Taxation Law is the foundational course in tax. It is one of the highly recommended courses for
students at Osgoode. It is intended for students who find tax issues intriguing or want to develop a stronger understanding of tax. It is also for those who are interested in the many substantive areas of law which invariably intersect with tax.
The course is a survey of the federal income tax system, with a focus on the taxation of individuals. Students will learn about the general framework of the Income Tax Act, come to appreciate the underlying principles and policies of the system, and develop statutory interpretation skills that will serve them well in practice.
Students are expected to prepare for classes by completing the assigned readings and reflecting on them. The amount of readings for the course is modest. Attendance is required.
The main reading material for the course is Li and Magee, Principles of Canadian Income Tax Law (11th edition). Students will be provided with access to an electronic copy of this book. They may also obtain a hard copy from the publisher (Thomson Reuters) or the York University Library.
This course will: (a) provide the means to critically evaluate and apply approaches to the interpretation of statues, both as a matter of theory and practice; and (b) give students the opportunity to apply these approaches to various legal problems and examples. Various topics will be discussed, including:
1. Judicial approaches to statutory interpretation;
2. Competing interpretive theories;
3. The nature of “legislative intent”;
4. Maxims and rules of interpretation, both common law and statutory;
5. Presumptions underlying the interpretive exercise;
6. Practical considerations in legislative drafting; and
7. Evidence of legislative intent.
The overall emphasis is on the language of the law and the practical application of statutory language and concepts.
This is a four hour course in which we will deliver an overview of securities regulation in Canada from a practitioner’s perspective. We will review the Ontario Securities Act, regulations and policies, and will reference certain securities laws in other jurisdictions as well. We will study certain key securities regulatory concepts and how they intersect with today’s corporate finance markets. Our review will include: the meaning of terms such as “security”, “trade” and “distribution”; primary and secondary distribution of securities; prospectus offerings; private placement exemptions and resale rules; regulation of the trading markets including various stock exchange rules; capital pool companies and SPACs; continuous and timely disclosure; takeover bid legislation; mergers and acquisitions; primary and secondary market civil liability; and regulatory enforcement issues. Our goal is to have our students leave the course with a solid grounding in Canadian securities law as well as a good understanding of how these laws impact corporate finance in Canada.
Refugee protection is in a perpetual state of crisis, both domestically and abroad. Many refugee law practitioners and scholars argue that states are retrenching from their duty to provide refugees with the protection to which they are entitled under international law. At the same time, some government actors, media figures and civil society groups contend that existing refugee determination processes are excessively generous and are subject to widespread “abuse” by economically motivated migrants. Still others suggest that refugee protection regimes either distract from or help reinforce a deeper problematic: control over migration that serves to entrench global disparities in income, wealth and security.
This course offers students an opportunity to engage critically with these and other debates over refugee law at the level of theory, policy and practice. This critical engagement will occur through a collaborative examination of refugee law instruments, institutions and jurisprudence in international and domestic forums, with a heavy emphasis on Canada.
The course will be offered through online modules, lectures and class discussions. The course will also include several weeks of student-led teaching in the second half of the term. There will be one optional-to-assist in-class assignment and one closed-book, in-class midterm. The course requires consistent and active student participation throughout the term, including participation in evaluated group work. There is no final exam or final paper. The course, including all evaluated work, will be complete by the final day of class.
A small number of classes will be available only remotely via Zoom. The midterm will be in person. Otherwise, the course will be offered in a hybrid remote/in-person format (hyflex), and students can attend either on campus or remotely via Zoom.
A small number of classes will be available only remotely via Zoom. The mid-term will be in person. Otherwise, the course will be offered in a hybrid remote/in-person format (hyflex) and students can attend either on campus or remotely via Zoom.
This course provides an introductory survey of public international law as a discipline and a political enterprise through the lens of the function of international legal system, its norms, processes, institutions, actors and participants. We will tackle a few legal doctrinal questions ranging from sources of international law to regulation of the use of force, humanitarianism, forceful intervention, and more with an eye on the shrinking lines between the domestic and the international and another on the changing notion of the ‘international’. Throughout, our doctrinal investigation will take aid from both theoretical literature and historical and contemporary state of international political life to weigh the possibilities and limitations of international law in global affairs.
