Blog

Bring Evidence-Based ABA to school! A guide to advocate for your child’s access to education

• February 20, 2019
• Kimberly Srivastava
• Comments Off on Bring Evidence-Based ABA to school! A guide to advocate for your child’s access to education

Many children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis suffer from a lack of access to meaningful education. Meaningful access to education is a basic human right. Many school boards refuse to provide Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in the classroom despite the research which demonstrates that evidence based ABA is an effective approach to teach students with ASD and other diagnoses. » Read the rest

Age Discrimination in the Workplace

• December 27, 2018
• Anoop Kalsi
• Comments Off on Age Discrimination in the Workplace

A recent Globe and Mail article explored the growing number of human rights complaints involving workplace age discrimination.

Companies cannot fire or refuse to hire an older employee on the basis of age. Yet, they may find a way to make decisions that nonetheless lead to age discrimination. » Read the rest

Ministry of Education Gaining Power to Establish Service Animal Guidelines

• December 21, 2018
• Laura Lepine
• Comments Off on Ministry of Education Gaining Power to Establish Service Animal Guidelines

The Ontario Ministry of Education has recently introduced Bill 48, the “Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act, 2018”, which mandates revocation of a teacher’s teaching certificate if he or she is guilty of professional misconduct involving sexual abuse of a child.

One provision of Bill 48, however, seems unrelated: Schedule 2 of the Bill would amend subsection 8(1) of the Education Act, giving the Minister of Education the power to establish policies and guidelines respecting service animals in schools. » Read the rest

CHRT to Hear Complaint of Women with Service Dogs Forced off Flight

• December 21, 2018
• Laura Lepine
• Comments Off on CHRT to Hear Complaint of Women with Service Dogs Forced off Flight

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (“CHRT”) will hear the complaint of two visually-impaired Toronto women who were removed from a flight at Pearson Airport because of their service dogs.

Amal Haddad, Nayla Farah, and Farah’s daughter allege that, though they had all the necessary papers and had travelled with service dogs many times before, the flight crew on their Jet Airways flight had them removed for refusing to muzzle their service dogs. » Read the rest

Students and Alumni Rally Against University of Toronto Law Tuition

• December 11, 2018
• Laura Lepine
• Comments Off on Students and Alumni Rally Against University of Toronto Law Tuition

Current and former University of Toronto law students are frustrated about rising tuition costs, which are driving students into greater debt and reducing socioeconomic diversity in the profession.

David Baker, who has advocated on behalf of alumni against rising, prohibitive tuition costs, was recently featured in an article by Anita Balakrishnan in the Law Times, entitled “Alumni, students decry U of T’s law school fees”, which can be read here (link). » Read the rest

ODSP definition change will pose difficulties for persons with mental health disabilities

• December 7, 2018
• Anoop Kalsi
• Comments Off on ODSP definition change will pose difficulties for persons with mental health disabilities

Ontario’s recent change to the definition of disability will result in difficulties for those who suffer from mental health disabilities to qualify for assistance under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

The government’s change includes aligning the definition of disability with the federal government’s definition under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). » Read the rest

Revisiting Clark v. Clark

• December 5, 2018
• Anoop Kalsi
• Comments Off on Revisiting Clark v. Clark

In 1982, surrounding talks around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Justin Clark began a battle for what would ultimately become a pivotal movement for Canadian disability rights. 26 years ago, on November 25, 1982, Judge John Ross Matheson rendered his historical ruling which determined that Justin Clark was mentally competent and able to make his own decisions. » Read the rest

Court Challenges Program one step closer to Opening for Business

• December 3, 2018
• David Baker
• Comments Off on Court Challenges Program one step closer to Opening for Business

On November 20, 2018, Canadian Heritage announced the exert panels who will establish policy and approve funding for Charter cases involving issues within federal jurisdiction. The announcement states “details of the … funding application process will be developed in a few weeks.” » Read the rest

The #metoo and #timesup movements are making their impact on the legal profession

• November 13, 2018
• Kimberly Srivastava
• Comments Off on The #metoo and #timesup movements are making their impact on the legal profession

The Law Society’s Equity and Indigenous Affairs Committee has just released a report on the activities of the Duty and Harassment Counsel of the Law Society of Ontario (LSO). The report shows that there been a 50% increase in discrimination complaints against lawyers this year, including complaints by members of the public and other legal professionals. » Read the rest

Update: Charities can sponsor Test Case litigation

• August 21, 2018
• Laura Lepine
• Comments Off on Update: Charities can sponsor Test Case litigation

Bakerlaw recently posted about the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision in Canada Without Poverty v AG Canada, 2018 ONSC 4147, in which the Court struck down a prohibition in the Income Tax Act preventing registered charities from devoting more than 10% of their resources to “political activities”. » Read the rest