Foster, "Another good thing: Ross River Dena Council v. Canada in the Yukon Court of Appeal: or: Indigenous title, 'presentism' in law and history, and a Judge Begbie Puzzle revisited."

In the June issue of the University of British Columbia Review, an article by Hamar Foster, "Another good thing: Ross River Dena Council v. Canada in the Yukon Court of Appeal: or: Indigenous title, 'presentism' in law and history, and a Judge Begbie Puzzle revisited." 

No abstract available, sorry.

RIP James Snell

We were saddened to hear of the recent death of University of Guelph university professor emeritus James G. Snell. Professor Snell was a co-author (with Frederick Vaughan) of one of the Osgoode Society's earliest legal histories, a well-regarded volume entitled Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution.

Here's his obituary from the Guelph Mercury.

h/t David Cameletti

Poutanen, “Due Attention Has Been Paid to All Rules”: Women, Tavern Licences, and Social Regulation in Montreal, 1840–1860"

In the May 2017 issue of Histoire Sociale/ Social History, Mary Anne Poutanen has published “'Due Attention Has Been Paid to All Rules': Women, Tavern Licences, and Social Regulation in Montreal, 1840–1860."

Taverns and inns were centres of neighbourhood life, places for travellers seeking meals, drink, and accommodation and commercial and domestic spaces where keepers and their families earned a living and that they called home. Women figured largely in public houses as patrons, servants, family members, and publicans in their own right. The article focuses on a sample of 90 female publicans who held tavern licences from 1840 to 1860, arguing that keeping these establishments afforded them distinct levels of economic independence and power. It considers broadly those characteristics that constituted ideal female keepers in mid-nineteenth-century Montreal and how they maintained a respectable status precisely at a moment when alcohol consumption and associated licensed and unlicensed commercial sites were coming increasing under scrutiny by temperance advocates, authorities of the criminal justice system, and elites. To retain their licences, female keepers had to negotiate the landmines of respectability by following licensing regulations, maintaining a reputable demeanour, and regulating the public house’s culture and clientele.

Les tavernes et les auberges étaient des lieux où la vie de quartier battait son plein, des endroits où les voyageurs trouvaient à manger, à boire et à se loger, des aires commerciales et domestiques où les tenanciers et leur famille gagnaient leur vie et qu’ils considéraient comme leur chez eux. Les femmes étaient très présentes dans ces établissements, soit comme clientes, servantes, membres de la famille ou patronnes de plein droit. L’article porte sur un échantillon de 90 tenancières qui détenaient un permis de taverne de 1840 à 1860. Le fait qu’elles tenaient ces établissements leur procurait des niveaux d’indépendance et de pouvoir économiques appréciables, selon l’auteure. Celle-ci se penche en gros sur les caractéristiques qui en faisaient des tenancières idéales dans la Montréal du milieu du XIXe siècle et sur la façon dont elles préservaient leur respectabilité, précisément à un moment où la consommation d’alcool et les établissements commerciaux – avec ou sans permis – où elle avait lieu étaient de plus en plus surveillés de près par les apôtres de la tempérance, les autorités du système de justice criminelle et les élites. Pour conserver leur permis et préserver leur respectabilité, les tenancières devaient donc observer la réglementation sur les permis, conserver leur bonne réputation et régir la culture et la clientèle de l’établissement.

Osgoode Society Legal History Workshop: Winter 2018 schedule

Here is the schedule for the winter term, 2018. I will provide room numbers and any other updates when available.

Note that there is one slot currently open. If you are interested, please email Jim Phillips.

OSGOODE SOCIETY LEGAL HISTORY WORKSHOP, 2017-2018:

WINTER TERM, 2018

All sessions at 6.30. Room TBA.

Wednesday January 10 or 17: TBA 

Wednesday January 31 – Elizabeth Koester, University of Toronto: ‘Litigating Eugenics:  The 1936 Eastview Birth Control Trial’.

Wednesday February 14: Tom Telfer, Western University: ‘The New Bankruptcy “Detective Agency”? The Origins of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in Great Depression Canada.’

