Canada needs to be more proactive in preventing hate crimes against children with disabilities. Over the past year, there have been at least two media-reported incidents of violent attacks on young people with disabilities. One, which took place in Winnipeg in January, involved a 13-year-old boy with intellectual disabilities being thrown into a dumpster and left there by two men
Read moreThis blog post celebrates the decision rendered on July 25, 2016 by the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel. In Portman v Government of the Northwest Territories, Elizabeth Portman was successful in having a blanket policy refusing legal aid for human rights cases overturned. Prof. Laverne Jacobs of the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law represented Ms. Portman pro bono. [1]
Read moreby Laverne Jacobs, Associate Professor, Windsor Law. Read my latest article, published in Revue Internationale des Gouvernements Ouverts, (2016), p. 79-106. Presented in Paris, France at L’Institut de Recherche Juridique de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, March 8, 2016. Full text available here: Laverne Jacobs – Humanizing Disability Access Regs in Cda SSRN (pdf) Laverne Jacobs – Humanizing Disability Access
Read moreby Laverne Jacobs*, Victoria Cino** and Britney DeCosta*** (Forthcoming in the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies) The Accessibility for Manitobans Act [1] (AMA) came into force in December 2013. Manitoba is the second Canadian province to enact accessibility standards legislation. The first province was Ontario which enacted the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) in 2001, and later the more fortified and
Read moreBy Laverne Jacobs, Associate Professor of Law, University of Windsor Canada[1] Here is an excerpt from my latest paper which explores transportation equality challenges for persons with disabilities in Canada, human rights decisions, and in which I propose a new theoretical framework for analyzing issues of ability-related equality that I have termed the ‘universality of the human condition’. The full
Read moreBy: Anchal Bhatia, 2L Student, Windsor Law ODSP is based on asking people with disabilities to constantly prove their struggles. It is time we rethink the ODSPA. In May 2015, there were significant discussions surrounding the backlog of medical reviews for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The Toronto Star featured an article regarding disability welfare reviews and
Read moreby Nsamba Gerald, 3L Student, Windsor Law Legalizing assisted suicide would not increase choice and self-determination, despite the assertions of the Canadian Supreme Court ruling in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 5 . It would in fact augment real dangers that negate genuine choice and control. The assisted suicide model is an act executed by professional medical personnel
Read moreAutism-inclusive employment resources in Newfoundland fail to compensate for poor government intervention By Jade Standaloft, 2015 L.L.B., University of Tasmania. Another positive step in autism promotion has been taken recently with the introduction of a new jobseekers’ database, aimed at connecting those on the autism spectrum with employers. The database, developed by Ready, Willing and Able and the Autism Society
Read moreBy Anne Olszewski, J.D. 2016, University of Windsor Faculty of Law Should governments ban isolation rooms in Canadian schools? A Toronto mother of an autistic child certainly thinks so. Karen Thorndyke and her family are suing their district school board for $16 million claiming their autistic son was repeatedly kept in an “isolation room” as punishment for his outbursts and
Read moreBy Krysten Bortolotti, J.D. 2016, University of Windsor Faculty of Law The Moore v British Columbia decision in 2012 was seen as a huge victory when the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously found that all school districts must take a proactive approach to budgeting and programming to ensure the rights of students with disabilities and their accommodation are taken into
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Law, Disability & Social Change 