legaleaseatckut: Recent Episodes
Legalease
LegalEase is broadcast by a collective of law students on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, every second Friday of the month at 11am EST.
This monthly radio show explores the law and its institutions with a critical lens. It aims to make the law both accessible and engaging.
LegalEase est une émission consacrée au droit qui vise à en rendre le jargon plus accessible tout en évaluant de manière critique ses institutions.
You might have skipped this news, as so much is going on. But it's huge (!)-- McGill law profs are unionizing (!!!!!), which is unprecedented in the 200 years of this university's history. Although that piece of information is incomplete: McGill law profs voted to constitute a union, and are currently seeking certification at the Tribunal administratif du travail... with McGill administration opposing it. So far, Provost Manfredi spent almost two full hearing days contesting the certification, on rather shaky grounds, and Dean Leckey is set to contest on the next hearing date, February 14th, 2022. Quite disheartening that it is our student fees $$$$$$ that are most likely covering their opposition.
We sat down for a hour-long conversation with Professor Evan Fox-Decent, interim President of the Association of McGill Professors of Law. Many topics were covered, among which a compelling explanation of the labour procedure our profs are engaged in, what a shift from a servant/master employment relationship to a union would mean for our profs and our faculty, and how a profs union might very well align with students' interest by decentralizing governance.
Compared to 16 other law faculties across the country (all outside of QC), McGill stands out as having the least stringent measures in place to ensure the safety of their student and faculty body. This is not solely as a result of the absence of a mandatory vaccination policy; in fact, there is a spectrum of measures that have been implemented by other Canadian Universities so that students and staff can manage their exposure, and be protected while learning on campus. For example, several universities chose to conduct mandatory vaccination declarations so that they could provide students data with the percentage of school population who are vaccinated. This information has been used to inform subsequent health protocols and transparently inform students of the risks engaged with being on campus. Another measure seen is the use of rapid antigen testing programs for those who are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated. University of Saskatoon, University of Calgary, University of New a Brunswick, Dalhousie, and Western all require rapid tests to be conducted twice weekly, and for the results to be submitted onto a secured portal set up by the university. In UBC and UVic the requirements are of a weekly test.
So why is McGill so bad at handling the pandemic?
We discuss the matter with prof Richard Gold-- you'll hear about the measures that in fact could be implemented, unrepresentative university governance, legal-ish things assessing McGill's credibility when it claims it is Québec's laws that prevents it from doing what must be done, and prof Gold will also beautifully deconstruct (some) anti-vaxxers' comparisons between their situation and segregation.
You'll also hear from Emily Black, a fellow CKUT pal. We dive into what this means for immunocompromised folks like herself to evolve in McGill during this pandemic and what McGill had to say to immunocompromised folks (hint: it is bad). We'll also cover SSMU's demands regarding covid safety on campus, and how they were dodged.
The focus of this final episode is on the changes that need to happen, and ways we can dismantle by-laws and policies that penalize homelessness and lead to discriminatory treatment and profiling of unhoused Montrealers.
We will hear from dean Marie-Eve Sylvestre, one of the leading scholars on the judicialization of homelessness. She conducted an in-depth study of tickets that have been issued to individuals experiencing houselessness since 1994, and documented the uninterrupted growth and evolving trends of such judicialization. You can access her work 'La judiciarisation de l’itinérance à Montréal : les dérives sécuritaires de la gestion pénale de la pauvreté' here-- https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2017-v47-rgd03131/1040516ar/
On jase ensuite des positions des partis municipaux vis-à-vis de ces enjeux-là avec Balarama Holness, candidat à la mairie de Montréal et fondateur de Mouvement Montréal, et Martine Musau Muele, candidate de Projet Montréal pour le poste de conseillère de ville dans le district de Villeray. Les élections municipales, ça a lieu le sept novembre prochain (!!).
D'ailleurs, la plateforme de Projet Montréal sera (probablement bientôt??) accessible là-- https://programme2021.projetmontreal.org Et celle de Mouvement Montréal, ici--https://www.mouvementmtl.com/fr/programme
This one is born of another collab between RadLaw and the Student Legal Clinic for Resilience Montreal. The episode does a deeper-dive into the harmful encounters between the penal system and houselessness within the city, focusing on the lived experiences of Claude and another person that are both experiencing houselessness, the intersection between houselessness and urban Indigeneity, and ways forward.
