News

A promise is a promise--and we have some great ones lined up, and ready to be 'sold'! On Wednesday January 11, 2012, students and faculty will be auctioning promises for charity.

Proceeds will go to The Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, which is advocating equitable child welfare services on reserves (for more information on their ongoing litigation see: http://www.fncfcs.com/fnwitness/importance).

The new Tax Court of Canada Advocacy Project pilot, project launched by Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) and Fraser Milner Casgrain at U of T law school, has received recent attention in the media.

The pilot project was developed at the suggestion of the chief justice of the Tax Court of Canada in response to the "significant number of unrepresented appellants appearing before the court."

By Alyssa Manji

L-R: Alyssa Manji (III), PBSC Volunteer Coordinator, Brendan Stevens (I), Michelle Jennett (I) and Adam Curran (I), McCarthy Tétrault Interns.

In the Reference re Assisted Human Reproduction Act (2010 SCC 61), the Supreme Court of Canada issued a divided 4-4-1 opinion that declared several provisions of the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act ("AHRA") ultra vires. As a result, many core provisions of the AHRA were declared unconstitutional, particularly those related to the introduction of a federal licensing and control system. Other provisions, for example those related to the federal government's power to regulate the reimbursement of expenses for surrogacy or gamete donation, remain intact.