April 26th, 2011 – The "Best Interests of The Child": A Promise Broken

This year’s Lowery Lecturer is Kim Pate, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) and part time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law. She is an advocate for the rights of women and girls caught in the criminal justice system, for example, Ashley Smith, the young woman whose […]

Ashley Smith

Dr. Porter made an astonishing finding in her ruling that the videotapes showing Ashley Smith being forcibly injected with tranquilizers, taunted by professional staff, and strapped to a gurney without food or water cannot be considered essential evidence at the inquiry into the causes of her death.   Ashley could still be alive if she had been […]

HUMAN RIGHTS DENIED TO FIRST NATIONS CHILDREN:

The decision of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to dismiss the allegation that  the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs has been guilty of racial discrimination against First Nations children, comes as a huge shock to anyone who knows the history of  mistreatment of aboriginal communities in Canada. The allegation that children on reserves receive […]