From Tbogg we learn that Bob Dylan has donated the royalties/waived the rights to a whole bunch of his songs for a fundraising album of Dylan covers for Amnesty International. Some samples: Tweet The Rev. Paperboy Feed
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: Everybody knows that goalies are special
Anybody who follows hockey knows that good goaltenders sometimes live in their own world. Boston Bruins star goaltender Tim Thomas reinforced that image with his refusal to join his teammates in the celebration of the Bruins Stanley Cup victory at the White House. Frankly, we don’t care if Thomas would
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: New Julian Assange TV Series: The World Tomorrow
Julian Assange will be hosting a series of in-depth conversations with key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries from around the world. The theme: the world tomorrow. Upheavals and revolutions in the Middle East have commenced …Read More
Continue readingBlunt Objects: End of the Sovereigntist Option?
Yessir I do believe it is, especially if certain allegations are proven true: Former BQ MP Michel Guimond contends that someone close to the Bloc leaked the information. “It has to be someone close to the party,” Mr. Guimond told Montreal radio station FM 98.5. “It is someone who wants
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: Harper Tories release suppressed gun control report: Report leaves more questions than answers
Five days after the Minister of Public Safety tabled the overdue 2010 report of the Commissioner of Firearms, the government finally got around to providing it to the rest of the country. Sensible Canadians should be concerned that the report took so long to be made available. Judging from it’s
Continue readingMorton's Musings: Study Raises Doubts About Effect Of Tough Sentences
A reader asked for some evidence suggesting deterrence is not effective. There are many such studies — below is one. Of course, deterrence isn't the only reason for prison. Separation is another reason (and one I support) as is 'just desserts' (which I don't support). Keeping, say, Willie Pickton off
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Rob De Chazal and Alastair Miller Made Court Appearance Today
De Chazal and Miller will next appear in court on February 13, but in the meantime a little more information about the attack on the Filipino man has been released. It’s alleged that De Chazal and Miller were having a party on a rooftop terrace overlooking the street where the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Little Miss Progressive and the Attack Ads
Once upon a time in the dark and scary woods of Con Canada, lived a little girl named Little Miss Progressive. And like many other girl and boy progressives she didn’t believe in making nasty attack ads. Even though the Big Bad Wolf and his evil friends made them all
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: How’s That Ethical Oil Thing Working For You? Part II!
Actually, a bit better than it was. Mind you, WK says discount anything Forum Research puts out.. h/t
Continue readingTrashy's World: Idiot.
Idiot. Tim Thomas, that is. What a complete moron. Typical Bruin. C’mon. even given my political leanings, I sure as hell wouldn’t decline the honour of a visit to the White House – even during Dubya’s tenure… doncha love dogmatism? Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Continue readingMorton's Musings: Baffin Island is larger than the United Kingdom
And Nunavut makes up 20% of the land mass of Canada. A big place.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Did Keystone Kill Off the Northern Gateway Pipeline?
According to Andrew Nikiforuk, the Keystone XL pipeline may have only sustained a flesh wound but it was a killer blow to the Northern Gateway pipeline. The best analysis of all things related to the Athabasca Tar Sands is plainly that of Andrew Nikiforuk. Formerly an author and freelancer, Nikiforuk
Continue readingImpolitical: Clement’s G8 hangover continues
A lot going on in this thorough Canadian Press story on the latest documents to be uncovered relating to the G8 spending in Tony Clement’s riding of Muskoka. I’ll just go with this excerpt as one that jumped out: Mr. Dodds’ recollections also raise questions as to why Auditor General
Continue readingAlright. Alright. Alright.
David Wooderson lives! (The song ain’t bad, either.) If your memory needs jogging: (Looks the same, don’t he?) Cooool!
