Mary Eberts is Asper Centre's new Constitutional-Litigator-in-Residence

Friday, June 13, 2014
Mary Eberts

By Lucianna Ciccocioppo / Photo by Alexandra Wong, 2L

The Asper Centre has a new Constitutional-Litigator-in-Residence for the fall 2014: Mary Eberts.

Eberts, a Toronto-based constitutional lawyer and a former faculty member of this law school, will be teaching constitutional advocacy, drawing upon her extensive experience from her public law litigation practice, and from advocating for the Charter rights of her clients. She will also provide mentoring support to clinic students on their case files.

Q & A with Mary Eberts, Asper Centre's Constitutional-Litigator-in-Residence

Saturday, June 14, 2014

By Alexandra Wong, 2L

What brings you to the position of Constitutional-Litigator-in-Residence at the Asper Centre?

The 2012-2013 Gross Lecture: The Hon. Lynn Smith, "The Quest for a Charter Equality Test"

The 2012-2013 Morris A. Gross Memorial Lecture

The Honourable Lynn Smith

"The Quest for a Charter Equality Test: Has the
Longest Way Round Been the Shortest Way Home?"

4:00 – 5:30 p.m.

February 27, 2013

Rowell Room, Flavelle House, Faculty of Law

A reception will follow in the Faculty Lounge.

Human Rights Reform in Ontario: A Time for Change

Lorne Sossin
Monday, April 24, 2006

For over fifteen years, there has been a growing dissatisfaction with the human rights process in Ontario.  This dissatisfaction has been expressed by members of equity seeking communities, by human rights advocates and by lawyers practicing in the area of human rights. During that time, there have been four government-initiated reviews of human rights enforcement systems in Canada, one specifically directed at the Ontario legislation, one dealing with the very similar federal human rights complaint system, and two reviewing the systems in other provinces. Despite the fact that each of these reviews made very similar recommendations for reform of the human rights complaint process, to date no major reform has been undertaken in Ontario. That is, until now.

On February 20th, 2006, Attorney General Michael Bryant announced proposals to reform the human rights system of Ontario.  The proposals call for direct access to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario rather than the current system in which the Commission screens all complaints and decides which complaints will be referred on to a hearing in front of the Tribunal.

Room in the Bed for Everyone

Brenda Cossman
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

A few weeks ago, an odd thing appeared on the New York Times weddings page. There were three wedding announcements, but the same husband appeared in each one. It took a few moments for you to realize that it was actually an ad for the premiere of Big Love, HBO's new drama series on polygamy (which runs on The Movie Network in Ontario).

The series is created and produced by creative and romantic partners Mark V Olsen and Will Scheffer, two gay men who are rather obviously and provocatively riffing on the controversies around same-sex marriage.

The mock announcements nicely demonstrate the connection: the New York Times has been announcing gay and lesbian unions since 2002, two years before same-sex marriages were legal anywhere in the US. A wedding announcement in the New York Times is the ultimate sign of arrival, status writ large - even if there is nothing legal about it. The fake announcement of the three fictitious Big Love marriages played on the same gap between cultural and legal recognition.

The show's creators don't recoil from the association between same-sex marriage and polygamy. They seem to delight in playing on it.

Goliath Wins Again

Brenda Cossman
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

The David and Goliath story continues; Goliath is still winning.

Little Sister's Bookstore's protracted struggle with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) — formerly called Canada Customs — just keeps hitting the wall, thanks in large part to the Supreme Court Of Canada.

In its latest decision the Supreme Court last month refused to award Little Sister's with advance costs to fund its ongoing lawsuit over repeated seizures of its books by border cops.

It's not like the Supreme Court hasn't acknowledged that CBSA discriminates against Little Sister's. The seizures go back 20 years. In 2000 the Supreme Court told the agency in no uncertain terms to stop violating Little Sister's Charter rights by targeting lesbian and gay material. But the court upheld the border cops' censorship regime.

In 2002 Little Sister's filed an appeal against the seizure of two collections of gay adult comics, some with SM themes. Border cops then seized a few more titles, this time gay erotic fiction collections. Preparing once again to go into battle against an opponent with very deep pockets (funded by us taxpayers), Little Sister's lawyer Joe Arvay asked the judge to make a rarely used order for advance costs, to help Little Sister's pay for its formidable legal bills.

Minority Vote Dilution in Canada

Sujit Choudhry
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Although all adult citizens have the right to vote under section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the worth of one’s vote depends upon where one lives. Representation from Canada’s three fastest growing provinces — Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario — is increasingly out of step with demographic realities. The average ballot cast in these provinces is worth less than one cast in any other province. Moreover, within provinces, rural ridings are overrepresented in relation to urban constituencies.

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