You'll hear takes on the matter from two folks who are experiencing houselessness, and what they would like to be the way forward-- more empathy, more solidarity, more caring relationships.
You'll also hear from Danielle Beaulieu, the Justice Support Services Coordinator at the First Peoples’ Justice Centre. We got to focus on the intersection between Indigeneity and houselessness, and to discuss ticketing, abolitionism, and moooore.
We also chatted with David Chapman from Resilience Montreal, about ticketing, gentrification and dehumanization.
We conclude with a powerful talk with three McGill law peers that are involved at either the Student Legal Clinic for Resilience Montreal or the Clinique juridique itinérante, to discuss what's next, and particularly how to build solidarities with houseless people within the city. In this bit, Jeanne is referring to this great resource-- 'Policing Homelessness in the Pandemic', available here-- http://policinghomelessness.ca.
The first episode in a three-part series put together by some of our peers at RadLaw McGill and the Student Legal Clinic for Resilience Montreal.
This first episode dives into the issue of municipal by-laws that disproportionately impact unhoused people and effectively penalize homelessness. In today’s episode, we’ll introduce this issue and hear from the Director of Resilience Montreal, and McGill Law students who have worked with clients experiencing homelessness.
This episode’s talks center around the housing crisis. Brett jase avec Cecilia Marangon du très badass HOJO, which empowers people by communicating tenancy law in an accessible manner. Cecilia notes the short supply of affordable housing in Montreal despite pandemic-related vacancies, and what to do if your landlord hits you with a rent hike, among other things. You’ll hear something along the lines of “Don’t give up! Once you give a little bit of your rights, it’s just a path that keeps going”.
Michelle a jasé Gaëlle Fedida des liens entre la violence conjugale et le logement abordable. Gaëlle est la coordonnatrice de l’Alliance provinciale des maisons d'hébergement de deuxième étape pour femmes et enfants victimes de violence conjugale, qui offre des logements transitoires sécuritaires. We strongly encourage you to ring your MPs about the total lack of meaningful tackling of gender violence in the CAQ's latest budget.
And finally, Brett takes back the mic to learn from Steve Pomeroy, a Canadian housing policy researcher, about the root causes of the affordable housing crisis and what might be done about it. They cover everything from the rise of housing commodification and speculative investment to rent control, inclusive zoning, and the impacts of AirBnB.
Enjoy!
This episode is a talk on the ways in which the pandemic --and related public policies-- most affects already marginalized people, particularly those without a house within the city.
Legalease's Brett interviewed Jessica Quijano from --among many other things-- the Defund the Police Coalition and the Native Women's Shelter, where they got to dissect the ways in which both intersect. The second half-hour of the podcast is a conversation between Legalease's Audrey and fellow McGill law pals Anna, Laurent and Emily, who are involved with the Clinique juridique itinérante and Resilience Legal Information Clinic. What follows is an enlightening talk about criminalization of poverty, revitalization of Indigenous laws, and the Superior Court's most recent decision in Clinique juridique itinérante v. Procureur général du Québec.
Policy analyst Russ Diabo speaks to Legalease's Michelle Pucci about Bill C-15, "An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples", and why the Indigenous Activists Network says it fails to recognize Canada's international obligations.
Image credit: In 2019, the government of British Columbia became the first to implement UNDRIP in Canada. ("Recognizing and Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" by BC Gov Photos is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Bill 21 prohibits capable persons from working public sector jobs if they wear any visibly religious symbols. Since it became law, many people who want to serve the Quebec public have had their dreams destroyed. It is easy to understand why this law disproportionately affects minorities, pushing them out of employment and further marginalizing them. Beyond the letter of the law, Bill 21 has many dangerous implications, which demand reflection about the ways discrimination continues to be perpetuated by our governments.
Legalease's Audrey sits down with UQAM Professor Vincent Romani to discuss coded racism, and the ways in which Bill 21, as a colonial law, deprives minorities from their subjectivity and humanity, while giving in to the ‘québécois-es pure laine’ a right to racism.