This course will seek to provide students with an understanding of the legal powers and duties of municipalities and the rights available to citizens, residents and taxpayers when dealing with local government. The course will examine the history of municipalities in Canada and their legal and policy frameworks, including the lack of constitutional status for local government. The course will trace the evolution of municipalities and their powers from the “Baldwin Act” in 1849 to the “modern” municipal legislative model that has been adopted in virtually every jurisdiction in Canada, with specific reference to the Municipal Act, 2001 and the City of Toronto Act, 2006.
Topics will include a review of the form and structure of municipal government; municipal powers and jurisdiction as well as duties and liabilities; the role of municipal council and the head of council; the role of statutory officers and municipal administration; by-laws and resolutions as municipal legislation; the doctrine of ultra vires; the open meeting rule; the inapplicability of the indoor management rule; the enforcement of municipal by-laws and challenges to municipal actions; the discretionary enforcement principle and the unique self-help remedy available to taxpayers in Ontario. The introduction of “strong mayor” and “strong chair” powers for municipalities and recent changes to the accountability regime will be examined.
The course will also canvas municipal elections, conflict of interest legislation, the municipal financing framework and municipal freedom of information and protection of privacy laws.
This course provides an introductory overview of labour and employment law in Ontario and beyond. Students will work to build a conceptual framework for understanding the legal regulatory regimes governing the individual contract of employment and collective bargaining. We will delve into the purposes and foundational assumptions of these regimes with a view to the scope and parameters of protection, and the veritable silences and deficiencies. Expect to be exposed to a range of critiques, from reformist to radical, and to gain appreciation for how labour and employment laws shape, and in turn are shaped by, the everyday lives and demands of ordinary working people.
The course is open to all and will provide a gateway into more advanced topics and courses in this and other fields. It is especially well-suited for students wanting to deepen appreciation for social justice, or challenging social injustices, in and around capitalist work and social life.
Are personal injury lawyers ambulance chasers? Are insurance companies only interested in denying claims and generating profits for their shareholders? There are many misconceptions about the insurance industry despite the important role that insurance law plays in regulating so many areas of our lives. Through this course, students will achieve a better understanding of the role that an insurance law lawyer plays in advancing and defending claims arising out of a motor vehicle collision, a slip and fall accident, or a long term disability claim. Through a case study approach, student simulations and by attending litigation events involving real litigants, students will experience first-hand the application of insurance law and procedure. This will also involve an analysis of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) and case law generated by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the License Appeal Tribunal and multiple levels of the Superior Court of Justice.
Students are required to participate in one of the following insurance litigation events throughout the term: an examination for discovery, a mediation session, a LAT case conference, a LAT Hearing, a pre-trial hearing and a day of trial. The course instructor will facilitate this process. Students will be required to prepare a paper of 5 pages at the end of their real world litigation experience.
This is a unique Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law course experience that covers a variety of topics through a focus on treaties and a practical experiential-learning based approach to Indigenous rights litigation. This course is designed to simulate real-world legal practice where collaboration is essential for success. Students will work in teams to analyze and prepare a complex legal case as part of a larger group advocacy project. Students who enjoy working with others and sharing ideas are more likely to find this course particularly rewarding.
The course will provide a survey of the procedural and substantive elements of litigating Indigenous rights from the perspective of a lawyer practicing exclusively in this area of law on behalf of First Nation clients and communities. Topics may include but are not limited to: Indigenous laws and governance systems; intersocietal law; history of treaties and treaty relationships; pre-existing Indigenous sovereignty and assumed Crown sovereignty; the honour of the Crown; the colonial doctrines of discovery and terra nullius; settler-colonialism and Indigenous resurgence.
This course consists of weekly lectures and in-class discussions. Evaluation methods encompass in-class quizzes, weekly reading assignments, participation and group work. This course also fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.
This course provides a critical survey of state law as it relates to Indigenous peoples and lands in what is now known as Canada.
Topics may include but are not limited to: historical context and constitutional framework; the laws of Indigenous peoples, especially as they interact with Canadian law; Aboriginal rights and title; self-government; treaties and treaty rights; the Indian Act; the obligations of the federal and provincial governments; and Indigenous belonging and identity.
This course fulfills the prerequisite requirement for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments. This course also satisfies the Indigenous and Aboriginal Law Requirement.