Articles 2024

This article explores some preconceived notions and hopefully draws on the need for cultural competence in the workplace. The concepts discussed are transferrable to multiple settings: the courtroom, meeting rooms, interviews and even emails. The need to be culturally sensitive should have a broad application and applies to all professional interactions. Specific examples focus on Indigenous practitioners, but there are transferrable concepts that apply to all groups of people.

Conversion therapy has been banned in Canada for just over one year. When the ban was introduced, it was heralded as a historic win in protecting 2SLGBTQ+ communities and was generally well-received by the public and advocacy groups. This article provides background information surrounding the criminalization of conversion therapy in Canada and explores some of the criticisms of the ban one year after its implementation.

Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of May 22, 2023.

This article reviews a recent BC Supreme Court case that revisited the principles to be considered when the court determines whether or not to order a capacity assessment in a guardianship proceeding; further, the article provides guidance for requesting and/or conducting effective capacity assessments.

Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of May 8, 2023.

"[Unconscious bias] comes up in my day-to-day. For example, people assume that I am more mellow, more docile, under-spoken, or not very assertive, all because I am an Asian woman. So when I’m handling files where the lawyer on the other side is known for being abrasive or unreasonable, senior lawyers sometimes assume that I’m unable to stand my ground. And when I act as assertive as any other lawyer, I get called aggressive."