Continue readingSubmitted without (much) comment
Because sometimes there’s just no comment I could possibly *come* up with that would provide adequate snarkification. From Rick Santorum’s website, what is presumably a money raising promotion with the world’s greatest acronym: It’s still there as of 2:45 Pacific, so the Santorum campaign must be delirious with joy, imagining
Continue readingFrom the “WTF Is Wrong With People?” file
Speaking of right-wing terrorism, here’s a little item that will reaffirm your faith in the inherent goodness of the human race… NOT. Yesterday the campaign manager for Arkansas Democrat Ken Aden arrived home with his kids to find the family cat dead on the porch, with the word “LIBERAL” scrawled
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Social Media and Legal Advocacy: Lessons from MWCI
Within the legal community, blogs, twitter, and other social media platforms have grown to become the norm, as lawyers and firms have realized the potential of these tools to expand their reach and influence. However, at least in the Canadian context, social media has played a secondary role to one’s
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Social Media and Legal Advocacy: Lessons from MWCI
Being a conservative institution that values confidentiality, it’s clear why social media — with its openness and accessibility — has not been incorporated more directly into legal practice. But there are aspects of legal advocacy that complement the strengths of social media, allowing lawyers to take advantage of them.
The use of social media by lawyers involved in the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry is an example of this. The public inquiry is investigating the factors that allowed serial killer Robert Pickton to murder dozens of women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside without being apprehended.
Lawyers acting for the victims’ families (@NeilChantler and @ACameronWard), Downtown Eastside (@JasonGratl), and aboriginal interests (@RobynGervaisMWI), have employed social media in novel way, demonstrating how these platforms can enhance legal advocacy. These lawyers routinely live tweet witness testimony and procedural developments, usually followed up with blog posts that provide more extensive discussion of what occurred in court and its implications (in addition to using these platforms for standard legal and social commentary).
By incorporating social media directly into the courtroom, the lawyers are advancing their client’s interests on a number of levels. Firstly, due to funding restrictions imposed by the province of British Columbia, each lawyer individually represents a large and disparate number of people. Not only does this pose challenges to ensuring that each individual client is being served, but how to communicate with them on the developments at the inquiry on an ongoing basis. This is particularly true with those representing the victim’s families, whose clients are spread out across the country. Though the CBC live streams the inquiry, clients may be unable to watch the day time proceedings or easily relate what’s being discussed to the larger issues being investigated.
In addition to the access to justice consideration raised above, the inquiry explores a matter that is clearly in the public interest. Therefore, counsel for the affected parties have an added responsibility to engage broader society in the inquiry. Legal commentary does serve this purpose, but so does tweeting and making available documents, such as weekly overviews of the proceedings. These documents in particular allow the public to directly engage with evidence presented at the inquiry and assess its significance, rather than relying on secondary news reports that can obfuscate much.
Further, by engaging in social media, these lawyers are not merely dispensing information regarding the inquiry, but are also seeking the public’s input. Consistently, we see counsel request feedback in the form of questions, comments, and suggestions, attempting to make their work in the courtroom a collaborative effort.
For legal advocates, as well as law students like myself, the innovative use of social media at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry is an indication of how these tools can be effectively incorporated into one’s legal advocacy. However, employing social media is not appropriate in all aspects of legal practice. During a public inquiry, it certainly may be acceptable, but not necessarily in private civil cases. Be conscious of the limits.
For further information on the inquiry, please consult:
Hashtag: #MWCI
Counsel for Victims’ Families: Neil Chantler (@NeilChantler) and Cameron Ward (@ACameronWard), as well as their blog.
Counsel for the Downtown Eastside: Jason Gratl (@JasonGratl)
Counsel for Aboriginal Interests: Robyn Gervais (@RobynGervaisMWI) and her weekly proceedings overview found on Harper Grey LLP’s website (though not easy to navigate: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11).
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Social Media and Legal Advocacy: Lessons from MWCI
Within the legal community, blogs, twitter, and other social media platforms have grown to become the norm, as lawyers and firms have realized the potential of these tools to expand their reach and influence. However, at least in the Canadian context, social media has played a secondary role to one’s
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: New to Stop The Squeeze Resources: Radio PSA courtesy of CHRY Radio in Toronto
I love getting these kinds of emails: Kevin from CHRY Radio, a campus-based, community station in Toronto, recently sent me a message to let me know that they had produced a public service announcement (PSA)-style radio ad for the Stop The Cell Phone Squeeze campaign. The station is running the
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