Only two cases of migrant trafficking have been successfully prosecuted in Canada (R v. Gonzalez-Valbuena and R v. Domotor). This article considers why by offering a comparison of human trafficking offences defined at section 118 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and sections 279.01-279.011 of the Criminal Code of Canada (CrC). We also assess the application of these provisions to seven publicly reported cases of migrant trafficking. We demonstrate that the anti-trafficking frameworks fail to capture the offence of migrant trafficking. We also confirm that the prosecution of migrant trafficking is undermined by the promotion of racist and gendered ideas of victimization in judicial decision making. Our analysis offers support for the work of Nandita Sharma (2005) on the existence of “global apartheid” in the Canadian context, which operates to sustain the illegalization, criminalization and removal of specifically racialized female migrants from Canada.
This article explores factors contributing to the launching of private prosecutions for criminal libel during World War I in Calgary against the proprietor of a small newspaper. In the first of the cases considered here, the allegations of this originally English journalist—that a Jewish-owned business had German and Austrian employees—had the potential to inflame local ethic tensions and provoke violence, but the Crown sat on the sidelines while the lumber company prosecuted. In the second case, the libellous text suggested that Calgary’s former Member of Parliament, R.B. Bennett, and his associate William P. McLaws were party to financial improprieties around spending on munitions manufacturing in Medicine Hat. Again, the Crown lawyers watched while Bennett prosecuted and McLaws did not. This article explores the strategic decision-making behind a prosecutorial approach now largely unfamiliar to us.
Processes of repression, criminalization and penalization were importantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobilizing data produced through an ethnographic study of plea courts in Ottawa, this article reports on the ways in which lower criminal courts administered what judges described as "COVID justice." In this transitory form of justice, we observed a) a dilated reward system for guilty pleas; b) the work of the virtual resolution team, a workgroup dedicated to unburdening the courts from backlogs attributed to the pandemic; c) requests to increase the credits granted for time served in locked-down, noxious prisons, and; d) the diversion of sentenced individuals from prison on the grounds of the primacy of public health over criminal justice. Les processus de r & eacute;pression, de criminalisation et de p & eacute;nalisation ont & eacute;t & eacute; profond & eacute;ment affect & eacute;s par la pand & eacute;mie de COVID-19. En mobilisant des donn & eacute;es issues d'une & eacute;tude ethnographique des tribunaux de plaidoyers & agrave; Ottawa, cet article rend compte des fa & ccedil;ons par lesquelles les tribunaux criminels de premi & egrave;re instance ont administr & eacute; ce que les juges ont d & eacute;crit comme la & laquo; justice COVID & raquo;. Dans cette forme transitoire de justice, nous avons observ & eacute; : a) un syst & egrave;me de r & eacute;compenses & eacute;largi pour les plaidoyers de culpabilit & eacute;; b) le travail d'une & eacute;quipe de r & eacute;solution virtuelle, un groupe de travail charg & eacute; de d & eacute;sengorger les tribunaux de l'arri & eacute;r & eacute; attribu & eacute; & agrave; la pand & eacute;mie; c) des demandes visant & agrave; accro & icirc;tre les cr & eacute;dits accord & eacute;s pour le temps pass & eacute; dans des prisons confin & eacute;es et insalubres ; et d) la r & eacute;orientation de personnes condamn & eacute;es hors du syst & egrave;me carc & eacute;ral, au nom de la primaut & eacute; de la sant & eacute; publique sur la justice p & eacute;nale.
This article examines the ambivalent effects of Indigenous legal mobilization in contexts characterized by weak rule of law, drawing on an in-depth case study of the Xakmok Kasek community in Paraguay. Despite a favourable ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, material outcomes have remained limited. Nevertheless, legal action has played a significant role in legitimizing Indigenous struggles and structuring collective action. The analysis is based on fieldwork conducted in Asunci & oacute;n and the Chaco region in 2022, including forty-six interviews, analysis of legal documents, and access to NGO archives. From a theoretical standpoint, the article engages with scholarship on legal mobilization under hybrid and authoritarian regimes. It demonstrates that law, while imperfect, can enhance the visibility and legitimacy of claims. This contribution sheds light on the strategic uses of law in repressive contexts and calls for a reassessment of its effects beyond formal legal victories.
This article investigates fatphobia by examining its roots, its effects on those who experience it, and its legal manifestations. It focuses on how laws and public policies can reinforce weight stigma, particularly through initiatives promoting healthy eating. The study critically evaluates Quebec's environmental approach to healthy eating, questioning its capacity to avoid individual stigmatization. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Fat Studies, the article presents the field's political arguments, outlines Quebec's normative framework for fostering positive food environments, and analyzes how body weight is addressed in provincial nutrition policies. In doing so, it offers a critical perspective on current public health strategies and their role in shaping societal perceptions of body size.
