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Research snapshots

How do Saskatchewan’s justice sector organizations collect and use data?
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VIDEOS: Discover our Research

A video series highlighting some of the timely and relevant legal issues our College of Law faculty are exploring.

Municipal Regulation of Cannabis ft. Assistant Professor Felix Hoehn (2020)

Litigation and Risk Assessment ft. Professors Michaela Keet and Heather Heavin with John Lande (University of Missouri) (2020)

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the Mental Health Strategy Court (Pt. 1) ft. Professor Glen Luther and Mansfield Mela (College of Medicine) (2019)

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the Mental Health Strategy Court (Pt. 2) ft. Professor Glen Luther and Mansfield Mela (College of Medicine) (2019)

Community-Engaged Research ft. Associate Prof. Sarah Buhler (2017)

Natural Resource and Development Contracts ft. Associate Professor Ibironke Odumosu-Ayanu (2017)

Mortgage Law Reform in Saskatchewan ft. Distinguished Professor Ronald C.C. Cuming (2017)

Simple Framework for Risk Analysis ft. Professors Heather Heavin and Michaela Keet (2017)

Recent publications and presentations

Heather Heavin and Michaela Keet, “Client-Centred Communication:  How Effective Lawyering Requires Emotional Intelligence, Active Listening, and Client Choice”  2021, 22(2) Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 199-219.

Burningham, Sarah. "The Relevance of Government Practice in Constitutional Decision-Making: A Review of the Supreme Court’s Federalism Jurisprudence." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 58.1 (2021) : 109-138. https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol58/iss1/3

Jennifer Koshan, Janet Mosher and Wanda Wiegers “The Cost of Justice in Domestic Violence Cases:  Mapping Canadian Law and Policy “ in Trevor Farrow and Lesley Jacobs (eds) THE JUSTICE CRISIS: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law (UBC Press, Vancouver, 2020).

Michaela Keet and Heather Heavin, “Assessing Client Interests and Process Costs in a Litigation Risk Analysis” in Trevor Farrow and Lesley Jacobs (eds) THE JUSTICE CRISIS: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law (UBC Press, Vancouver: 2020).

Glen Luther presented "A Discussion on the Implementation of Gladue in Saskatchewan" at the CBA Aboriginal Law North, Young Lawyers North & Criminal Justice South Joint Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 24 via Zoom.

Marilyn Poitras delivered the keynote address titled "Violence, Brutality and Death: Whose Issue is This and What is the Story we Tell Ourselves About it?" at the PATHS Promoting Access to Justice for Survivors Virtual Conference on Nov. 10, 2020. 

Dwight Newman and PhD candidate Nnaemeka Ezeani authored a chapter in "The Saskatchewan Election: A 2020 Perspective" - an e-book released earlier this month by the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

Patricia Farnese was a contributor to a chapter in One Health: The Theory and Practice of Integrated Health Approaches, 2nd edition

Patricia Farnese presented to the Animal Welfare Caucus of Parliament on regulatory responses to emerging zoonotic diseases on Oct. 14, 2020.  

Marilyn Poitras delivered a keynote address at the Wicihitowin Indigenous Engagement Conference on the topic of "Natural Law: where to find it, how to live within it" on Oct. 8, 2020.

Glen Luther delivered a​ keynote address at the "FASD and the Justice System" virtual conference on Oct. 2, 2020.

Dwight Newman presented on “When the State Tells You How to Run Your Church Service: Analyzing Coronavirus Guidance Documents on Religious Services” as part of a webinar co-organized by the law and religion centers at BYU, Emory, Notre Dame, St John’s University, and Villanova on Oct. 2, 2020 (with blog posts now published by Canopy Forum).
 
Dwight Newman was an invited participant of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) “Circling the Arctic: Security and the Rule of Law in a Changing North” closed workshop on Oct. 2-3, 2020.

Koshan, Jennifer and Mosher, Janet Eaton and Wiegers, Wanda, "COVID-19, the Shadow Pandemic, and Access to Justice for Survivors of Domestic Violence" (September 23, 2020). Forthcoming, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3698160 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3698160

Jaime Lavallee presented "First Nations' issues regarding repatriation of human remains in Canada" at the "Negotiating the Human" virtual conference on Sept. 4, 2020.

Dwight Newman presented on “Campus Free Speech” as part of the International Association of Constitutional Law’s conference on Free Speech in the 21st Century on 3 July 2020 notionally in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Dwight Newman presented (via a translator) on “Multiculturalismo, Derechos Indígenas, y Consulta Indígena en Canada” to a group of fifty Indigenous leaders from Latin America as part of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Titulo de Experto en Pueblos Indigenas program on 6 July 2020 notionally in Madrid, Spain.

