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September 11, 2017

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Page 20 September 11, 2017 • Law timeS www.lawtimesnews.com UOTTAWA WILL ADMINISTER CCP The University of Ottawa has been selected by the federal government to administer the recently revamped Court Chal- lenges Program. Richard Clément, a profes- sor at the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute at the university, will serve as chair- man of the centre's new adminis- tration committee. He says UOt- tawa hosting the CCP "fits very well with what we perceive as the message of the university" con- sidering that, as a bilingual uni- versity, it is particularly interested in language rights. He also points out the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the faculty of law. "This is a joint effort, a multidisciplinary effort, on the part of the university faculty of law and the institute working together," he says. Mélanie Joly, minister of Canadian Heritage, who has been charged with implementing the modernized CCP, announced that UOttawa had been selected on Sept. 5. The university, which was se- lected following a request for proposals, will administer the program by creating the Canadian Centre for the Court Challenges Program. The CCCCP will support the work of the two expert panels that make the funding decisions. Though the CCCCP will have administrative support from the university, it will be independent "in its goals and funding decisions," according to a news release from UOttawa. LAWSUIT DISMISSED An Ottawa court has thrown out a discrimination lawsuit against KISS bassist and lead singer Gene Simmons launched against him by a concertgoer who was removed from one of the band's shows in 2013. Byeongheon Lee's claim originated from what he saw as a wrongful ejection from the rock band's July 25, 2013 concert at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. In Lee v. Simmons et al., Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc R. Labrosse was asked to dismiss an action brought against Simmons for what Lee saw as the rocker's in- volvement in his removal from the concert. In the decision, Labrosse in- dicated that, "Even when consid- ered liberally, the Statement of Claim does not suggest that Mr. Simmons' action of seeking the removal of the Plaintiff caused the claimed harassment or as- sault." CBA JOINS COALITION The Canadian Bar Associa- tion has joined other business groups to call on the federal government to drop proposed tax changes for private corpora- tions. This summer, the federal government unveiled a number of proposals that would affect the taxation of private business- es in an effort to tackle perceived inequities in corporate taxes. But the Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness, which has 42 member organizations, says these changes will unfairly affect small business owners and professionals, including lawyers and law firms. 13 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 87 % LAW TIMES POLL Lawyers have expressed con- cerns that of 38 justices of the peace that the province appoint- ed this summer, only 12 have law degrees. Readers were asked if they felt this was an issue. About 87 per cent of respondents said yes, justices of the peace should have law degrees, especially if they oversee bail hearings. About 13 per cent said no, having a de- gree was not necessary. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Richard Clément says UOttawa hosting the Court Challenges Program "fits very well with what we perceive as the message of the university." MAN JAILED FOR AB-DUCK-TION THE HAGUE — A Dutch judge has called fowl play on a man who abducted and damaged a giant rubber duck, according to the Associated Press. Prosecutors say in a statement that the 45-year-old was sentenced Sept. 6 to eight weeks in prison for stealing the one-metre-high bright yellow duck from outside the Goudse Eend (Gouda Duck) cafe in the central Dutch city of Gouda on June 23. The duck toy was lat- er found badly damaged elsewhere in the city, prosecutors say. The prosecution statement says the man will have to serve only two weeks if he under- goes "lifestyle training." A judge also ordered him to pay $1,077 compensation to the owner of the cafe. SALVADOR DALI, YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER A DNA test proves a Spanish woman who be- lieved Salvador Dali was her father is not the surrealist artist's daughter, according to BBC News. Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, a tarot card reader who was born in 1956, says her mother had an affair with Dali during the year before her birth. A judge in Madrid agreed his body could be exhumed for testing in June. But now the Dali Foundation says the tests carried out have conclusively proved the two are not related. "The DNA tests show that Pilar Abel is not Dali's daughter," the foundation, which man- ages the late artist's estate, said in a statement on Sept, 6, six weeks after Dali's body was ex- humed from a crypt in a museum dedicated to his life and work in Figueres, in north-eastern Spain. Had they been related, Martinez would have had a claim on part of Dali's estate, which he left to the Spanish state following his death in 1989 at the age of 85. A number of Dali experts had raised their eyebrows at the claim before his body was ex- humed, with biographer Ian Gibson noting the artist's own claim of "I'm impotent, you've got to be impotent to be a great painter." It is not known how Martinez, who had been told from an early age that she was the painter's daughter, responded to the news. LAWKEEPING GONE TO THE DOGS? BANGKOK — An advertising agency in Thailand has developed a "smart vest" that potentially could turn stray dogs into guar- dians of Bangkok 's streets and alleyways, reports Reuters. Equipped with a hidden video camera, the vest has sensors that transmit live streaming videos when the dog barks, showing what the dog sees via a mobile phone and computer ap- plication. There are stray dogs on the streets of most Thai cities and the developer thought smart vests could help both the dogs and the com- munity. "It will make people feel that stray dogs can become night-watches for the communities," said Pakornkrit Khantaprap, who is on the creative team that came up with the idea at the Cheil advertising agency, a subsidiary of South Korea's Samsung Electronics. Martin Turner, managing director of the Phuket-based Soi Dog Foundation, formed more than a decade ago to save stray dogs and cats across Thailand, welcomed the initiative. He says there are many cases of cruelty against animals in Thailand, despite the intro- duction of the country's first Animal Welfare Law in late 2014, which penalizes wrongdoers with a maximum two years' imprisonment and a $1,475 fine. The project began in March and took about five months to materialize. The developer says a lot more tests are need- ed before the vest can be introduced into com- munities for trial runs. LT "The meaning of life, my son, is that it is always wise to retain a lawyer who is expert on the tort of intrusion upon seclusion." THE ULTIMATE SOURCE For Today's Legal Profession Canlawyer.lawtimes@tr.com | 416.609.3800 | 1.800.387.5164 Online bitly.com/CanLawyer-Subscription Free preview bitly.com/CanLawyer-FreePreview Subscribe today! ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES: • 11 issues print and digital editions • FREE exclusive access to Canadian Lawyer digital edition archives • FREE weekly e-newsletter: Canadian Legal Newswire Untitled-6 1 2017-09-06 2:21 PM

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