This article analyzes the parliamentary debates over three Canadian federal laws (2021-2024) on medical assistance in dying (MAID). It explores the factors that influenced Parliament’s decision to expand MAID eligibility to include mental illness in 2021 and to subsequently defer that eligibility on two occasions in 2023 and 2024. We argue that the expansion of MAID to include mental illness was partly driven by a looming judicial deadline and the government’s desire to avoid future Charter litigation, while the deferrals were driven by the perceived lack of readiness from key stakeholders, especially the provinces. This case study identifies broader dynamics of judicial-legislative interaction that can affect policy outcomes, including governments’ attempts at “future-oriented compliance” to pre-empt litigation rather than merely respond to it. It also demonstrates both how judicial deadlines can constrain legislative choice in unforeseen ways and how sunset clauses can foster policy uncertainty.
The Supreme Court of Canada mandates recognition of systemic factors that create barriers for Indigenous peoples’ access to equitable justice. Specifically, R. v. Gladue directs courts to consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous peoples when engaging in decision-making processes in all criminal courts. Drawing from interview data with Indigenous and non-Indigenous defence counsel in Ontario, this study assesses whether and how Gladue factors shape bail hearings. Our findings reveal that the application of Gladue principles exists along a continuum, ranging from mere “lip service”, to the tailoring of bail decisions based on meaningful recognition of systemic disadvantages. We also highlight the importance of lived experience and representation of Indigenous legal actors and the challenges they encounter working within a colonial system. We situate these findings within broader critiques of risk-based bail frameworks and settler colonial legal systems, concluding with policy recommendations and directions for future research.
Surety supervision is one of the most onerous bail conditions imposed on legally innocent people pretrial. Sureties are generally family or friends who promise a sum of money and agree to supervise the accused, enforcing conditions and reporting non-compliance. Drawing on data from 32 in-depth interviews with individuals who have acted as sureties, this paper examines the complex, contradictory, and damaging implications of exploiting personal relationships for the state’s surveillance and monitoring interests. We argue that by placing sureties in such a role, the court stresses the accused’s social relationships by transforming the accused’s support network into an apparatus of state control. Sureties describe exploited relational bonds and ruptured relationships, insisting they will never act as a surety again. We conclude by outlining directions for reform, including changing the nature of surety supervision, decriminalization and developing bail supervision programs.
Human rights systems in Canada face difficulties: growing caseloads, slow case processing, and a lack of access to hearings. Some Canadian jurisdictions have responded to these challenges by changing from a commission system to a direct access system. This change is made to maximize efficiency, to more quickly process complaints, and to render faster justice to all. Using British Columbia, Canada, as a test case, we assess which of these two systems is most efficient at processing complaints by examining annual reports from 1996 to 2022. We analyze which system closed complaints faster and which system screened out and or settled more cases over time. We also determined which system processed more cases in full hearings. We conclude that the commission system was more efficient, it closed more cases and was faster than the direct access system. It also provided a greater chance to have complaints adjudicated in formal hearings.
En 2021, avec l’adoption de la Loi modernisant le régime de santé et de sécurité du travail, le législateur québécois a introduit l’obligation pour tous les employeurs de prévenir les risques psychosociaux du travail (RPS). Le présent texte brossera un portrait de l’architecture du droit qui prend en compte les RPS du travail et leurs effets. Les autrices et auteur du texte mettront ensuite en dialogue les résultats de leur recherche respective, lesquelles traitent toutes de la santé mentale au travail, afin d’interroger l’effectivité du droit entourant la prise en charge des RPS. Ce texte sera l’occasion d’étudier le rôle, la marge de manœuvre et les pouvoirs de certains acteurs du monde du travail (gestionnaires, syndicats, organismes administratifs). Y seront détaillés des exemples de bonnes pratiques de même que les limites du cadre législatif, les défis qui demeurent et les perspectives d’amélioration en vue d’assurer un encadrement exhaustif et effectif des RPS.
L’attente passive d’une intervention législative en matière d’emploi qui répondra prodigieusement aux enjeux de la crise climatique est délétère. Les fondements du droit du travail révèlent que ce sont les luttes sociales, la solidarité ouvrière et une prise de conscience sociétale à l’égard des dérives et des risques de l’industrialisation sur la personne humaine qui ont alimenté sa densité normative et les différentes strates de lois spécifiques qui le composent aujourd’hui. Pourtant, la crise climatique se présente comme une conséquence évidente du phénomène de l’industrialisation. C’est par un retour sur les mécanismes et les déclencheurs sociaux de la fabrication du droit du travail que se profile sa capacité de répondre aux risques climatiques en emploi ainsi qu’aux conséquences découlant des changements climatiques pour les personnes salariées. L’interface des droits de la personne concourrait également à combler les interstices de la législation du travail face aux défis contemporains posés par la crise climatique.
Hommage à trois figures majeures du droit du travail québécois, Guylaine Vallée, Michel Coutu et Gilles Trudeau, dont les trajectoires intellectuelles ont profondément marqué la façon de comprendre la nature et la portée du droit du travail, ce numéro spécial rassemble auteurs et autrices s’inscrivant dans leur héritage. Il s’articule autour de deux grandes réflexions sur l’avenir du droit du travail, d’une part, les effets des mutations contemporaines du travail et de l’emploi sur l’effectivité du droit du travail; d’autre part, les acteurs et les cadres normatifs impliqués dans la régulation du travail.