Legalease's Michelle interviews Maître William Korbatly, a lawyer in Quebec who gives workshops about the effects of Bill 21. Me. Kobatly discusses the ongoing legal challenge of Bill 21, as well as the right to gender equality and the right of linguistic minorities to autonomy when it comes to education.
Legalease's Camila chats with McGill Law student Asiyah Siddique, she is VP Academic and part of the Muslim Law Students Association. Asiyah talks about who she is, her take on bill 21, and how she still makes the case for optimism.
Thank you to everyone who contributed their time to this episode, the speakers, and those who are working to raise awareness about the harmful impact of Bill 21.
Photo from: Manifestation en solidarité contre la Loi 21 at the Palais de Justice, Montreal.
Frontline and essential workers are the people who keep us fed, and cared for everyday. The Covid-19 Pandemic has brought us to question whether the employment and labour laws in place do enough to protect these workers. Will we continue to take these populations for granted?
Our conversations highlight the inevitable intersection between employment rights, migrant workers, and the systemic inequalities that keep marginalized groups in positions of vulnerability and exploitations.
Legalease's Michelle speaks with Vicki McKenna and Catheryn Hoy, President and Vice-president of the Ontario Nurses Association.
Michelle also spoke with Jennifer Scott, a courier and organizer with Foodsters United.
Legalease’s Camila spoke with Marco Luciano, the Executive Director of Migrante Alberta.
We also hear McGill Law Professor Adelle Blackett, speaking at an event sponsored by Montreal en Action, an organization challenging systemic racism in the city. Professor Blackett is an expert in labour and employment law, trade regulation, and critical race theory.
“Defund the Police” - we’ve heard it on the news, we’ve seen posters at marches for Black Lives Matter around the United States, and Montreal is no different. Over 40 organizations in Montreal have united in a Coalition that is calling for defunding the Montreal police service in order to achieve a safer society for all persons.
We chat with Jessica Quijano an organizer for the Defund the Police Coalition, with Alexandra Pierre from La Ligue des droits et libertés, as well as hear from Marlihan Lopez, Sandra Wesley, Janis Qavavauq, and Stephanie Germain.
Song credit: What's Going On by Stevie Wonder, & Self by Noname.
Image by: MTLBlog https://www.mtlblog.com/news/canada/qc/montreal/defunding-the-spvm-is-an-option-listed-in-montreals-budget-survey-for-residents
Covid19 has shown us that we are all connected: if one person is at risk, we are all at risk. At the same time, it has heightened the realities of existing exploitation, racism, and injustice in the immigration system and in labour, health care, policing, prisons, and social services.
Our guests this month argue that the current crisis presents an opportunity for radical transformation: to build a society where no one is left behind, where all are provided with full immigration status.
In this episode, we speak with Status for All organizer Muhamed Barry, Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees, and Hannah Deegan with the Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers.
Image credit: Solidarity Across Borders, https://www.instagram.com/p/CCOowSvHB4i/.
This episode looks at how people in Canada's prisons are affected by COVID-19, and the movement for decarceration. Lawyer Yavar Hameed talks about how COVID-19 put a spotlight on prison conditions. Anti-Carceral Group member Ted Rutland talks about the recent death of Robert Langevin -- who had been awaiting trial in a Montreal prison -- and the broader health crisis in provincial and federal prisons across Quebec and Canada.
Image: "ny state prisons" by AK Rockefeller is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
A recent report by the Correctional Investigator of Canada found that Indigenous over-incarceration in the federal system has hit a record high of 30 per cent. That number is expected to climb to 33 per cent in the next three years, yet Indigenous people account for only five per cent of Canada’s population.
In reaction to the report, criminal lawyers and advocacy groups have reiterated their calls for the federal government to mass pardon Indigenous inmates who are not locked away for violent crimes.
In this episode we speak to Lionel Chartrand and Max Silverman, lawyers who work with Indigenous peoples in Canada’s prisons.
Image credit: Office of the Correctional Investigator, https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/photo/Quebec/index_portcartier-eng.aspx
In this episode, we discuss why a world without immigration detention -- that is, the incarceration of non-citizens for immigration purposes -- is possible.
