Education Law: A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Mark your calendars! Canada’s leading conference on education law is coming to Halifax in 2018.

Halifax will host the annual conference of the Canadian Association for the Practical Study of Law in Education (CAPSLE) on April 29 to May 1, 2018, at the Halifax Marriott Hotel. I am honoured to be Co-Chair of the 2018 Halifax CAPSLE Conference along with CAPSLE Past-President, Ian Pickard of McInnes Cooper.

CAPSLE brings together educators, teacher associations, administrators, education departments and school board personnel, education faculty, and union and management lawyers to discuss and debate current issues in education law. This year’s conference held in Saskatoon was a great success, with leading thinkers presenting on topics such as family status accommodation, sexting, medical marijuana in schools, and education self-government.

We are thrilled to announce our confirmed speakers for the 2018 CAPSLE Conference:

• The Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell, retired justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, who also sat for many years on the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, will be our opening keynote speaker.
• The Honourable Chief Judge of the Nova Scotia Provincial Court, Pamela Williams, will talk about the innovative Mental Health and Opiate Treatment Courts in Nova Scotia. You can read about the Opiate Treatment Court here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/unique-court-offers-lifeline-to-those-facing-agony-of-opioid-addiction-1.3929411
• Robert Wright, Halifax-based Social Worker and Sociologist, will speak about cultural assessments in criminal proceedings. You can read about Robert and the role of cultural assessments in addressing systemic racism in the justice system here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cultural-assessments-social-worker-1.3601904
• We will have a panel on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Recommendations and their implications for education and the law, including journalist Maureen Googoo, the owner/editor of Kukukwes.com
• We will have a panel on the North Preston Land Recovery Initiative, including Angela Simmonds, articling clerk and liaison to the Initiative. You can see Angela talk about the Initiative on the digital documentary here: http://northprestonland.ca/, a project of the Nova Scotia Community College journalism, television and radio students.

I will be speaking about the Nova Scotia Teachers Union s.2(d) Charter challenge to Nova Scotia’s recent legislation that imposed a collective agreement on teachers and removed their right to strike. Diane MacDonald, legal counsel for the British Columbia Teachers Federation, will join us to provide an update on freedom of association cases after the Supreme Court of Canada decision in BCTF.

We are looking for great speakers for our break-out sessions, so if you have something interesting to say about the practical study of law in education, please get in touch:

Gail Gatchalian ggatchalian@pinklarkin.com

Ian Pickard ian.pickard@mcinnescooper.com

If you have any questions about the conference, please contact CAPSLE.

Phone: (905) 702-1710

Fax: (905) 873-0662
E-mail: info@capsle.ca

Join the conversation! Connect with CAPSLE and conference attendees on Twitter at @_CAPSLE