Chapter XII. “She’s Such a Slut!”: The Sexualized Cyberbullying of Teen Girls and the Education Law Response

Introduction Sexualized Cyberbullying and the Canadian Context On 27 September 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada released A.B. v. Bragg Communications Inc., in which a teenage girl “sought to unmask her cyberbullies” in order to pursue a defamation action, while still protecting her own anonymity. In 2010, A.B. discovered that someone had created a fake Facebook profile using her picture, a slightly modified version of her name, and other identifying particulars. In addition to the photo, the..

Developments in Aboriginal Law: The 2011-2012 Term – Charter Rights, Constitutional Rights, Taxation and Sentencing

This year the Supreme Court of Canada released reasons for six major Aboriginal Law cases. In Lax Kw\u27allams Indian Band v Canada (Attorney General), the Court considered an application for a declaration that a First Nation possessed a constitutionally protected right under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 to engage in a general commercial fishery. This application was unsuccessful, as the Court found that the evidence did not support the claim. As well as developing the jurisprudence regarding claims with commercial aspects, this case also provides insight into pleadings and how the subject matter of rights evolves over time. The Court also heard a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in Alberta (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development) v Cunningham. This case considered whether a partial statutory prohibition against individuals who are registered Indians also being members of Metis settlement communities violated equality rights, or the right to life, liberty and security of the person. The Court upheld the legislation, finding that section 15(2) shielded the exclusionary provisions, and that liberty interests were not offended. [...] The Court also heard a pair of taxation cases, Bastien Estate v Canada and Dube v Canada. Each case involved an appeal regarding whether investment income was exempt from taxation pursuant to section 87(1)(b) of the Indian Act. In each case, the Court found the income was indeed exempt. [...] The Court also heard two criminal law cases, R v Ipeelee and R v Ladue. The legal issue was the proper approach to sentencing Aboriginal offenders pursuant to section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, and whether this provision applied to sentences for breaching conditions imposed as part of a long-term supervision order. In these cases, the Court both affirmed the approach to sentencing that had been described in R v Gladue, and wrote responses to the scholarly critiques that have been levelled against the relevance of Gladue and section 718.2(e) for reducing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal persons within penal institutions

Developments in Aboriginal Law: The 2011-2012 Term – Charter Rights, Constitutional Rights, Taxation and Sentencing

This year the Supreme Court of Canada released reasons for six major Aboriginal Law cases. In Lax Kw\u27allams Indian Band v Canada (Attorney General), the Court considered an application for a declaration that a First Nation possessed a constitutionally protected right under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 to engage in a general commercial fishery. This application was unsuccessful, as the Court found that the evidence did not support the claim. As well as developing the jurisprudence regarding claims with commercial aspects, this case also provides insight into pleadings and how the subject matter of rights evolves over time. The Court also heard a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in Alberta (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development) v Cunningham. This case considered whether a partial statutory prohibition against individuals who are registered Indians also being members of Metis settlement communities violated equality rights, or the right to life, liberty and security of the person. The Court upheld the legislation, finding that section 15(2) shielded the exclusionary provisions, and that liberty interests were not offended. [...] The Court also heard a pair of taxation cases, Bastien Estate v Canada and Dube v Canada. Each case involved an appeal regarding whether investment income was exempt from taxation pursuant to section 87(1)(b) of the Indian Act. In each case, the Court found the income was indeed exempt. [...] The Court also heard two criminal law cases, R v Ipeelee and R v Ladue. The legal issue was the proper approach to sentencing Aboriginal offenders pursuant to section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, and whether this provision applied to sentences for breaching conditions imposed as part of a long-term supervision order. In these cases, the Court both affirmed the approach to sentencing that had been described in R v Gladue, and wrote responses to the scholarly critiques that have been levelled against the relevance of Gladue and section 718.2(e) for reducing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal persons within penal institutions

eGirls, eCitizens

eGirls, eCitizens is a landmark work that explores the many forces that shape girls’ and young women’s experiences of privacy, identity, and equality in our digitally networked society. Drawing on the multi-disciplinary expertise of a remarkable team of leading Canadian and international scholars, as well as Canada’s foremost digital literacy organization, MediaSmarts, this collection presents the complex realities of digitized communications for girls and young women as revealed through the findings of The eGirls Project (www.egirlsproject.ca) and other important research initiatives. Aimed at moving dialogues on scholarship and policy around girls and technology away from established binaries of good vs bad, or risk vs opportunity, these seminal contributions explore the interplay of factors that shape online environments characterized by a gendered gaze and too often punctuated by sexualized violence. Perhaps most importantly, this collection offers first-hand perspectives collected from girls and young women themselves, providing a unique window on what it is to be a girl in today’s digitized society