Weekly
Bulletin [2009.06.16]
The
Law Society of the Northwest Territories
Contents
1. Special CLE:
Disabilities in the Workplace
2. Meeting: Civility Task Force
3.
Meeting: Family Law Section
4. CLE: Law Surfing with CanLII
5. CLE:
Aboriginal Law - Honour of the Crown
6. Trial Advocacy:
Pre-Registration
Special CLE:
Disabilities in the Workplace
Work-related injuries can be a nightmare for the employee and the employer. On Friday, June 19, find out what you need to know to properly and effectively practice within the realm of workplace disability. This three-part seminar includes the following presentations:
WSCC Legislation
Michael Triggs, General
Counsel/Director of Legal Services, WSCC
Health Professionals in Disability
Management
Marion Hutton, Occupational Therapist
Legal Aspects of Disability Management
Chris Sabat,
Associate, Gowlings LLP (Calgary)
All members are encouraged to take advantage of this event, held in the lower boardroom at City Hall. Presentations begin at 10:00am, with a catered lunch break at 12:00pm.
If you have not already, please RSVP by return.
Civility Task Force Meeting
The Civility Task Force will be meeting Wednesday, June 24, at 12:00pm in the LSNT Boardroom. Committee members and all those interested are encouraged to attend. Please RSVP by return.
Family Law Section Meeting
The Family Law Section will be meeting Thursday, June 25, at 12:00pm in the LSNT Boardroom. Committee members and all those interested are encouraged to attend. Please RSVP by return.
CLE: Law Surfing with CanLII
CORRECTION:
This event is being held on
Monday, June 29 (not Tuesday, June 30)
Law is just a click away with a multitude of virtual libraries and repositories available to the profession and the public. The Federation of Law Societies of Canada has invested in its own Canadian-based online warehouse of case decisions, regulations and legislation. Produced by the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal, CanLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute) is a free, secure and accurate service for all to use.
This session will teach search techniques to enable users to get the optimum benefit from the site. Databases on the site will be demonstrated as well as the new legislation publishing system providing access to historical versions of statutes and regulations.
Currently the legislative databases published in the new system are Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, New Brunswick and the Federal jurisdiction. Attendees will be shown how to use the system and the advantages of having the point-in-time statutes and regulations on the site with the ability to link them to the case law.
The main features introduced by this new approach will be
illustrated.
These include:
- Versions of statutes and regulations reflecting real changes;
- Version dates corresponding to legislative changes, such as entry into force, amendment or repeal;
- Ability to search a legislative text as it was legally binding on a particular date in the past. Historical coverage is approximately five years for all jurisdictions except B.C. which will only reflect changes as of 2009;
- You will be shown how to compare two different versions of a particular document;
- Explanation of how to note-up statutes’ sections will be provided;
- Illustration of how to use RSS feeds to inform you about legislative changes of a particular statute or database.
It is anticipated that the migration of the other provinces and
territories will be completed by the end of summer 2009.
On Monday, June 29, Janine Miller, Executive Director of CanLII, will take you on a tour of the website and teach you how to get the most out of this service. Find out how to save time and energy in your research and make CanLII work for you.
All members are encouraged to attend this online session. Log-in details will be available soon. Alternatively, members are invited to the Law Society boardroom to participate in this event. If you have not already, please RSVP by return.
Aboriginal Law CLE:
The Honour of the Crown and the Duty to Consult
On a daily basis in Canada, governments struggle to find and maintain the balance between their duty to consult Aboriginal peoples and governments regarding government actions that might affect their rights, and exercising governmental discretion independent of these obligations.
The government's duty to consult is rooted in the broader concept of the Honour of the Crown, which the Supreme Court of Canada has stated, in Haida Nation, "is always at stake" in dealings with Aboriginal peoples.
In recent months, the Federal Court has issued two important decisions
relating to the Honour of the Crown and the duty to consult.
In late April, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in the Ochapowace
decision that the "concepts of consultation and accommodation, in the
sense required by the doctrine of the Honour of the Crown, cannot co-exist
with the independent exercise of police and prosecutorial discretion".
This apparent narrowing of the Supreme Court's perspective raises many
questions, not least of which is, is the concept of the Honour of the
Crown confined to the negotiation, interpretation and application of
Treaties, and the resolution of Aboriginal claims, or does it infuse all
government-Aboriginal interactions?
In mid-May, the Federal Court issued its decision in Brokenhead Ojibway Nation. This decision deals, among other issues, with the extent to which the Crown can rely upon administrative or regulatory bodies to comply with its duty to consult.
Join us on Tuesday, June 30 in the Law Society boardroom, as Maxime Faille (Gowlings, Ottawa) guides us through the implications of these decisions and the questions they raise. Be sure to RSVP by return for this 12:00pm Lunch-n-Learn, hosted by the CBA NWT Aboriginal Law section. Space is limited and lunch is provided, so reserve your spot today.
You can find the Federal Court’s decision in Ochapowace here:
www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2009/2009fca124/2009fca124.html
And in Brokenhead Ojibway Nation here:
www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2009/2009fc484/2009fc484.html
Trial Advocacy: PRE-REGISTRATION
This fall, September 30 - October 3, the court is your classroom. Test your advocacy skills before administrative tribunals. Get one-on-one mentoring from senior lawyers and judges, develop your courtroom and hearing presence, and explore every aspect of trial and hearing work: civil, criminal and administrative.
Fine-tune your professional skills with seminars and events by Eugene Meehan, QC (Ottawa), Laura K. Stevens, QC (Edmonton), Julia K. Hannaford (Toronto), Shelley L. Miller, QC (Edmonton), Molly Nabor-Sykes (Calgary), Susan T. Cooper (Iqaluit), and more.
Pre-register now! Trial Advocacy 2009 will only be open to 25 attendees, so ensure your spot in this very special event. Email the Society: CLICK HERE!
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