Julia Bugiel of the Policy Options podcast discusses the history and reality of Canada's immigration detention regime with Stephanie Silverman, Harsha Walia, Souheil Benslimane and Sharry Aiken.
We then turn to an interview with lawyer and writer Petra Molnar, who unpacks the legal workings of immigration detention and why abolition is necessary.
Unist’ot’en House member Karla Tait speaks to Wet'suwet'en law, its recognition under Canadian law in the historic Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision, and how members of the Wet’suwet’en nation continue to resist despite the colonial state-backed injunction imposed on their territory.
Donate and support the camp here: unistoten.camp/support-us/donate/ & actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund.
In this show we focus on Québec's Loi 21, a bill banning public servants from wearing religious symbols. Lawyer Eric Mendelsohn discusses the purpose of challenging the law on constitutional grounds, despite the fact that the law contains the Notwithstanding Clause. The clause is a Canadian constitutional provision that essentially allows governments to violate rights so long as they admit to the violation. We then hear from law and social work student Rachelle Rose on the research she's done on racial profiling in collaboration with the organization Head and Hands. Finally, McGill Law Dean Robert Leckey discusses the potential right of Loi 21's victims to compensation.
Criminal defense lawyer Arij Riahi walks us through some scenarios with police and what to do when caught in the criminal justice system.
We hear from Jerry Alexandre about the recent class action on racial profiling launched against Montreal police by the Black Coalition of Quebec.
Migrant justice organizer Romina Hernandez Gomez discusses sanctuary cities and the limits of Montréal's "sanctuary city" policy.
Toronto-based immigration consultant and No One is Illegal member Macdonald Scott provides perspective on the ties between policing, racism, the law, and the marginalization of undocumented immigrants.
Finally, we report from a Solidarity Across Borders demonstration in St. Henri against Lemay, an architecture firm building a new migrant prison ("immigration holding centre") in Laval, Qc.
Project Genesis is an organization that advocates for people living below the poverty line. In this episode, organizer Sheetal Pathak and member Ines discuss why Quebec’s poorest are calling for changes to the welfare system.
Housing organizer Olivier Prud'homme-Richard of POPIR Comité logement, who tells listeners what tenants should know if they’re planning on moving this July 1.
Photo courtesy of FRAPRU (Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain).
We discuss the case of Soleiman Faqiri, a 30-yr-old Canadian-Muslim refugee suffering from schizophrenia who died in an Ontario prison after he was pepper-sprayed and beaten by correctional officers. Soleiman sustained 50 bruises and a blow to the head before being returned to solitary confinement.
Yusuf Faqiri speaks about his brother, what he knows about the circumstances surrounding his death, and the Justice For Soli Campaign.
Dolores Chew and carceral lawyer Bianka Savard-Lafrenière discuss the broader systemic issues regarding mental health in the criminal justice system.
Nina Segalowitz of the First Peoples Justice Centre speaks to the relationship between Indigenous peoples and city space, police, and the court system, and the importance of adopting a culturally-based restorative justice model that moves beyond the colonial carceral system.
Ensuite nous entendons Michèle Audette, Commissiaire de l’Enquête nationale sur les femmes et les filles autochtones disparues.
Julie Michaud of the Centre for Gender Advocacy speaks about the trial in Québec's Superior Court which is seeking to dismantle the immense barriers for trans & non-binary adults, non-citizens & children to change or remove the gender marker from IDs.
We discuss the gender identity rights bill, Bill C-16, with transfeminine activist and LLM candidate Florence Ashley.
A federal prison policy introduced last year has allowed transgender inmates to be housed according to their self-identified gender for the very first time. What have these changes meant for trans prisoners in Canada? We speak with Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services, a project of the West Coast Prison Justice Society.
Music by Skylar Kergil, Be Steadwell, and Rae Spoon.
*Image by Holly Li
On this month’s show we take some in depth looks at prison justice issues in Canada.
Nous entendons Lucie Lemonde, professeure en droit carcéral basée à Montréal et porte-parole de la Coalition d'action et de surveillance sur l'incarcération des femmes au Québec, qui retrace l’histoire du droit carcéral et de la lutte des prisonniers au Canada, ainsi que la situation des femmes, le travail et l’isolement dans le système carcéral actuel.