Brea Lowenberger spoke at the Association of Canadian Law Foundation annual meeting in Fredericton, NB, on Sept. 14, 2019.

Brea Lowenberger (October 3, 2019) “Advancing rigorous reflective practice in legal education through assessment: a guide for educators”, The Law Teacher, DOI: 10.1080/03069400.2019.1667084

Jason MacLean presented a paper called "Reorienting the Role of Nonstate Actors in Global Climate Governance" on Sept. 27, 2019  as part of the Purdy Crawford Workshop: The Role of Business Regulation in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University.

Sarah Burningham took part in a discussion of the defence of extreme intoxication in Canadian criminal law with Mark Mancini of the Runnymede Society at the College of Law on Sept. 19, 2019. 

Dwight Newman delivered a keynote address at the Treaties and Self-Government conference run by PBLI in Vancouver on Sept. 19, 2019, speaking on “Effective Assertions of Indigenous Law in the Canadian Legal System”.

Dwight Newman delivered a keynote address at the Treaties and Self-Government conference run by PBLI in Vancouver on Sept. 19, 2019, speaking on “Effective Assertions of Indigenous Law in the Canadian Legal System”.

Dwight Newmanspoke on “Financing Reconciliation” at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention in Vancouver on Sept. 23, 2019. 

Dwight Newman co-hosted The Forgotten Freedoms Workshop 2019 in Toronto on Sept. 26, 2019, supported by a SSHRC Connections Grant.  At that event, Dwight Newman presented a co-authored paper with JD student Monica Fitzpatrick on “Freedoms of Thought, Belief, and Opinion as Protected Inner Freedoms.  

Lucinda Vandervort,“Flaming Misogyny or Blindly Zealous Enforcement? The Bizarre Case of R v George” 2019 42:3 Manitoba Law Journal, Special Issue, Criminal Law Edition (Robson Crim) 1-38. 

On Sept. 11, 2019, Brea Lowenberger presented, “Tools to Become an Effective Practitioner and Develop Interprofessional Competencies: An introduction to reflective practice” at I-PASS (Inter-Professional Annual Student’s Symposium), which involves all first-year health sciences students at the University of Saskatchewan

Jason MacLean gave a presentation on “Les défis de la politique climatique au Canada” at a meeting of the Québec Secrétariat aux relations canadiennes on federalism and climate change on Sept. 12, 2019.

Felix Hoehn,"The Limits of Local Authority over Recreational Cannabis" (2019) 50:2 Ottawa L Rev.

Patricia Farnese presented “Land-use planning at the landscape scale: Opportunities and challenges for vector-borne disease control” at the Ecological Society of America’s 104th annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky on August 12, 2019.

Dwight Newman delivered a lecture at Bocconi University, Milan, Italy on “Collective Rights and Canada’s Notwithstanding Clause: Examining Recent Legislative Decisions on Rights Prioritization” on July 5, 2019.

Lucinda Vandervort presented a paper on “Consent in 21st century Canada:  Theory, implementation, and the hegemony problem---a case study on the agency and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and women” at the Linking Generations for Global Justice RCSL-IISL International Joint Congress held at the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Oñati, Spain, in June 2019.  

Michaela Keet was invited to speak at a conference titled “Appreciating our Legacy and Engaging the Future: An International Conference for Dispute Resolution Teachers, Scholars, and Leaders”on June 18, 2019, at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. 

Dwight Newman presented a paper on “Subsidiarity in Action: Considering Applications of Subsidiarity to the Contexts of Indigenous Self-Determination and of Climate Change Jurisdiction” for the Oxford University Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government  at Trinity College, Oxford on June 14, 2019.

Hilary Peterson (LLM’19)and Glen Lutherpresented to the Prince Albert Bar Association on Indigenous People and the Criminal Justice System on June 11, 2019, in Prince Albert.

Dwight Newman appeared as an invited witness in the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples to discuss Bill C-262 on UNDRIP implementation on June 4, 2019.

Dwight Newman presented at an Indigenous land tenure workshop organized by the University of Alberta Faculty of Law via video on June 1, 2019.

Brea Lowenberger presented with Melanie Hodges Neufeld (Law Society of Saskatchewan), Megan Smiley (BC LawMatters Program), and Dayna Cornwall (National Self-Represented Litigants Project) at the Canadian Association of Law Libraries Conference on “The Role of Legal Information Providers and Public Libraries in Promoting Access to Justice: Exploring Opportunities and Challenges” on May 27, 2019.

