There is an English expression about knowledge… “Knowledge is Power”
However, I believe that knowledge becomes power only when one has the tools to use this knowledge effectively. This is where integrity plays an integral role. This is where knowing right from wrong is so important.
The easiest way for me to learn something new is to relate it to my own life.
Knowledge has to leave the pages of the book or the computer sceen or Notebook and become animated in my everyday life… Then it makes perfect sense!
So after spending time at the Free Legal Fair at Complexe Desjardins in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, today I decided to take what I have learned and try to give it an everyday spin.
I am not a Lawyer so I will not be giving any legal advice or any legal interpretation of any laws.
This Blog entry will just be my ideas about the laws I learned about today, as a layperson who finds law interesting.
~Vaq
The following is taken from a pamphlet created by the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse….http://www2.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/pages/Default.aspx
The Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms: An Expression of Social Values in Quebec, Canada.
The main goal of the Charter is to harmonize the relationships of Québec’s citizens among themselves and with their institutions, in a context respectful of human dignity.
The preamble to the Charter lays the foundations for harmony by calling for mutual respect and reciprocity:
- All human beings are equal in worth and dignity, and are entitled to equal protection of the law.
REAL LIFE:
But as we stand in solidarity with brothers and sisters in Wisconsin, we do so in the knowledge that theirs is not a struggle confined to a single US state. Nor – as the neoliberal strategy of Governor Walker stretches to other states – is it a uniquely US problem. It is a global problem, demanding a global response.
European workers too are seeing the erosion of hard-won collective bargaining rights, also as a result of the greed of the bankers, who have emerged from the financial crisis unscathed. In the UK the erosion of bargaining rights is taking place by stealth. Although collective bargaining machinery still exists in local government for example, friends in public service unions tell me it is a long time since they had a collective agreement on pay or on other terms and conditions of employment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/04/workers-rights-collective-bargaining
- The freedoms of conscience, religion, opinion, expression, association and peaceful assembly [s. 3].
- The right to privacy [s. 5].
REAL LIFE:
THE FIRST FRIDAY OF MAY IS ALWAYS
NO PANTS DAY!
Toronto ‘slut walk’ takes to city streets
CBC News
Posted: Apr 3, 2011 1:22 PM ET
Last Updated: Apr 3, 2011 10:03 PM ET
About 1,000 people participated in the Slut Walk on Sunday. (Ivy Cuervo/CBC News)
Supporting Story Content
Related
Related Links
End of Supporting Story Content
Billy Holiday – Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq5LiRoYCBo
Lesley Gore- “You Don’t Own Me” Live
Subscribedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmOrWG2FTbg
Respect
Subscribedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0XAI-PFQcA
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, is seen in Detroit, Friday, Feb. 26, 2010. (AP / Carlos Osorio)
The 69-year-old will kick off the Toronto Jazz Festival with a performance at Metro Square on June 24, 2011!!!!!
Kardinal Offishall – The Anthem
DAMN YOU TORONTO!!! …WE WANT ARETHA!! WE WANT ARETHA!!! WE WANT ARETHA TOOO!!!! BLAST!!!!:(((
Subscribed
Sluts take it to the police2:16
Beginning of Story Content
A group of about 2000 Torontian marchers took to the streets!!!
http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/
You can’t make this kind of stuff up folks. Just as the title states, it would appear that while attending a rally for Stephen Harper, a UWO student was recognized by security as an “Ignatieff supporter” because her Facebook display picture is of herself, a friend, and the Liberal leader. I’m not sure how many people attended this rally in total, but I commend Harper’s security staff for their expert Facebook creeping skills. It’s 2011 ladies and gentlemen. All haters will be dealt with swiftly, publicly, and in a manner that discourages the next generation of voters from participating in the democratic process. Awesome.
Check out the full story from Blunt Objects and let us know what you think! The London Free Press is running coverage of this story as well.
http://www.lionsdenu.com/western-student-kicked-out-of-harper-rally-over-facebook-dp-with-ignatieff/
* The right to be treated equally
Every person in Québec has the right to be treated equally, and therefore to protection against prohibited discrimination and harassment [s. 10 and 10.1].
REAL LIFE:
The Quebec Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Montreal man to pay his gay neighbours $12,000 for allegedly subjecting them to “homophobic comments,” death threats and invitations to fight, even though he was acquitted of the charges in a court of law nearly five years ago.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/story_print.html?id=4112393&sponsor=
* Economic and social rights
- The right to free public education** [s. 40].
McGill Fined for M.B.A. Tuition Hike
March 21st, 2011 by Kelly Buchanan
The following is a guest post by Steve Clarke, Senior Foreign Law Specialist.
Whenever I mention in this country that I went to college in Canada, I am almost invariably met with the response, “McGill?” I have often wondered why that is so. I mean, it is true that McGill has been ranked the top university in Canada by the country’s leading news magazine five years in a row, and Montreal is a great city, but I have come to the conclusion that the real reason is the name. It just sounds a whole lot more prestigious than, say, the University of Toronto, which is generally acknowledged to be most excellent. But the truth is that Canada does not have the same sort of distinction between public and private universities that exists in the U.S., and that largely accounts for the great discrepancies in cost in this country.