Cet article examine l’effectivité des mesures législatives québécoises et ontariennes en matière de prévention du harcèlement psychologique au travail, en analysant leurs approches distinctes et certains de leurs effets. Le Québec a initialement appréhendé le droit à un milieu de travail exempt de harcèlement comme une condition minimale d’emploi, dans une approche centrée sur la réparation (prévention tertiaire). De son côté, l’Ontario a plutôt choisi d’aborder le harcèlement comme un risque pour la santé et la sécurité au travail (prévention primaire), sans prévoir de recours pour les victimes. Notre étude permet de constater que l’effectivité d’un régime législatif est renforcée lorsqu’elle intègre les trois niveaux de prévention en santé et sécurité du travail (primaire, secondaire, tertiaire). Les réformes québécoises de 2021 et 2024 vont en ce sens, en ajoutant des mesures davantage axées sur la prévention primaire, dans l’objectif d’assurer des milieux de travail exempts de harcèlement.
Basé sur une recherche-action conduite en partenariat avec deux organismes de protection des droits des travailleurs non syndiqués, cet article compare deux modèles d’organisation du travail dans les entrepôts – celui de Dollarama et celui d’Amazon – et illustre comment l’un et l’autre fonctionnent grâce à l’exploitation d’une main-d’œuvre en bonne partie racisée. Emplois instables et peu protégés, pressions à la productivité fragilisant le corps et l’esprit, statuts migratoires précaires enfermant les individus dans des emplois usants et de piètre qualité – ces éléments interconnectés créent des espaces où le droit du travail peine à s’appliquer. Les résultats de l’enquête mettent en évidence les enjeux multiples découlant de la fragmentation des cadres réglementaires hérités de la période fordiste, trop souvent rendus caducs par la transformation des pratiques de gestion de la main-d’œuvre, et appellent, au profit des travailleurs les plus vulnérables, le développement d’une vision plus holistique du droit et de la réglementation.
Alors que les violations des droits des travailleurs ont été à l’origine du processus de juridicisation de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE) dont l’ultime étape a été de fonder la responsabilité juridique des entreprises donneuses d’ordres et sociétés mères, aucune allusion n’y est faite dans le texte de l’emblématique loi française du 27 mars 2017. Cette invisibilisation du travail s’est doublée de silences et d’ambiguïtés sur le rôle des représentants des travailleurs dans le processus de corégulation au cœur duquel se trouve le plan de vigilance. C’est pourquoi les syndicats ont dû s’imposer aux entreprises en utilisant les ressources de la loi de 2017 et des normes internationales de RSE pour faire reconnaitre leur légitimité à être associé comme partie prenante soit via la saisine du juge soit par la négociation collective transnationale.
Relying passively on legislative intervention in employment that will miraculously address the challenges of the climate crisis is harmful. The foundations of labour law show that it was built through social struggles, worker solidarity, and a growing societal awareness of the harms and risks industrialization posed to humans. These factors gave rise to its normative depth and the layered structure of specific laws that exist today. Yet, the climate crisis is a clear consequence of the industrialization process. By revisiting the social mechanisms and triggers that shaped the development of labour law, we can better understand its potential to respond to climate-related risks in the workplace, as well as the broader impacts of climate change on workers. A human rights framework can also help fill the gaps in labour legislation when it comes to the contemporary challenges brought on by the climate crisis.
In 2021, with the adoption of the Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime, the Quebec legislature introduced a legal obligation for all employers to prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace (PSR). This paper provides an overview of the legal framework that addresses workplace PSRs and their impacts. The authors will then bring forward the results of their research - which focuses on mental health at work - to examine the effectiveness of the legal mechanisms related to PSR prevention and management. The article will also explore the role, scope of action, and powers of key workplace actors, including managers, unions, and administrative bodies. It will highlight examples of promising practices, discuss the limitations of the current legal framework, and reflect on ongoing challenges and potential improvements to ensure a more comprehensive and effective approach to managing PSRs.
This article examines the effectiveness of legislative measures in Quebec and Ontario aimed at preventing psychological harassment in the workplace, analyzing their distinct approaches and some of their outcomes. Quebec initially framed the right to a harassment-free work environment as a minimum employment standard, adopting a remedial approach (tertiary prevention). Ontario, by contrast, chose to address harassment as a workplace health and safety risk (primary prevention) without providing recourse for victims. Our study shows that the effectiveness of a legislative framework is strengthened when it integrates all three levels of occupational health and safety prevention: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Quebec's 2021 and 2024 reforms reflect this direction by introducing measures with a stronger focus on primary prevention, aiming to create workplaces free from harassment.
Although violations of workers' rights were the driving force behind the juridification of corporate social responsibility (CSR) - a process that ultimately led to the recognition of legal liability for lead firms and parent companies - the landmark French law of March 27, 2017 makes no reference to them. This erasure of labour is compounded by silence and ambiguity around the role of workers' representatives in the co-regulatory process centered on the duty of vigilance plan. As a result, unions have had to assert themselves by leveraging the 2017 law and international CSR standards to have their role recognized as legitimate stakeholders, whether by taking legal action or through transnational collective bargaining.
