This thesis applies arguments for greater diversity, and more specifically, racial diversity, on the judiciary to administrative tribunals with an adjudicative function. I draw from both formal arguments, such as institutional legitimacy, and substantive arguments, such as the different perspectives that diversity would provide, to propose an integrative conception of diversity. By relying upon concepts such as structural impartiality, I argue that an integrative conception of diversity more fully reveals the transformative potential of diversity in legal decision-making. This integrative conception is particularly well-suited to the administrative context because it demonstrates how diversity will enhance the values of participation and justification, which are instrumental to the principle of fairness. Through interviews with adjudicators and legal clinic lawyers, I offer a preliminary view of the potential impact that diverse administrative adjudicators could have in practice. Finally, this thesis offers recommendations on how this potential could be further realized.

This thesis examines current Canadian social policies aimed at ameliorating the position of informal caregivers of terminally ill and elderly care recipients. Using an ethics of care theoretical approach, the thesis critically evaluates federal and provincial income tax regimes aimed at increasing the financial security of caregivers, and also looks at the shortcomings of the Compassionate Care Benefit offered through the federal Employment Insurance Act. The evaluation reveals that the benefit has a very low up-take compared with initial estimates, and offers some explanations for its low use. A review of the caregiver policies in three European countries provide additional background for the final chapter of the thesis, which offers concrete and incremental solutions to the problems with the current social policies in place. The aim of this thesis is not to suggest sweeping reforms, but to offer affordable, practical, and politically feasible solutions that can begin to make a difference in the lives of caregivers.

This thesis focuses on Fraudulent migratory marriages by discussing two paradigms of such marriages, the Abandoned Brides Problem in India and the Fraudulent Immigration Marriages or Marriages of Convenience in Canada. It highlights some of the socio-economic and legal problems that may arise in these migratory marriages and explores the various legal solutions proposed as solutions to them. The solutions offered in these two instances require changes in two different areas of law, the first being Private International Law and the second Immigration Law.

This paper examines leading Canadian decisions in the areas of obscenity and indecency law and freedom of religion to demonstrate that the strangeness of a practice will be a major factor in determining the harm associated with it. Since “strangeness” in sexual deviance cases turn on the perceived objectification and subjugation of women and minority religion cases turn on communal behaviours, these strands intersect in the debate over polygamy. The impact that these skewed perceptions will have on findings of harm in the polygamy context is examined, as are how the benefits of the legislation may be overstated. Finally, the effects of “othering” are addressed for the practice of polyamory, a relationship structure that lacks harm but may nevertheless be equally prohibited.

This thesis addresses the complex relationship between the federal and provincial governments with regard to the creation and implementation of economic migration policies and programs. As immigration is subject to shared jurisdiction under the Constitution, provinces have begun to take up an important and ever-increasing role in immigration policy and have used it as an effective tool to reach regional economic and demographic objectives. However, devolving responsibilities for economic migration policy to the provinces raises questions about the proper balance between federal and provincial immigration powers. The thesis will address this issue by giving an overview of the current mechanisms in place that govern the division of immigration powers between the two levels of government, the main critiques on it and the theoretical framework that supports the choices made. It then tries to provide the reader with alternative approaches to the division of powers for specific elements of the immigration process.

The Article discusses digital-era courts’ distortion of (para)copyright principles, deeming it borne of jumbled underlying legislation and a misplaced predilection for adopting licensing terms—even at the expense of recognized use exceptions. Common law evolutionary principles, it is shown, have been abandoned just when they are most needed: the ethereal rightsholder-user balance is increasingly disturbed, and the incipient “generative consumer” is in thrall, not liberated. Finally, the Article puts forth a proposal for the reestablishment of the principle of substantially noninfringing use, showing it to be in the interests of innovation, democracy, and the greater public interest.

This paper deals with the interaction of insolvency and secured transactions law in a “bijural” jurisdiction, composed of sub-jurisdictions that come from different legal origins. It gives an introduction to bijuralism and then examines an example, namely the interaction of Canadian insolvency law and provincial secured transactions law. It stresses the different origins of Anglo-Canadian law and Québec law, in particular the difference in property law between the two and how it affects secured transactions law. It argues that given these fun- damental differences, the provinces have achieved a relatively harmonized secured transac- tions law. The paper goes on to compare the interaction in Canada with the interaction of European law and the law of EU member states. While the Canadian experience can serve as an example for the interaction in Europe, it also demonstrates shortcomings that need to be addressed in Canada as well as by a European insolvency legislator.

After Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2008, foreign banks were permitted to open their branches directly in this country. This development brought the opportunity for additional capital inflow to Ukrainian economy. However, foreign banks tend to operate in Ukraine through locally incorporated subsidiaries rather than branches. This thesis analyzes the Ukrainian regulatory framework for foreign bank branching and compares to the analogous Canadian regimen. I find that, although the minimum entry requirements for establishing a foreign bank branch are more relaxed in Ukraine as compared to Canada, the Ukrainian legal framework that is not conducive to operating via branches. The regulatory limits for a branch’s loan activities are based on a branch’s capital deposited in Ukraine rather than on the parent bank’s capital. Branches effectively have no inherent advantages over subsidiaries in this jurisdiction, whereas the disadvantages, such as unlimited liability, are preserved.

Mashups are a controversial form of music as they frequently infringe copyright in the songs they sample and these composite works are not likely to be saved by the “fair dealing” copyright exemption. Moreover, those who attempt to produce mashups legitimately by obtaining licenses to music samples encounter numerous problems, including high license fees and a complex licensing system. In light of these issues and the fact that mashups are a particularly beneficial form of music in several respects, a change to the current legal/licensing status quo would be prudent. The introduction of a compulsory licensing regime for samples would facilitate mashup creation while still protecting the interests of the underlying copyright holders, which helps strike a better balance between the copyright goals of ensuring just rewards for creators and encouraging the dissemination of creative works.

This thesis explores the impact that Chinese aid and investment has on the political economy of resource-rich African countries. In particular, it examines the effects of Chinese resource-for-infrastructure agreements on the political economy of the resource curse. Using Ghana as a case study, this thesis highlights the peculiar obstacles that countries face with regard to managing their resources. In turn, it argues that general prescriptions against the resource curse, such as resource revenue transparency initiatives, like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, are insufficient. As a result, African recipients of Chinese aid require specific institutional arrangements that accurately reflect the specific “rules of the game” that exist under their respective political economies. In the case of Ghana, this thesis argues that vetting Chinese resource-for-infrastructure agreements through the Public Procurement Act serves that need.