RSS FeedStreet Racing Laws Ruled Unconstitutional… Again!
For the second time, Ontario’s new anti-street racing laws have been deemed unconstitutional. This time Justice Peter Wright, has thrown out charges by indicating the unconstitutionality of the new law.
Justice Peter West, a provincial court judge in Newmarket, found that an accused driver’s Charter rights are “clearly infringed” by the potential jail time because the law doesn’t permit the person to put forward a defence.
“There is no air of reality to the Crown’s submissions that a defendant charged with stunt driving under section 172 of the Highway Traffic Act … has an available defence of due diligence,” West stated in a written ruling.
“The possibility of the imposition of up to six months imprisonment thereby renders this section unconstitutional.”
I can see this going up the judicial ladder. We shall keep our pedal off the metal, until this is decided. It is however, reported that police agencies still plan on enforcing the law.
Hate crime in London, Ontario
A woman had her head covering torn off and was pelted with anti-Arab slurs in an attempted stabbing London police are treating as a hate crime.
Canada’s own version of SEC to be vetted by Supreme Court
Ottawa to seek top court ruling on single securities regulator
Unlike the US, Canada doesn’t have a national securities regulator. Canadian constitution is somewhat equivocal in its division of powers between provinces and Ottawa. It sounds like a good idea for the federal government to refer its plans to the Supreme Court before spending money and influencing securities markets. Especially, since one province is not happy about these plans at all.
Les Whittington writes for the Toronto Star:
[Flaherty] has been supported by the province of Ontario and many other provinces. But the province of Quebec is against a single regulator, which it considers an infringement on its political autonomy under the constitution.
Student-teacher love can be a serious crime in Canada
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer (I am a law student). The text below contains only my understanding of the applicable law. It has nothing whatsoever to do with your particular situation. Do not assume you can make any decisions based on this text. I do not intend this text to apply to anyone’s situation. This text is not legal advice. I am not qualified to give legal advice anyway. The purpose of this text is to encourage debate and create awareness of certain criminal offences. Please consult a lawyer if you need legal advice or help with your particular situation.
Our society is obsessed with sex. Not just in a dirty sense. We are probably as much into sex as we are afraid of it, and one proof of our fear of sex is in the criminal code. Sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation, invitation to sexual touching are serious crimes in our legal system. We want to punish sexual offenders because we want to protect ourselves and especially our women and children. Traditionally, the predators have been men, but more and more often the police arrest women for sexual crimes. I wrote about a case in Georgia where a trial court gave a female teacher ten years for a mutual love affair with a girl-student. The girl reached the age of consent but the court ignored it because the older woman was her teacher. A few days ago, an Ontario judge sentenced a female teacher for a love affair with a student. If the older women didn’t plead guilty, this case would be almost identical to the case in Georgia, except for the brutally harsh sentence. But the intricate details of the Ontario case are different enough to make this story a lesson for all adults—not just for teachers.
Ontario AG responds to continuing Legal Aid boycott
The boycott of legal aid by the Criminal Lawyer’s Association continues. I reported a few days ago that the CLA would not endorse the government’s plan to inject $150 million into Legal Aid on the basis that the funds did not come close to making up for losses against inflation that criminal lawyers have endured since 1987 (among other reasons).
Below is the latest letter from Ontario’s Attorney General Chris Bentley in response to the CLA’s rejection of the plan.
—
Dear Member of the Bar:
As many of you know, legal aid has been an ongoing passion of mine, throughout my 25 years as a criminal defence lawyer and during my time in government. That’s why I was pleased to announce that the McGuinty government is investing $150 million over the next four years. This 21% increase to Legal Aid Ontario’s base funding means that Legal Aid Ontario will receive an additional $60 million in year four and every year thereafter. This investment means that the government’s contribution to Legal Aid will rise from $288 million per year to $348 million per year.
We understand that to get legal aid to a better place, we have to properly support lawyers.
This is the largest investment that the province has made since the beginning of legal aid. We are committed to ensuring that the poorest Ontarians get the legal support that they need, when they need it and in the way that they need it. I am confident that the Bar shares these goals. This investment will support poverty alleviation. It will also help drive significant reforms in our family and criminal courts—which will themselves help Ontarians needing assistance.
The transformation plan targets four key areas: creating a central role for legal aid clinics in poverty alleviation; fostering a faster, less confrontational and simpler family justice system; promoting justice effectiveness through the use of block fees; and improving the approach to big cases.
The members of the Bar, including the Alliance for Sustainable Legal Aid, asked us for two things: an additional investment and an assurance that they would not simply be presented with a reform plan that was a fait accompli. As a result, we will immediately establish an Advisory Group in each of five areas: family, clinics, large criminal case management, standard criminal cases and immigration law. Your advice as front-line service providers, on the advisory groups will inform how best to achieve our mutual goals.
There are a few parts of our announcement that I would like to clarify:
- We have been explicitly given direction to develop and seek approval of an indexation mechanism. This has always been part of our legal aid renewal plan. The implementation would take place in 2013 (our investment rises every year until then);
- We understand that appropriate support is required for service providers to assist Ontario’s vulnerable and are open to the Advisory Working Group’s advice on the best way to provide that support so that we get experienced counsel in family and criminal matters. There was a specific commitment to look at models such as the British Columbia big case model if the advisory group so advised;
- This historic investment in legal aid is not the government’s “opening proposal” as some have suggested. This is the single largest increase to legal aid funding ever in Ontario. In fact, it is one of the largest single justice sector investments in history. The discussion from here forward needs to be about how to make the funding work as well as possible; an over 20% increase to LAO’s base budget is unprecedented and significant in the best of times. It is extraordinary in these times.
