EDITORI A L
a. Osgoode Hall Law School, 0014 G
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3 J 1P3
e. [email protected]
w . www.obiter-dicta.ca
t. @obiterdictaoz
“The law is reason, free from passion.”
- ARISTOTLE
Editors-in-Chief: Cass Da Re, Travis
Weagant, Karolina Wisniewski
Business Managers: Adam Cepler,
Alvin Qian
Copy Editor: Patricia Wood
News Editor: Citlally Maciel
Arts & Culture Editor: Angie Sheep
Sports Editor: Andrew Cyr
Staff Writers: Michael Capitano, Luke
Johnston, Sam Michaels, Dan Mowat-Rose,
Marie Park, Daniel Styler, Evan Ivkovic
Contributors: Toby Samson, Victoria de
Luna, Ronald H. Neal, Avnish Nanda,
Chris Los, Robyn Blumberg, Osgoode
Sustainability Committee, Jamie Prsala,
Nina Mazze, Hannah De Jong, Bart Danko,
Jonathan Hurter, Jessica Rosenberg
Layout Editors: Marie Park, Heather Pringle,
Devin Santos, Wendy Sun
Website Editor: Asad Akhtar
Submissions for the February 3 issue are due at
5PM on January 26, and should be submitted
to the email address above.
Obiter Dicta is the official student newspaper of
Osgoode Hall Law School. The opinions expressed
in the articles contained herein are not necessarily
those of the Obiter staff. The Obiter reserves the
right to refuse any submission that is judged to be
libelous or defamatory, contains personal attacks, or
is discriminatory on the basis of sex, race, religion,
or sexual orientation. Submissions may be edited
for length and/or content.
The Obiter Dicta is published biweekly during the
school year, and is printed by Weller Publishing Co.
Ltd.
The Obiter Dicta is a member of Canadian
University Press.
What’s Going on with Green
This w eek’s theme is “Go Green.” Environmental law and related practice areas are
extremely important to Osgoode, to Canada, and
to the world. Just ask Al Gore. Unfortunately, at
least one editor-in-chief of our esteemed editorial
board knows nothing about environmental law,
other than its incredible magnitude on our future.
However, this editor does know something about
going green. I’ll leave the legal opinions about
oil sands, polar bears, food waste, rainforests, the
commercialization of water, anything that happens
in Alberta, and general matters of eco-justice to
the experts. For us environmental law lay-persons, here is a summary of what is going on with
“green.”
Green Bay Packers
For those of you who are football fans, you already
know that the free agent frenzy begins March
11th. While the Green Bay Packers are moderate
movers, this year, they are rumoured to be spirited
shakers. There has been an 8.13% increase in the
2014 NFL salary cap, bringing the grand total to
$133 million. Teams must use a minimum of 89%
of the total cap. Many speculate that the Packers
have just under $35 million cap space to play with
as free agency is fast approaching, placing this
team in the top ten of the NFL of money to spend.
General Manager, Ted Thompson, is kno wn for
his fiscal responsibility, but experts predict a
change in his financial blueprint. The green team
may spend some serious green to pick up quality
players and fill in the gaps in their current roster.
Green Party Leader: Elizabeth May
Does anyone else think it’s unfair that Parliament
gets a TWO-week march break, I mean “constituency” break? As the House of Commons colleagues come together for their final week before
the Break, it is said that Green Party Leader and
MP for Saanich – Gulf Islands, Elizabeth May
will present her bid to establish a National Lyme
Disease Strategy on the morning of March 3rd.
The private members’ bill, entitled, C-442, An Act
respecting a National Lyme Disease Strategy calls for:
… the Health minister to convene a conference with provincial and territorial health ministers and other medical stakeholders in order to
develop a strategy to review Lyme disease and
associated issues relating to diagnosis and treatment. The bill would also allow the Finance minister to set funding guidelines for provincial and
territorial governments that enact legislation to
implement the Lyme disease strategy.
Lyme disease is a serious condition that effects
many Canadians. If going green means taking
health care more seriously, then we should consider jumping on the Green Party’s band wagon.
*Disclaimer: The Obiter Dicta does not profess or adhere to any specific political agenda.
Green leads Phoenix Suns in an
impressive victory over the Atlanta
Hawks
If you weren’t watching the Oscars last Sunday,
then you may have been watching the Phoenix
Suns set season record highs in the categories of
total points, points in a half, and 3-pointers in
their 129-120 win over the Atlanta Hawks. In the
first half alone, the Suns scored 79 points – which
is an NBA record for points scored before halftime
this season.
This fast paced game was an example of excellent and aggressive offensive playing, and why
cardio is so important. (On the other hand, it was
an example of an absent defence, as the Hawks
put down over 100 points, but the grass is always
greener on the other side of the bench.)
» continued on page 19
L E T T ERS
Small sustainability steps
Dear Obiter:
Osgoode is set to compete this week in the International Law Student Mediation Tournament
in Chicago. As a member of one of Osgoode’s
teams, I received an email from Loyola University providing me with a few tips for my anticipated journey. They advised that “[i]n an effort
to be eco-friendly[,] water facilities are available
at Loyola,” and that “water bottles [would] not
be.” They suggested we bring refillable bottles.
With York, including Osgoode, having followed
a similar initiative with the installation of hydration stations, is it time for the university to finally
follow through and stop selling disposable bottles
of water?
JONATHAN HURTER