We then play an interview with Toronto based criminal, immigration lawyer and prison justice organizer Asaf Rashid in which we discuss the right of prisoners to unionize.
*Correction: In his interview, Asaf Rashid states that Canadian law has never recognized the right of inmates to unionize. While this is true in the context of federal inmate workers, a group of inmates at the Guelph Correctional Centre became unionized alongside non-inmate labour at a meat cutting shop In 1977. There have been no examples since then.
Music by Leyla McCalla, Pete Seeger, and Neneh Cherry.
Photo © Marie-Eve Shaffer/Métro: Prison Leclerc in Laval, QC.
To honour the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, our December episode sheds light on the current sex work laws in Canada, sex work decriminalization, and the movement to make sex work safer led for and by sex workers here in Tio’tia:ke (Montréal) and across Turtle Island.
Interviews with Stella l'amie de Maimie's Jenn Clamen, organizer Anna-Aude, and writer and lawyer Naomi Sayers.
Music by Moe Clark, Amai Kuda et Les Bois, and Yuna.
In this show we turn to Toronto, where human rights lawyer Saron Gebresellassi is running for mayor, challenging the mainstream candidates failures to address issues like affordable housing and transit affordability and police brutality.
Our second feature is an interview with Didier Chelin, a law student at McGill University who is filing a human rights complaint against the university for failing to accommodate his disability
We cover the largest national prisoner strike in US history that recently ended on September 9th, following 4 weeks of work stoppages, hunger strikes, boycotts, sit-ins, and other forms of peaceful protest that took place in at least 34 prisons across Turtle Island.
We feature an interview with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak prisoner organizer Tony, who discusses prison slavery, racist workings of sentencing, non-inclusion of rehabilitation services in the US penal system, prison abolition, and more.
We then turn to the strike at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, known as the Burnside prison, with organizer and poet El Jones. El discusses prison conditions, prisoner organizing, and how the label criminal perpetuates an unjust, brutal system.
✧ To support Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, donate here: https://bit.ly/2MFesd2 & sign their petition : bit.ly/2xd3qHe
You can donate to theblackpowerhour@gmail.com to directly support prisoners and their families at the Burnside prison. ✧
We break down immigration detention and civil liberties as we discuss the case of Ebrahim Toure, Canada's longest-serving immigration detainee, and Bill C-59 (a follow-up to Bill C-51), "An Act respecting national security matters," as it is being debated in the Senate.
Gwen speaks with Mac Scott, a member of No One Is Illegal Toronto and the Caranza LLP Law firm, about his work on Toure's case and the immigration detention regime in Canada.
We hear from Tim McSorley, National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, who spoke with Amelia about Bill C-59, how it grants over-broad surveillance powers to CSIS, and other concerning powers it gives to the Canadian state.
*Image by Tings Chak, "Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention"
First we hear from Andy Crosby, co-author of Policing Indigenous Movements, a book that takes up t talks with Beth Friesen about how the the Canadian security state views and targets Indigenous Peoples for surveillance as national security threats.
Next, in the wake of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies approval of a draft statute to legalize abortion (Senate approval is still needed) on June 14th, after months of intense mobilization and a far-reaching national awareness campaign, we discuss the forthcoming challenges that may arise in the implementation of this new regime with Dr. Vanessa Molina, who wrote about the prevalent use of freedom of conscience/religion objections in Colombian hospitals, in the April edition of À Bâbord!, entitled "Justice pour toutes!" (This interview is in French/ cette entretien est en français)
This month we interviewed Dr. Cindy Blackstock, member of the Gitksan First Nation and Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada about her decade-long battle with the Canadian government for the rights of First Nations children and their families to have equal opportunities to succeed. In a landmark ruling in January 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal held that government is racially discriminating against 163,000 First Nations children and their families by providing flawed and inequitable child welfare services and failing to implement Jordan's Principle to ensure equitable access to government services available to other children. Over two years later, Canada has yet to satisfy the orders issued by the tribunal, and just this past February, the tribunal issued a fourth non-compliance order against Canada.
