocates for that better world.

Continue reading “The Law Society is flirting with the idea of doing away with articling. Should it?”

Charities now free to engage in non-partisan political activities

July 20th, 2018 by Brian Iler

This article was first published on rabble.ca

Charities are now free to engage in non-partisan political activities.

That’s the explicit message of the Ontario Superior Court in its decision this week.

What a huge relief to those many charities that suffered through Stephen Harper’s politically motivated Canada Revenue Agency audits!

While Justin Trudeau promised reform, and suspended action on those audits, he has yet to deliver reform.

But the court did.

The application to the court was brought by a small charity, Canada Without Poverty, after Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) threatened to take away its charitable registration, alleging that virtually all of its activities involved political engagement.

Continue reading “Charities now free to engage in non-partisan political activities”

Social finance: Challenges for its legal regulation

June 28th, 2018 by Ted Hyland

This article was first published on rabble.ca.

Last month, the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology issued a report entitled The Federal Role in a Social Finance Fund. The Committee’s recommendations included the federal government creating and contributing to a national social finance fund. This recommendation, among others from the Committee, aligns with, for example, the social enterprise strategy of the Ontario government.

For all of the optimism percolating through the Senate report and Ontario’s strategy there is the challenge of how to reconcile two dynamics that historically have been opposed: the private interest for profit and the common interest for public benefit. Social finance is about harnessing capital and the forces of the market to solve social problems. It’s about commercializing social, environmental and cultural problems that traditionally were addressed by government as part of an overall goal of wealth redistribution and creation and protection of public goods. Social finance represents a shift: addressing these problems is an opportunity for wealth creation, as well as doing good. Continue reading “Social finance: Challenges for its legal regulation”

Client Profile: Bread and Roses Co-operative Homes

June 27th, 2018 by Iler Campbell

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Bread and Roses Co-op is a non-profit housing co-operative located in downtown Kitchener.

The co-op, established in 1990, includes a provincially designated heritage building that was built in 1879 as a button factory. Before being renovated to house 21 of the co‑op’s 66 units, the building was variously used for shirt manufacturing, as a barracks during the First World War, and for manufacturing felt, mattresses and electrical supplies. It is one of the most significant heritage landmarks in Kitchener and is the only remaining industrial building in Kitchener with a peaked roof. The heritage building is joined to a modern six story building that contains 45 apartments.

Bread and Roses’ founders were ahead of the curve with their vision of converting an old industrial building into housing in downtown Kitchener. In 1990, few people lived downtown by choice. That’s changed. Kitchener’s downtown is now a trendy, upscale address and the co-op is a bulwark against gentrification. Continue reading “Client Profile: Bread and Roses Co-operative Homes”