Michael Plaxton’s newest book, “Sovereignty, Restraint, and Guidance: Canadian Criminal Law in the 21st Century” was recently released and is now available at https://www.irwinlaw.com/titles/sovereignty-restraint-and-guidance.

Heather Heavin and Michaela Keet presented on the topic of Litigation Risk Assessment at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Texas, on May 16, 2019.

Brea Lowenberger was invited to attend British Columbia’s Provincial Access to Justice Metrics Colloquium in Vancouver on May 14, 2019 to participate and present on “Justice Metrics in Other Jurisdictions: How Saskatchewan is approaching the challenge of justice metrics”. 

Brea Lowenberger co-presented with Melanie Hodges Neufeld, Director of Legal Resources, Law Society of Saskatchewan and Kim Hebig, Public Library Director, Wheatland Regional Library on “Engaging the Public: The Role of Library Staff in Improving Access to Legal Information” through the ‘Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Project’ at the University of North Texas Open Access Symposium on May 17, 2019.

Dwight Newmanappeared in the House of Commons Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee to discuss Bill C-92 on May 2, 2019.

Wanda Wiegers presented “Shifting Normativities:  Families, Feminisms, Laws Celebrating the Work of Professor Susan Boyd” at the Allard Law School, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, on May 9, 2019.

Brea Lowenberger delivered the guest address at the Manitoba Law Foundation 2019 Discretionary Grants Reception on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Winnipeg, MB, speaking about access to justice initiatives taking place at CREATE Justice and elsewhere.

Glen Luther spoke at a plenary session on May 17, 2019, in Canmore at the Alberta Provincial Judges’ annual conference on “Mental Health and the Law”.

Dwight Newman provided a report to the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on the Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on consultation on legislative activity on May 5, 2019.

Dwight Newman delivered a lecture on the duty to consult doctrine as part of Osgoode Hall’s Certificate in Fundamentals of Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law program on April 24, 2019, in Toronto.

Doug Surtees and Shay Surtees presented on the topic of “Law Student Well-Being” at the UMAC conference at King's College in London, UK, on April 12, 2019.

Brea Lowenberger was part of a panel on “The Quest to Measure Access to Justice: Globally, Nationally, and Locally” at the National Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters Annual Summit on April 11, 2019, in Montreal, Quebec.

Sarah Buhler presented “Why Legal Aid Matters for Justice” on March 8, 2019, in Saskatoon as part of the Department of Philosophy’s free lecture and discussion series. 

Dwight Newman participated as an invited expert at a consultative workshop on revisions to the Equator Principles on financial industry analysis of environmental and social risk in projects on March 27, 2019, in New York City.  

Martin Phillipson presented “Exploring the Potential for Medico-Legal Partnerships in Saskatchewan on with Dr. Preston Smith at Royal University Hospital on March 21, 2019.

Dwight Newman spoke on “Legal Reforms for Indigenous Economic Growth: Why Compare?” at the 2nd Annual All Roads Lead to Chaco Canyon Conference on Creating Business Opportunities and Trade Partnerships with Tribes hosted by the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and Southern University Law Center on Coushatta Tribal Lands near Kinder, Louisiana on March 15, 2019.

Ibironke Odumosu-Ayanu delivered the keynote address at the 5th Annual Conference of the Intenational Law Association (Nigerian Branch) in Lagos, Nigeria on March 5, 2019.

Glen Luther presented “What  Criminal Lawyers Need to  Know about FASD” Plenary Address during the Criminal Law preconference” on March 5 and Rates of FASD Among Offenders Declared Dangerous in Saskatchewan (Canada) and the Policy Implicationswith Mansfield Mela on March 7-8, 2019, at the International Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Vancouver, BC

Jason MacLean, Dwight Newman and Ken Norman spoke on a panel discussion on “Balancing Religious Freedom with Equality: A post Trinity Western University discussion” at the College of Law on March 8, 2019.

Glen Luther presented an invited lecture at the University of Calgary law faculty on Real evidence and the Questioning of Witnesses on Feb. 26, 2019.

Dwight Newman spoke at the “Making Social Groups Visible to Law” workshop at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland on March 1, 2019, on “Ways of Life and Collective Rights” in Cork, Ireland.

Felix Hoehn presented a guest lecture "Canada Goes Back to the Future: Indigenous Sovereignty, Reconciliation and Negotiation after Tsilhqot’in" on Feb 28, 2019, at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

Dwight Newman appeared before the House of Commons Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 19, 2019, as an invited witness to discuss international approaches to Indigenous engagement in the energy sector. 