In light of Canada's decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan and spend untold billions in taxpayer dollars carrying out the expansion project, we also feature a segment from the mediaINDIGENA podcast hosted by Rick Harp with guests Brock Pitawanakwat and Ken Williams. In this segment they discuss how “mutual benefit agreements" (MBAs) are used to force the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansions through indigenous territory, and whether the terms in these documents are actually representative of the Indigenous parties’ “free prior and informed consent.” You can subscribe to mediaINDIGENA via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, among other podcast platforms, and you can learn more about their work on mediaindigena.com.
In our May edition we bring together different facets of Islamophobia that are propped up by Canadian laws and foreign policy:
We hear from Adil Charkaoui and Sophie Harkat -- who spoke at a panel hosted by QPIRG-McGill and the Collectif Canadien Anti-Islamophobie this spring -- about Canada's draconian security certificate regime. Adil a été emprisonné de 2003 jusqu’à 2005 et par la suite vivait sous conditions jusqu'à ce qu'il gagne son procès à la Cour Supreme en 2009; il nous raconte son expérience et la lutte qui a mener à l’invalidation de son certificat de sécurité. Sophie is the wife of Mohamed Harkat, who was imprisoned from 2002 until 2006 and remains under strict conditions of house arrest and faces deportation to torture.
We also play audio from #RememberJan29 co-organizer Syed Hussan. Hussan speaks to the normalization of Islamophobia through the Québec mosque shooting and the wide scale targeting and killings of Muslims in the Middle East, backed and carried out by Canadian militarism.
Photo courtesy of Homes not Bombs.
This April we spoke to two student activists: Student Society of McGill University VP External Connor Spencer spoke on McGill's failure to address professors' sexual misconduct and Divest's Nina Scheer spoke on the uphill battle of getting McGill to stop investing in fossil fuels. We also play clips from mobilizations in support of community organizer Lucy Francineth Granados, who was deported to Guatemala this morning. #Lucydoitrester #LetLucyStay #MeToo
IWD themed episode, with a focus on celebrating resistance led by Indigenous and non-status women who are directly challenging the state-backed violence they experience.
We play excerpts from the vigil for Tina Fontaine held here in Tiohtià:ke and interview Jessica Quijano of the Native Women’s Shelter’s Iskweu Project, as well as speak to Guadalupe and Maria of the Non-Status Women's Collective of Montréal.
Songs by Alanis Obomsawin ("Nbaw" and "Awsjagaw Nibin"), the Buffalo Hat Singers, X-Ray Specks ("Oh Bondage! Up Yours!"), Natalia Lafourcade ("Derecho de Nacimiento") and the anti-folk opera "What the fuck am I doing here" ("Betrayal song").
Remembering Azzeddine Soufiane, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Ibrahima Barry and Abdelkrim Hassane, who were murdered in the massacre at the Grand Mosquée du Québec on January 29th, 2017.
We play audio from Syed Hussan(of the Canadaland podcast "As if it never happened") and interviews with #RememberJan29 co-organizer Aliya Pabani and shooting survivor Aymen Derbali.
On January’s show we hear from David Bush of rankandfile.ca on recent business attacks against the new $15 minimum wage in Ontario; activist-journalist Desmond Cole speaks to Canada's reaction to last year’s islamophobic shooting at the Grande Mosquée du Québec, an excerpt from the Canadaland podcast; Claire Abraham of Project Genesis discusses the inadequacies Québec’s rental board, just what steps to stake when faced with a lousy landlord, and the ongoing struggle for dignified housing; and Mostafa Henaway of the Immigrant Workers' Centre shares what is happening with the minimum wage fight in Montréal and Québec and lessons from the recent increase in Ontario.
December's show features an introduction to issues in disability law in Québec from lawyer and lecturer Mélanie Bénard. Next, we feature an interview with University of Ottawa law student Yafa Jarrar on Palestinian political prisoners including her mother, Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar. Finally, we hear from LegalEase’s Alice Mirlesse all the way from Argentina, in an interview with Salvador Zúñiga on the recently released investigation results on the March 2016 murder of his mother: Indigenous leader and environmental activist from Honduras Bertha Caceres.