Wednesday February 28 - Donald Fyson, Laval University: TBA

Wednesday March 14: Jeff McNairn, Queen’s University: ‘ “Where covert guile and artifice abound:” Making Legal Knowledge of Insolvency and Fraud in Upper Canada, 1794-1843.’

Wednesday March 28: Michael Boudreau, St Thomas University: ‘Capital Punishment in New Brunswick, 1869-1957’.

Wednesday April 4 - Shelley Gavigan, Osgoode Hall Law School: ‘Historicizing Criminalization of Canada’s First Nations: A Project for Legal Historians?’

Roach, "The Judicial, Legislative and Executive Roles in Enforcing the Constitution: Three Manitoba Stories"

Kent Roach has posted "The Judicial, Legislative and Executive Roles in Enforcing the Constitution: Three Manitoba Stories" on SSRN. The essay is forthcoming in Canada in the World: Comparative Perspectives on the Canadian Constitution, edited by Richard Albert and David R. Cameron (Cambridge University Press).

Abstract:

The comparative strengths and weaknesses of judicial, executive and legislative enforcement of the Constitution are examined through a case study of attempts to enforce the rights of the overlapping Francophones, Roman Catholics and the Métis minorities in Manitoba. In these case studies, the courts were generally the more reliable protector of minority rights than legislatures or the executive. At the same time, there was not always compliance with judicial decisions and courts often produced remedies that were less effective than had there been co-operation with the executive, the legislature and civil society. In particular, legislative remedies both with respect to restoring funding to Catholic schools and ensuring French language services from the government would have been more effective than judicial remedies. They were, however, blocked by filibusters by legislators hostile to the minority rights in question. The 1983 legislative obstruction forced the Supreme Court of Canada in 1985 to pioneer the innovative remedy of a suspended declaration of invalidity. This remedy allows both courts and legislatures to participate in devising remedies. It is now used frequently in Canada and is enshrined in the 1996 South African Constitution.

Deadline extended: Law and Society Grad Student Conference: Constraints and the Law

DEADLINE EXTENSION: 

Colloque CRDS pour étudiants en cycle 

supérieure: Droit & Contraintes/ 

CRDS Graduate Student Conference: 

Constraints & the Law

CRDS Conférence Droit et Société: Droit et Contraintes/  CRDS Law and Society Conference: Constraints and the Law CALL FOR PAPERS Law and Society Conference: Constraints and the Law This is a general call for papers for the first ever  graduate conference hosted by the Law and Society  research group (CRDS) at UQÀM. Location: Université de Québec À Montréal  (Department of Legal Studies) Date: November 23rd and 24th, 2017 Deadline for submissions: AUGUST 22nd, 2017 The Collectif de Recherche en Droit et Société (CRDS) invites  graduate students and other scholars, from various disciplines,  to participate in a conference bringing together scholars and  researchers with a particular interest in socio-legal studies,  the sharing of inter-disciplinary research, legal pluralism,  the exchange of ideas, methods, opportunities and criticism,  to submit their proposals related to one or more of the themes  discussed in the attached document. CRDS Organizing Committee https://crds.blog/  *** APPEL DE COMMUNICATIONS Conférence Droit et Société : Droit et contraintes  Le Collectif de Recherche Droit et Société (CRDS) de l’UQAM  lance un appel à communications pour sa toute première  conférence. Lieu : Université du Québec à Montréal  (Département de Sciences juridiques) Date : 23 et 24 novembre 2017 Date limite pour soumission : AOÛT 22, 2017, à minuit Le Collectif de Recherche en Droit et Société (CRDS)  du Département des sciences juridiques de l’UQAM  a le plaisir de vous annoncer la tenue du colloque  « Droit et contraintes » les 23 et 24 novembre 2017.  Nous invitons les étudiants et étudiantes aux cycles  supérieurs ainsi que les chercheurs et chercheuses  avec un intérêt particulier pour les études sociojuridiques  ainsi que les perspectives interdisciplinaires ou pluralistes à participer à cette conférence. Les échanges de même  que la collaboration avec des étudiantes et étudiants  de différentes disciplines sont les bienvenus et  même fortement encouragés.   Comité d'organisation CRDS https://crds.blog/