The Inquest into the Death of Terry Baker concluded with 67 recommendations aimed to prevent a similar death in the future. Amongst these, the jury recommended that: “The Minister of Public Safety should introduce legislative reforms to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act that would define “solitary confinement” consistent with the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules…”, and to implement in full a long list of recommendations arising from the Inquest into the Death of Ashley Smith. The full recommendations are linked here.
I had the honour of representing For Our Kids as Intervenors in Mathur v. Ontario at the Court of Appeal. The decision is still pending, but there is hope that this landmark case will become a landmark decision. For Our Kids’ reflections and blog is linked here.
Marsha McLeod writes a four part investigative series on judicial oversight of police shootings in Manitoba, including a deep dive into the inquest system, linked here.
With Nathan Hume and Natalia Sudeyko as incredibly supportive co-counsel, I made intervener submissions in the climate change litigation, Mathur et al. v. Ontario et al. My client was For Our Kids, a national network of parents and grandparents who support climate change actions in support of their children. Not surprising then was our argument: that the litigation in every aspect had to be interpreted according to the legal principle, “the best interests of the child”, which demands that children’s best interests be taken into account when interpreting the law. Further media and information linked here.
UPDATE: The decision at the Superior Court level is linked here. The decision has been appealed to the Court of Appeal, hearing to be held in January 2024.
I partnered with the Community Justice Collective to defend Skyler Williams, a land defender personally named by Foxgate. Foxgate is seeking to develop a part of the Haldimand Tract, a development which is protested by the Haudenosaunee people. The arguments were heard in Cayuga, and everyone is awaiting the judge’s decision. Media with more information linked here.
UPDATE: The decision at the Superior Court level is linked here.
Aaron Mills (McGill professor, and my husband) explains that… “what we call law, exists only within it’s own lifeworld.” This article illuminates our two different cultural worlds (Anishinaabe and Canadian) and the differences in the nature of law that arises from them, and is linked here.
My thesis regarded law in Nishnawbe Aski Nation. NAN is made up of 49 First Nations communities in Northern Ontario. I looked at their resolutions to determine what I could about their law. This 5 year odyssey is linked here.
An opinion piece that I wrote aimed at practising lawyers on how to learn Indigenous legal traditions. Published in the Canadian Bar Association online magazine just in advance of National Aboriginal day, June 17, 2019 and linked here.