In Canada, all universities are subsidized by the government of their province. When they accept these subsidies, they have to agree not to charge students more than provincially-established tuition rates. In this sense, they are all state schools. This year, the undergraduate tuition rates at McGill are $3,500 for Quebec residents, $7,100 for other Canadian residents, and between $15,500 and $24,500 for international students. (In Canadian dollars, which is currently trading a little less than two cents above the U.S. dollar.) Rates at other universities in Canada are generally a little higher, but even the highest undergraduate average in Canada is the relatively paltry (compared to the U.S. that is) $6,300 in Ontario.
http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/03/mcgill-fined-for-m-b-a-tuition-hike/
* Judicial rights
- The right to a public and impartial hearing by an independent court [s. 23].
- The right not to be deprived of liberty or rights, except on the grounds provided by law and in accordance with prescribed procedure [s. 24].
- The right to protection from unreasonable search or seizure [s. 24.1].
* In the case of arrest or detention
- The right to be treated with humanity and respect [s. 25]
* Before a court
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The right to be released on undertaking, with or without deposit or surety [s. 31].
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The right to be tried within a reasonable time [s. 32.1].
- The right to be presumed innocent [s. 33].
- The right not to be compelled to testify at one’s own trial [s. 33.1].
REAL LIFE:
Calling it an “unbelievable case of concealment,” officials are trying to determine how a young Asian man in Hong Kong was able to disguise himself as an elderly Caucasian man and slip onto a Canada-bound flight.
It is believed that the man managed to get on the plane with only a boarding pass and Aeroplan card, both of which belonged to a 55-year-old U.S. citizen.
The unnamed young man at the centre of the curious case, which occurred late last month, is currently in detention in Vancouver following a refugee claim.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101105/disguised-traveller-101105/
DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT
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this distinction, exclusion or preference deprives you of the right to equality in the recognition and exercise of your human rights and freedoms.
The discrimination may be:
- direct (for instance, you are dismissed because you are Black or Asian);
- indirect (for example, a company’s hiring standards result in your being excluded because of your near-sightedness);
- systemic (as a result of the overall policies and practices of a company, for example, a disproportionate number of women are excluded, or prevented from progressing within the company)
Montreal accused of stalling racial-profiling complaints
The City of Montreal is systematically blocking complaints of racial profiling against the police force by stalling hearings before the province’s Human Rights Tribunal, says the president of Quebec’s Human Rights Commission.
Gaétan Cousineau, president of the Quebec Human Rights Commission, says delays in racial-profiling cases are harmful to the commission’s reputation. (CBC)Seven complaints are now before the tribunal, but the hearings have not been able to proceed, Gaétan Cousineau said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2010/01/28/mtl-delays-racial-profiling.html
Concordia student claims racial profiling
Montreal student alleges racial profiling1:52
Montreal student alleges racial profiling1:52
Amal Asmar interview6:37Beginning of Story Content
Amal Asmar was sitting on a bench on Ste-Catherine Street in Montreal on Feb. 4 when she was approached by police. (CBC)Concordia University student Amal Asmar plans to file a complaint against Montreal police, alleging she was mistreated by officers and fined $1,000 after being targeted because she is of Palestinian descent.
Montreal police refused to comment on the case, but the force has maintained that racial profiling is against its official policy.
Asmar, 33, a human relations and psychology student, said she was on her way to a friend’s house after a late night of studying for midterms at Concordia’s library on Feb. 4.
She said she stopped and sat down on a bench at a bus stop on Ste-Catherine Street outside the Alexis Nihon plaza at about 3 a.m., when a police cruiser pulled up and two male officers began questioning her.
IN CANADA WE HAVE RIGHTS …I DON’T KNOW HALF THE RIGHTS THAT I HAVE AS A CANADIAN AND I HAVE LIVED HERE ALL OF MY LIFE:(((
THAT’S WHY YOU NEED TO MEET WITH A LAWYER SOMETIMES ..THEY CAN HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND IT BETTER.
READ UP ABOUT IT FIRST AND THEN MEET WITH THE LAWYER AND MAKE A LIST OF QUESTIONS TO ASK THE LAWYER …. SO THAT YOU DON’T WASTE TOO MUCH TIME …TIME IS MONEY!!
IN MONTREAL, YOU CAN MEET WITH A LAWYER FROM THE “MONTREAL BAR ASSOCIATION” FOR ——$30 FOR30 MINUTES—— THE FIRST TIME THAT YOU MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THAT LAWYER…ANY OTHER MEETINGS—–YOUWILL HAVE TO PAY THEIR REGULAR HOURLY FEE.
INFORM YOURSELF….YOU COULD EVEN SET UP INFORMATION GROUPS AT YOUR SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY CENTRES AND ASK MEMBERS OF THE BAR TO MAKE PRESENTATIONS.
IF YOU ARE LOW ON CASH ….CONTACT A LEGAL AIDE LAWYER…ALL THE INFO IS LISTED BELOW !
PEOPLE POWER!!!
Free Legal Aide in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
http://www.ccjm.qc.ca/index_eng.html
http://www.barreaudemontreal.qc.ca/Ang/EFP100.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_of_Montreal
http://www.cba.org/CBA/awards/viscount_bennett/
I hope you enjoyed this 1st class of Law 101 …tee …hee;) ~ Vaq
vaquous2011 