This month we give some background to Québec’s most recent piece of Islamophobic legislation, Bill 62, and hear about different facets of state-backed racism, from Islamophobia to anti-blackness. Featuring:
-- "Open for me my heart" poem by Farha Najah at the January vigil for the anti-Muslims murders of Azzeddine Soufiane, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane, Mamadou Tanou and Ibrahima Barry, in Ste Foy, Québec -- speech by Fatima Ahmad, a niqabi woman and second year student in Education at McGill, on Bill 62 -- historian and sociologist Houda Asal, author of Se Dire Arab au Canada, on the history of Islamophobia, from the TREYF Podcast "What the hell is going on in Québec" -- Mubeenah Mughal, mother of three and former organizer with Accommodate This!, on Islamophobia from the era of the Bouchard Taylor Commission -- Robyn Maynard on the state's perpetuation of anti-black racism in the launch of her new book, “Policing Black Lives" -- songs by Shadia Mansour and Yuna
We begin with a discussion with Kira Page from COCo on the law of charities and other nonprofit, and the political problems it raises. We then talk with organizer and pediatric emergency physician Samir Shaheen-Hussain about the draconian policies that systematically prevent people from accessing dignified health care here in Québec. Finally, we hear from Carleton University professor Maeve McMahon on the extradition of Canadian citizen and sociology professor Hassan Diab. Diab was extradited to France in 2014 for allegations of his involvement in a 1980 bombing in Paris, despite the fact that the Canadian judge presiding over his extradition proceedings called France’s evidence against him “convoluted, very confusing, with conclusions that are suspect”
This month's LegalEase took on an indigenous focus featuring a live recording of a rally led by John Cree and Katsitsakwas/Ellen Gabriel resisting a housing development project next to the sacred pines area on Kanienkehaka territory, the same area they protected in the 1990 78-day armed standoff known as the “Oka Crisis.” Next we interview a Mi'kmaq water protector participating in an ongoing demonstration against Alton Gas's plan to store high pressure natural gas in salt caverns that will divert 10 million litres of mining waste per day into the Shubenacadie River. Next we feature stories from the podcasts Media Indigena and From the Margins. The first is a discussion with Mi'kmaq Professor Pam Palmater on the Canadian colonial tactic of imposing third party management on first nations. The second piece ("Workers Go to Jail While Bosses Pass Go") explores how class structure is reinforced through the application of workplace theft law in Canada.
First we talk to Claire Michela and Tuviere Onookome-Okome of AMUSE, the Association of McGill University Support Employees, whose floor fellows recently won their first ever collective agreement.
We then hear speeches from Jean St-Vil and Idil Esse at Montréal's "Welcome Migrants and Refugees" rally, as well as an interview with Anais Montenegro from Montréal's trans-march, who lays out the struggle of trans migrants to obtain legal documentation that corresponds to their gender here in Québec.
Finally we turn to Venezuela, as former election observer and Venezuela solidarity activist Raul Burbano speaks in defence of the country's socialist government and recent constituent assembly vote.
Today's show centres around immigration detention in Canada.
Organizer Rosalind Wong discusses the history and workings of immigration detention in Canada with David Zinman of the Dominion Podcast.
Immigration lawyer Jared Will speaks to the legal workings of indefinite detention; Jared represented Alvin Brown in his constitutional challenge to the legislative regime on immigration detention in Canada.
Carmelo Monge, migrant justice organizer with Mexicans United for Regularization, describes immigration detention here in Laval and the connections between precarious agency work and detention.
This edition of Legalease highlights Indigenous resistance to Canada 150.
Featuring Secwepemc and Ktunaxa land defender Kanahus Manuel and Kanien’kaha’ka organizer Russell Diabo from Kahnawake, both of whom recently spoke on the panel “Don’t Believe the Hype: 150 Years of Migration on Stolen Land,” organized by No One is Illegal Toronto. They discuss the criminalization and resistance of Indigenous land defenders and the history of Indigenous-settler relations over the last 500 years.
We also play an excerpt from the launch of Sylvia McAdam’s book, “Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing nêhiyaw Legal Systems,” produced by RezX Indigenous Voices, where she describes the language of colonial law and why she rejects the label “Indigenous-Canadian”.
