The seminar deals with a broad range of subject matter within the context of land development and commercial real estate. Its focus is on developing problem-solving techniques to deal with the issues raised by the subject matter. The areas covered by the seminar include planning and land use control issues related to subdivisions and urban developments, commercial real estate including a discussion of various business entities used in real estate transactions such as limited partnerships, joint ventures and co-tenancies; current problems respecting condominiums; a discussion of institutional and secondary financing, consideration of ground leasing techniques; mixed use developments, public-private partnerships and commercial leases, and the negotiation of agreements of purchase and sale.
Course or Seminar Category: Environmental Law and Natural Resources
Comparative Law: Indigenous Nation-Building and Inherent Jurisdiction
This seminar course is a review of Indigenous rights practice from the standpoint of Indigenous law, inherent jurisdiction and nationbuilding. The course will be an evolution from early Indigenous rights advocacy, to Aboriginal title and Modern treaty negotiations. The instruction will focus on the tools of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous perspective of the Covenant Chain and the Nation-to-Nation arrangements made through the Treaty at Niagara in 1764 to discuss such modern day concepts as Treaty Councils, Indigenous Rights / Inherent Rights and Self Determination Tables, and the drafting of complex and comprehensive coordination agreements and Treaties. Other topics will include Indigenous Protected and Conservation Areas and Legislative Reconciliation.
Climate Change Law
As the global community grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change, the legal system has become a critical battleground for accountability and policy change. This course delves into the rapidly evolving domain of climate change law and litigation, examining the intersection of law, environmental science, and global governance. Participants will explore the legal and policy mechanisms and strategies employed to address climate change, the role of litigation in shaping environmental policy, and the influence of legal decisions on the behavior of governments and corporations.
The seminar has two thematic segments. First, it provides a general background on international climate change law, including the UNFCCC, Montreal Protocol, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, as well as domestic efforts to implement those mechanisms in order to mitigate climate impacts. Second, it looks at the emergence of climate change litigation domestically and in other jurisdictions. Specifically, this seminar will cover cases related to criminal law power, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, and private law that have attempted to take governments and other institutional actors to account for their climate-related impacts.
Comparative Law: Indigenous Legal Traditions
This seminar will introduce students to non-state Indigenous legal orders. Using a transsystemic pedagogical model and a wide range of reading materials (legal cases, methodology, pedagogy, anthropology, theory) students will critically explore the theories and practices of indigenous legal traditions through analysis and substantive treatment of: indigenous sources of law; oral histories and traditions (as legal archive); legal cases and precedent; modes of reasoning and interpretation; and authority and legitimacy.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
This course will provide a critical survey of state law as it relates to Indigenous peoples in Canada. The focus will be on the following topics: the historical context and constitutional framework; Aboriginal rights and title; self-government; treaties and treaty rights; and introduction to the Indian Act; and the authority and obligations of the federal and provincial governments.
This course fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
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.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
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; Indigenous law and constitutionalism; Aboriginal rights and title; self-government; treaties and treaty rights; the Indian Act; the obligations of the federal and provincial governments; and Indigenous identity.
This course fulfills the prerequisite requirement for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.
Lectures will be recorded.
Animals and the Law
This course analyzes the legal treatment of non-human animals, interrogating the limits of
the prevailing property concept that treats them as objects when they are also sentient
subjects with some legal rights. Topics explored include emerging alternatives to the
persons vs property debate; federal anti-cruelty protections and provincial welfare
legislation in Canada; and Indigenous laws and perspectives on non-human animals.
Municipal Law
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 recent introduction of “strong mayor” powers for larger urban municipalities will be examined.
The course will also canvas municipal elections, conflict of interest legislation, municipal accountability and transparency, the municipal financing framework and municipal freedom of information and protection of privacy laws.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
The principal aim of this section of the course is to develop critical understanding of those parts of Canadian constitutional law that pertain specifically to Indigenous peoples. Topics will include the notions of sovereignty and self-determination, relevant British imperial law, the honour of the Crown and the enforceable Crown obligations to which it gives rise, federal and provincial legislative authority, section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, Aboriginal rights and title, treaties and treaty rights, and Indigenous self-government (statutory and constitutional). The plan is for one class session, late in the term, to feature Toronto lawyers who represent or advise Indigenous clients, discussing practice-related issues.
The course will also acknowledge the reality, the coherence and the efficacy of Indigenous law. Early in the term, an Indigenous law scholar will spend one class session introducing the students to an Indigenous legal order. But Indigenous law will figure somewhat less prominently in this section of the course than it does in some other sections, because the instructor, who is not Indigenous, has neither authority nor permission to pronounce on matters internal to any Indigenous legal order. Students whose primary interest is in Indigenous law may prefer another section of this course, or may wish to supplement this course with a companion course whose specific focus is Indigenous law.
This course satisfies the prerequisite requirement for the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governments. It may also be useful background for advanced seminars about Indigenous Peoples and the Law.