- The Major Case Management Office is being created to provide the required accountability and quality control that the Bar has supported. The government is responsible to ensure that cases progress and that the rights of the accused are protected.
- Legal Aid is responsible to ensure that the accused who need counsel to defend themselves on serious charges but cannot afford them have access to counsel. To the extent that members of the private bar remain unavailable to do these cases, a large case office will have to develop the permanent capacity to do them. The capacity and role of this office, will, therefore, depend, on the availability of private counsel.
We are committed to a legal aid system that provides support to Ontarians when they are at their most vulnerable. This investment will ensure that a vibrant legal aid system is able to assist those in need, now and in the future.
Sincerely,
[Original Signed By Hon. Chris Bentley]
Hon. Chris Bentley
Attorney General
Legal Aid boycott to continue
I spoke too soon when I congratulated the Criminal Lawyers Association on convincing Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley to boost funding to Legal Aid Ontario to the tune of $150-million over the next four years.
It turns out that the battle will be continuing. Despite the funding boost, the Criminal Lawyers Association board has voted in favour of maintaining the boycott of legal aid.
Frank Addario, President of the CLA, argues that the cash infusion is merely a stop-gap measure which does not address the underlying concerns of the criminal defence bar. In a communique to Association members, Addario pointed out that when broken down, legal aid lawyers would be receiving a raise of 5% or less over the next four years.
This wouldn’t come close to correcting the income disparity between legal aid lawyers and Crown attorneys. It also wouldn’t address the many years of funding freeze and funding rollback that sparked the boycott in the first place. Addario explains:
If the population, the crime rate, the complexity of cases and inflation all remain stable in the next 4 years a 20% increase in funding will not eliminate the 60% loss against inflation since 1987.
Besides the money, there were other important reasons for the board’s decision to maintain the boycott. Expect a formal announcement later this week or next.
Legal Aid to get a much-needed funding boost
After years of neglect, the Legal Aid system in Ontario has been scheduled for an overhaul. On Tuesday, Attorney General Chris Bentley will announce $150 million in new funding for Legal Aid, as well as significant changes to the way the system works.
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is an independent, publically funded organization which is dedicated to improving access to justice in this province. With a current budget of about $288 million, the infusion of $150 million into the system over the next four years represents a huge boost.
Kudos are due to the Criminal Lawyers Association and senior defence lawyers across Ontario for taking dramatic steps to raise the public’s awareness of the ongoing injustices in the Legal Aid system. Kudos are equally due to AG Chris Bentley for listening and taking action to correct them.
Many members of the public don’t realize what legal aid money is actually spent on. The new funding will not only be used for criminal defence. In fact, much of the money will probably be directed towards family law services, such as helping people below the poverty line protect the best interests of their children. Among other things, LAO also funds: community clinics (such as the one I work for), duty counsel in court, aboriginal services, compensation for injured workers, tenant rights protection, compensation for victims of crime, and other victims services.
As for the actual changes, we can only speculate until they are officially announced on Tuesday.
However, Bentley has hinted that he will be moving towards a block-fee system rather than an hourly rate for criminal lawyers. Interestingly, this is the system that was previously in place; it was rejected in favour of the hourly wage with maximum hour caps for particular types of work, such as trials, bail hearings, and Charter applications. The block-fee system was criticized for creating an incentive to work as many cases as possible while putting in as few hours of work as possible into each. It remains to be seen how the AG will address these concerns.
It is also expected that in the family law arena, changes will promote more collaborative dispute resolution, such as mediation. This would be a positive step that would free up court resources and make the family law process much less adversarial.
Another change which I am personally hoping for is a Provincial program under s. 802.1 of the Criminal Code that would allow student legal aid clinics to work on summary conviction cases which are punishable by more than 6 months in jail. Having smaller clinics do this type of work would relieve some of the burden on more experienced lawyers, who could direct their efforts towards defending more serious offences.
See also: $150m More Legal Aid for Ontario
The heavy hand of family law
Ontario’s “zero tolerance” policy on domestic violence has come into question following an unusual court case involving an Orangeville-area woman who was charged with assault after joking in emails that she could solve her marital problems with a gun, if only she could get one.
Alison Shaw, 40, was forced out of her home and ordered to stay away from her three children after her estranged husband claimed to have been “frightened” by the online missive, which followed what a judge described as a “one-punch bar fight” over a month earlier in an area Legion hall.
Problems finding rental housing?
Rights commission targets `blatant discrimination’ in rental-housing market
There’s obvious discrimination in rental housing, says the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s annual report released yesterday, identifying the problem as a key area that needs immediate intervention.
Update on Tori Stafford case
Accused in Tori Stafford murder in court
Her lawyer, Jeanine Leroy, says there is a “substantial amount of evidence” to review before the case goes any further.
From epidemic to epidemic
Ontario nurses seek to revive SARS lawsuit
It says the May ruling leaves nurses at risk as they care for patients during the current swine flu pandemic, as well as other outbreaks of potentially deadly diseases.
The finger as a traffic offence
One-digit salute earns driver second ticket
After he received the ticket and began to pull away, the driver raised his hand and flashed an obscene gesture toward provincial police Const. Bettina Schwarze.
Do you think the officer did the right thing?
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