---> special "Mother's Day" edition of Legalease:
a member of the Collectif des femmes sans statuts / Non-Status Women's Collective Collective will be there to speak about her experiences as someone with precarious status, in the context of the event they are holding to highlight the situation of non-status women this Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/events/115756958986038/
We will also be talking to a community organizer about housing demands in Montreal and an upcoming occupation action that +20 housing groups are coordinating to take place on May 22.
On this show -- listen to Navajo activist and scholar Melanie Yazzie explain the implications and legacy of Standing Rock to the fight against islamophobia and oppressive immigration policies; Cheryl Harris, Co-Director of the Critical Race Studies at UCLA's Faculty of Law talks about the role of Colorblindness in enabling the rise of White Nationalism and neoliberal politics in the US, Canada, France, and the UK; and finally we'll hear from three student activists fighting for McGill to withdraw its investments the fossil fuel industry, and criticizing the university's response to their campaign as procedurally unjust.
Le 29 Décembre dernier 6 hommes musulmans ont été assassinés dans une Mosqué à Québec. Le lendemain une manifestation de soutien et solidarité avec les familles des victimes a été organisée à Montréal. Nous allons entendre des extraits des discours donné à cette occasion. Meanwhile Several groups in Montreal have been actively resisting the politics of fear and hate that spread by Donald Trump since his election. Gwen spoke with 3 organizers from the Resist Trump and the Far Right Network in Montreal about their fight against racism and Islamophobia.
Also on the news, the Trump administration granted authorization to Energy Transfer Partners to resume construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. We will hear an interview conducted by Lillian Boctor with a veteran at Standing Rock, fighting for water protection and against the construction of the Pipeline.
Last but not least, we will hear an interview by Legalease’s Emma Noradounkian with co-directors of the Mental Health Hub at McGill law, talking about the survey they recently launched and the prevalence of mental health issues amongst legal professionals.
Bienvenues à LegalEase, une émission consacrée au droit qui vise à en rendre le jargon plus accessible tout en évaluant de manière critique ses institutions.
LegalEase is a monthly show put together by a collective of former and current law students at McGill that explores the law and its institutions with a critical lens and at the same time makes the jargon of the law more accessible.
First off, LegalEase’s Emma Noradounkian interviews the McGill Faculty of Law’s Universal Access Consultant, Gift Tshuma, on his accessibility report, which was released in the late Fall of 2016. They discussed the details of the report and ways that students can get involved to make the Faculty more accessible and inclusive for all.
Next, we’ll hear from the McGill Legal Information Clinic on the current status of name changing in Quebec, brought to you by Alexa Franckzak.
The Legal Information Clinic is a non-profit, student-run, bilingual and free information legal service. Their mandate is to provide legal information, student advocacy services, referral and community services to the McGill and Montreal communities, with a continuing commitment to meeting the needs of marginalized groups. The clinic is located in the SSMU building on McTavish.
Finally, we’ll feature a talk which Professor Afua Cooper gave during Professor Adelle Blackett's “Slavery and the Law” seminar.
A scholar, historian, poet, and commentator– she currently is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University and founded a minor in Black Canadian Studies. She discusses her research and the history of slavery in Canada by pointing to individual narratives and the cultural entrenchment of the practice in codes and statutes. She completely demolishes the myth of a benign, slave-free Canada.
Vous écoutez LegalEase sur CKUT 90.3 FM à Montreal.
Legalease’s Lillian Boctor reports from the Standing Rock resistance encampments where water protectors have, for now, managed to halt construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline...more on that to come. We’ll also get an update on struggles against the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Ensuite, we’ll hear testimonies from members of the Non-Status Women’s Collective of Montreal, a collective of non-status women self-organizing for status for all here in Montreal, who took to the streets this past Saturday, to mark one year of collective struggle and continue their fight in denouncing the arbitrariness of Canada’s immigration system and its particularly violent impacts on women.
Finally, to add a little holiday flavor to our somber program we’ll get a brief law lesson from the Legal Information Clinic of McGill on the subject of Gifts
Unfortunately this interview got cut short in our last show, but don't worry you can listen to it entirely online!
Hear Garrett Zehr, former radlaw and Legalease member, speak about the efforts to unionize lawyers and articling students at Legal Aid ontario, some of the legal challenges that they've faced, and their hopes for the future.