Alberta - Inspire Law

Unionized Workers Can be Worse Off

September 10, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Photo: "104:365 - a little justice" by orangesparrow is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Do you assume that a union means greater protection for workers? Sometimes this is certainly true. In many cases, however, it is not. When a union fails to file a grievance on behalf of a unionized worker, or fails to pursue...

Animal Farm, Union Style

September 2, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Photo: "1984 & Animal Farm" by paul breen is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Labour day is an occasion to consider the plight of unionized workers. George Orwell, in Animal Farm, wrote about hard working farm animals who were treated badly. Having had enough, they overthrew the humans. They took over the farm, and renamed it...

Assisted Reproduction in Canada – A Call For Adequate Regulation – Part 3 of 3

August 21, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff

When the federal legislation that was to apply to assisted reproduction was first introduced in 2004, it failed to follow the recommendations of the 2001 Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Health. That Committee did some excellent work which...

Assisted Reproduction in Canada – Part 2 of 3 – The Wild West

August 14, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Photo: "Babies" by Mika Peltomaa is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0

I was surprised to learn several years ago that third party assisted reproduction is a frontier in which the wild, wild west remains largely intact. Nail salons and cattle breeding are more closely regulated that the creation of human beings. It...

Assisted Reproduction in Canada – Part 1 of 3 – New Draft Canadian Regulations

August 6, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
"amorphous baby 2" by timbashape is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Many years ago, the federal government of Canada decided not to allow paid surrogates and “donors”, people who provide their reproductive material to assist someone else to conceive a child. As a nation, we decided not to promote a trade...

Extraordinary Damages in Employment Law

August 4, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Impage: courtesy of pexels

There is no doubt about it. Losing your job sucks. It can be one of life’s major turning points. Courts acknowledge that it is normal to feel a certain amount of distress and hurt feelings when losing one’s job. Sometimes, though, an...

Sorry, Can’t Help You: Privacy As an Excuse

July 14, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Photo: "sshhh. dont say it! the x-word is the un-word of the day. and tomorrow!" by pieceoplastic is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

How many times have you heard it? You ask for important information on wait lists to get into a desired program: how many people are on the wait list? How many in a certain category? You ask for certain information about...

Parental Discrimination Against Babysitters

May 30, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Photo credit: Pexels Online

The Supreme Court of Canada recently declined to hear an interesting case that considered whether a parent had discriminated in a babysitting ad. The case arose from an ad posted on Kijiji by a mother looking for a babysitter to take...

Easter Weekend and Statutory Holiday Pay in B.C. and Alberta

April 26, 2019
Susan Kootnekoff
Photo: Basket of colorful handcrafted dyed Easter eggs outdoors on the grass with one laid off to the side viewed high angle with copy space

Following the Easter long weekend, some employees may be receiving a little more cash this payday. British Columbia and Saskatchewan have more statutory holidays than the other provinces, with 10 each. However, we honour fewer public holidays than are observed in...