Supreme Court Canada rules for the right to die

The Canadian Press

The Supreme Court of Canada shifted the goalposts Friday on one of the most fundamental of human laws.

In a charter precedent that will go down in the history books as Carter vs. Canada, the court unanimously struck down the ban on providing a doctor-assisted death to mentally competent but suffering and "irremediable" patients.

The emphatic, unanimous ruling prompted tears of joy and frustration on both sides of the debate, reverberated through provincial health ministries and doctor's offices across Canada, and left skittish federal parliamentarians groping for time to digest the implications.

Supreme Court Canada to rule whether RCMP can unionize

The Supreme Court of Canada is seen in Ottawa. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Mike Blanchfield The Canadian Press
The Supreme Court of Canada gave rank-and-file RCMP members a major morale boost Friday when it affirmed their right to engage in meaningful collective bargaining.

The high court did not explicitly state that the Mounties have the right to form a union, but the justices effectively cleared a path to that possibility.

The landmark 6-1 ruling gives the federal government a year to create a new labour relations scheme, setting the stage for talks among RCMP members, Commissioner Bob Paulson and the Harper government.

The Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling of its own from the 1990s which upheld an exclusion that barred the Mounties from forming unions like federal public servants, who gained the right to collective bargaining in the late 1960s.

New anti-doping program for Canadian athlete

CBC
For athletes New Year's day is also when the new anti-doping code takes effect.

The revised Canadian Anti-Doping Program has some changes for specific drugs, sanctions and test procedures, but it also has a new offence: athletes are not permitted to work with coaches, trainers, physicians or other athlete support personnel who are ineligible because of an anti-doping rule violation.

The statute of limitations on doping goes from eight years to 10 years, so a decade-old violation of anti-doping rules can result in sanctions.

Administered by the non-profit Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the changes are designed to ensure Canada is in compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code.

New Year, New Law: Patio Smoking Now Banned In Ontario

The Canadian Press
Tough new rules making it illegal to smoke on bar and restaurant patios have taken effect in Ontario.

Smoking on playgrounds and public sports fields is also prohibited.

The new rules also ban the sale of tobacco on post-secondary campuses.

The Ministry of Health has said the changes to the Smoke Free Ontario Act replace a patchwork of municipal regulations governing smoking on restaurant and bar patios, and will not hurt their businesses.

The measures were first announced in November.

The province says tobacco kills 13,000 people in the province each year and causes an estimated $2.2 billion in direct healthcare costs.

Watch Georgia law reps box themselves this on Boxing day

Iraq TV show makes ISIS terrorist confront victims

In this photo taken Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, Haider Ali Motar, right, performs a scene from "In the Grip of the Law," a reality show produced by Iraqi state TV, as a TV cameraman moves his position in Baghdad, Iraq. Hadi Mizban/AP

Vivian Salama The Associated PressHaider Ali Motar was convicted of terrorism charges about a month ago for helping to carry out a string of Baghdad car bombings on behalf of the Islamic State extremist group. Now, the 21-year old is a reluctant cast member in a popular reality TV show.

“In the Grip of the Law,” brings convicted terrorists face-to-face with victims in surreal encounters and celebrates the country’s beleaguered security forces. The show, produced by state-run Iraqiyya TV, is among dozens of programs, cartoons and musical public service announcements aimed at shoring up support for the troops after their humiliating defeat last summer at the hands of the Islamic State group, which now controls about a third of the country.

On a chilly, overcast day last week, the crew arrived at the scene of one of the attacks for which Motar was convicted, with a heavily armed escort in eight military pick-up trucks and Humvees. Passing cars clogged the road to watch the drama unfold, but were quickly shooed away by soldiers.

Christian university sues Law Society of BC over decision to not accredit law grads

Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C

Keven Drews The Canadian PressA Christian university embroiled in a debate about religious freedoms and same-sex equality rights will challenge in court a Law Society of British Columbia decision not to accredit graduates from its proposed law school.

