Index of Publications 

The Law of Protest Workshop - CALL Conference
Date: June 1-4, 2017

New Second Revised Edition to Leo McGrady's, Law of Organizing in BC
Date: October 15, 2016

Conference on Temporary Migrant Workers. Labour Rights and Organizing Strategies
Date: Oct 8 & 9, 2015

Health Issues Under Canada-Sponsored Migrant Worker Indentureship
Date: Oct 6, 2015

The Law of Protest-Walbran Valley Workshop
Date: September 13, 2015

Guide to the Law of Protests in BC - Klemtu Workshop
Date: Oct 4, 2014

Queen's University Conference - Privacy Paper Presented
Date: November 22, 2013

Stewards Conference - Section 12 Union's Duty of Fair Representation
Date: Mar 9-10, 2012

EXPERT EVIDENCE EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION AND THE NEW CIVIL RULES OF COURT
May, 2010

"The frequency of use, and the range of issues on which expert evidence is sought and used in litigation has increased at an enormous rate in recent years - in all areas of law, including employment litigation. In a recent review of Ontario and British Columbia cases during the 2007 calendar year for a 2008 CLE paper we were doing on expert evidence, we found experts had testified in approximately 300 cases, and their expertise covered an astonishing array of issues - computers, chemistry, motor cycle gangs, the drug trade, mental health, weapons, alcoholism, psychiatry, orthopedic surgery, occupational therapy, appraisals, internal medicine, valuations, legal fees, negligence in relation to fires, anthropology, linguistics, demography, ecology, ethnobotany, custody and access, vocational testing, and marine surveying.">>MORE

EXPERT EVIDENCE AND THE GOUDGE AND CAMERON INQUIRIES
April, 2008

"Let me begin by saying what the Goudge and Cameron Inquiries are.  They are two separate judicial inquiries proceeding in different parts of the country, but sharing a single theme - the incompetence of highly trained Canadian experts, and the complete failure of different aspects of our legal system to detect these problems before widespread and terrible damage is done.">>MORE

CLASS ACTIONS CAN BE EFFECTIVE IN ENFORCING RIGHTS IN EMPLOYMENT LAW
March 3, 2006

"In British Columbia, the Class Proceedings Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 50, has been overlooked as a tool for enforcing rights for non-union employees. There are four areas of statutory regulation of the workplace where class actions could be effective: employment standards, human rights, privacy rights and, perhaps, workplace safety.">>MORE

CORPORATE CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE: NEW WAYS TO PROTECT EMPLOYEES' HEALTH AND SAFETY

February 1, 2006

"In 1992, 26 coal miners died in a mine explosion in Nova Scotia.  In the 13 years since that date, not a single member of management, not a single owner, has ever been convicted of a Criminal Code offence. This is so despite the fact that evidence called during a subsequent inquiry demonstrated beyond a doubt that management was guilty of culpable behaviour.">>MORE

DEFAMATION, TRADEMARK, COPYRIGHT & LABOUR LAW IN CANADA

November 1, 2005

"The law of defamation in Canada is based on the English common law and is, therefore, more plaintiff oriented than defamation law in the United States. In Canada’s common law jurisdictions, defamatory statements are presumed false.  In cases of libel and in some cases of slander, general damages are presumed.">>MORE

OBESITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

July 6, 2005

"Scientific literature links certain mental health issues, such as depression, to disordered eating.  Over the past quarter century, one of the primary health policy instruments employed in Canada to address mental health issues has been human rights statutes.  Yet, no obesity-related human rights complaint has been specifically decided on the prohibited ground of mental disability.">>MORE (Draft version; full version will follow shortly)

PRIVACY LAW UPDATE

April 29, 2004

"When Minister Santori rose in the House to move second reading of Bill 38, the Personal Information and Protection Act, he spoke to the government’s highest..." >> MORE

WHEN PRIVACY INTERESTS CLASH WITH SURVEILLANCE AND TESTING

February 24-25, 2004

"Surveillance technology is a growth area. It is becoming increasingly sophisticated, affordable, and available. It is no wonder in such circumstances that more and more employers are choosing to use it to monitor their employees. And there is a panoply of choice: hidden cameras, key-stroke monitoring, and Internet activity logs..." >> MORE

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES:  STANDING, PRIVACY AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

November 21-22, 2003

"Until recently, it seems that many of us in this country knew surprisingly little about the concept of privacy. Indeed, if we were to pause and reflect about what privacy meant to us, I would suspect that we might proceed no further in our exploration than thinking in terms of the location of a hedge on the border of our property to provide us with visual privacy while enjoying our home; or the video surveillance notice by the local bank’s ATM machine. Those of us practicing commercial law, in which confidential information may be worth millions, might worry..." >> MORE

PROTESTERS' GUIDE TO THE LAW AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN BC

February 2002

"Our province has an extensive record of conflict between lawmakers, bosses and working people. In July 1918, United Mine Workers organizer and pacifist Albert "Ginger" Goodwin was shot by a private policeman in Cumberland. His murder sparked Canada's first General Strike as BC workers walked off the job in protest..." >> MORE (in PDF format)

OBSTACLES TO UNION ORGANIZING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

February 2001

"The basis for the law in British Columbia regulating access to collective bargaining was laid in the early 1970s by a sympathetic government – the New Democratic Party. That framework survived labour-hostile governments from 1976 through to the early 1990s.  In the past decade, again with a government sympathetic to the objectives of the labour movement, unions have continued to make some measure of progress." >> MORE (Download MS Word Document)