Dwight Newman appeared before the House of Commons Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb, 20, 2019, as an invited witness to discuss Bill C-91 on Indigenous languages revitalization.

Dwight Newman participated in a Runnymede Society panel discussion on with Professor Jula Hughes at the University of New Brunswick on “A Duty to Consult? Parliamentary Sovereignty and the Honour of the Crown” on February 7, 2019.

Dwight Newman participated in a Runnymede Society panel discussion with Naiomi Mettalic at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie on “The Honour of the Crown, the Duty to Consult, and Mikisew Cree” on February 6, 2019.

Dwight Newman served as a memorials (written argument) judge for the Russian Round of the Jessup International Law Moot which took place on 30 January – 3 February, 2019.

Michaela Keet, along with students Sarah Wingerak and Katherine Starks, travelled to Iqaluit to participate in Dispute Resolution Week for the Nunavut Law Program on Feb. 4-8, 2019.

Michaela Keet presented to the Alberta Queen’s Bench judiciary on Judicial Dispute Resolution, in Calgary, AB, on Jan. 29, 2019.

Beth Bilson, Heather Heavin, Brea Lowenberger and Martin Phillipson presented “Research and Action at CREATE Justice” at the CBA Saskatchewan Mid-Winter Meeting in Saskatoon, SK, on Feb. 1, 2019.

On Jan. 23, 2019, Norman Zlotkin spoke to the University of Saskatchewan Retirees Association on "Indigenous People of Canada and the Colonial Legacy".

Dwight Newman served as faculty at the National Judicial Institute’s course on Judicial Review from 22-25 January in Vancouver, lecturing on “Judicial Review in Indigenous Contexts”.

Felix Hoehn, "The Limits of Local Authority over Recreational Cannabis" (2019) 50:2 Ottawa L Rev (forthcoming).

Dwight Newman participated in a debate panel about the notwithstanding clause with Andrew Coyne, Carissima Mathen, and Emmett Macfarlane at the Runnymede Society 2019 Annual Conference in Toronto on Jan. 12, 2019.

Barbara von Tigerstrom, Direct and Vicarious Liability for Tort Claims Involving Violation of Privacy, (2018) 96(3), Canadian Bar Review, 539-564.

Jason MacLean, Public Policy is an Unruly Horse and the Law of Contract is an Ass: A Comment on Douez v Facebook, Inc(2018) 96(3), Canadian Bar Review, 526-538.

PhD student Nnaemeka Ezeani presented a coauthored paper, Dwight Newman and Nnaemeka Ezeani, on the definition of Indigenous peoples, at the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ) conference (joint with LSA and SLS) in Wollongong, Australia on Dec.15, 2018.

Dwight Newman co-chaired a workshop on maintaining protections for minority rights in the face of illiberalism and populism at the Tom Lantos Institute in Budapest, Hungary on Dec. 6-7, 2018.

Grants and awards

Jaime Lavallee is the incoming recipient of the 2019 Law Foundation of Saskatchewan Faculty Fellowship. Professor Lavallee’s project is titled: “Transformative Governance: Displacing Colonialism – Governance by, of, and for Indigenous Peoples.”

The Grants Selection Committee of the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research will provide $10,000 to Jaime Lavallee for her project: “Applying the TRC: Moving beyond reconciliation to kwayeskastasowin (setting things right).”

The Grants Selection Committee of the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research will provide $10,000 to Brea Lowenberger for her project: “Study of the Saskatchewan Legal Coaching and Unbundling Pilot Project.”

The College of Law and CLASSIC are the 2019 recipients of the Professor Sir David Watson Award for Community University Partnerships. This award, created in memory of the former University of Brighton (United Kingdom) vice-chancellor, recognizes the combined efforts of tcommunity and university partners towards making a difference to the shared lives of people in their shared community.

Barbara von Tigerstrom was a recipient of a 2019 USSU Teaching Excellence Award for her Torts class in 2018/19.

Clayton Bangsund has been named a 2019 recipient of the Provost's College Award for Teaching

The Dean's Forum on Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution is the 2019 recipient of the Provost's Prize for Collaborative Teaching & Learning

Sarah Buhler was nominated for a 2019 Saskatoon YWCA Women of Distinction award in the category of Research and Technology.

Sarah Burningham is the recipient of a Faculty Research Grant in the amount of $8,420.00 from the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science & Justice Studies. Her project is entitled: “Abortion in Saskatchewan: A History of the Freedom of Informed Choice Bill”.