In contention is a community covenant at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., that prohibits sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

The society accredited the proposed law school last April but reversed that decision in October.

Earlier this month, the government announced that it was also revoking its support.

University spokesman Guy Saffold said the judicial review will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn the society’s decision because it acted improperly under its own procedural guidelines and Canadian law.

“The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the freedom of religion, the freedom of religious communities to express their identity and we feel that the decision the law society has made violates those very important freedoms of our Canadian society,” said Saffold.

A similar judicial review is already underway in Nova Scotia. There, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society has decided not to allow graduates of the proposed law school to enrol in the bar admission program unless the university dropped a requirement that students sign a pledge to abstain from sex outside heterosexual marriage.

The Law Society of B.C. said in an email that it will defend its decision and respond to the university’s petition within the time provided under the court’s rules.

Canada controversial new prostitution law takes effect Dec. 6

Stephanie LevitzThe Canadian Press
It’s “sick and twisted” that Canada’s controversial new prostitution bill comes into force on a day dedicated to eradicating violence against women, says one of the women behind a successful court challenge of the old laws.

The new legislation, known as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, comes into force on Saturday, Dec. 6, which is also the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The day — the anniversary of the shooting deaths of 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal at the hands of gunman Marc Lepine — has evolved into an occasion to commemorate all female victims of violence.

Those who work in the sex industry have expressed their disdain for the new prostitution laws, which they fear will result in more victims, not fewer.

“I think that it’s a really sick and twisted day for it to happen,” said Valerie Scott, one of three women behind the landmark Supreme Court case that declared Canada’s legislation on prostitution unconstitutional.

“That day should not solely be for women who were murdered by Marc Lepine, it should also be for women who were murdered by Robert Pickton.

As New Pressure Mounts Alberta Government Amends Gay Law

The Alberta government is amending its bill dealing with gay support groups for students in the face of stiff pressure from critics and even from some in its own caucus. | Walter Bibikow via Getty Images

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press
The Alberta government, facing mounting resistance on a controversial bill, put forward an amendment Wednesday that opponents say could effectively segregate some gay schoolkids who want to form support clubs.

The amendment stipulates that if a school disallows a gay-straight alliance, the government would create one for students, though it does not say whether that would take place in school or somewhere off-site.

Opposition politicians, in an emotional sitting of the house, called that a revival of the reviled "separate but equal" Jim Crow laws used more than a generation ago in the U.S. to segregate and degrade African-Americans.

FirstNations takes government to court over financial transparency law

A group of First Nations protesters hold hands and dance in a circle during a demonstration in Surrey, B.C., in January 2013. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
The federal government is being taken to court over a law that requires First Nations to make public their financial information.

The Onion Lake Cree Nation, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, filed a statement of claim Wednesday in the Edmonton offices of the Federal Court.

Onion Lake began its court case on the same day as the Aboriginal Affairs-imposed deadline for First Nations to post their financial documents on a public website.

"Because of the deadlines and the time frames, we decided enough is enough," Chief Wallace Fox told a news conference in Edmonton.

"On behalf of our people, the Cree people of the Onion Lake Cree Nation, the statement of claim was the last step in a long journey to get the federal government to sit and talk with the nations."

The Conservative government's First Nations Financial Transparency Act required First Nations to post audited financial statements and information about the salaries and expenses of chiefs and councillors on a public website by July 29.

New social media terms of service may be trumped by Canadian law

Facebook is trying to simplify its lengthy privacy policy and better explain how it targets advertisements to its 1.35 billion users.  (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

Canadian privacy law may protect social media users who don't read a site's terms of use policies and unknowingly or unwittingly agree to have their information shared with other sites.

"This overriding provision in our federal privacy legislation actually does provide protection for unexpected, unreasonable uses, even with consent," said Barry Sookman, a Toronto-based lawyer and expert on internet law. "So I actually think there is a standard here that applies that is fairly useful and is consumer friendly."