Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 4d

It begins, it has an end,
this is what you will
come back to, this is your hand.

-You Begin
@margaretatwood.bsky.social

readalittlepoetry.com/2011/03/22/y...

You Begin by Margaret Atwood • Read A Little Poetry

March is almost ending, and I haven't written anything I could be proud of. Drought, drought, says the Muse. But it's a lie. I am running away because I don't

readalittlepoetry.com

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 6d

And yet as a Toronto sports fan, the risk of loss was real

The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · 6d

Blue Jays topple Yankees 10-1 in first ALDS playoff match

After becoming AL East champions for the first time since 2015, Saturday’s game marks the only time Toronto has met New York in the postseason

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 6d

Sex-motivated violence should be treated like a hate crime
www.brandonsun.com/opinion/2025...

Opinion: Sex-motivated violence should be treated like a hate crime

Canada recently introduced the Combatting Hate Act, legislation that will create three new criminal offences intended to strengthen protections against hate. The first new offence targets hate crimes....

www.brandonsun.com

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 8d

For hate crime legislation to be more than symbolic, crimes motivated by hatred must be reported, recorded, prosecuted and sentenced as hate crimes for all identifiable groups — not just some of them. With Myrna Dawson @theconversation.com

theconversation.com/sex-motivate...

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 10d

The road to reconciliation begins with truth
Mishiikenh Kwe ~ Anishinaabe
c. 2022

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 18d

Good discussion of balancing autonomy and harm. Also important: “The science of decision making tells us that there are two fundamental things. What do you think of the evidence, and what are your values and preferences around applying that evidence.”

www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/e...

Author of reviews of gender affirming care decries ‘egregious misuse’ of the findings to justify bans

Gordon Guyatt, a co-author of systematic reviews of gender-affirming care, calls use of the findings to justify banning care "egregious."

www.statnews.com

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 20d

For hate crime legislation to be more than symbolic crimes motivated by hatred must be reported, recorded, prosecuted and sentenced as hate crimes. That does not happen in cases of male violence against women, even though sex is an identified group in existing laws

utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/...

Treating Male Violence against Women and Girls as Hate in Canada | Canadian Journal of Women and the Law

Some incidents of male violence against women and girls (MVAWG) could be recognized as sex-motivated hate crimes. Often, however, crimes of male violence are neither treated as hate crimes nor reporte...

utppublishing.com

Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 20d

I'm pleased to see that sex is included as an identifiable group for the purpose of proposed hate crime and intimidation offences. But see my co-authored article w Myrna Dawson addressing current failures to treat male violence as hate (link in comment)

www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en...

C-9 (45-1) - LEGISinfo - Parliament of Canada

www.parl.ca

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 23d

Mr. Williams is alleged to have sexually assaulted more than 300 victims between the ages of 12 and 18 at a provincially run youth detention centre

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Former swim instructor in Nova Scotia faces dozens of sexual-abuse charges

Donald Williams, 75, was arrested at his home last week in Dartmouth and faces 66 charges

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · 25d

www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds

GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, a...

www.ohchr.org

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 27d

I wrote a thing. As someone who survived the 1970s and kept the receipts.

Shocked by Epstein’s birthday book? That culture was everywhere before feminism | Rebecca Solnit

Feminism exposed the ubiquity of child abuse, rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence – and helped fight that culture

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 26d

“The science on the subject is pretty clear: according to the New England Journal of Medicine, rape is about four times more likely to result in diagnosable PTSD than combat."

During those years at the end of my teens
and the beginning of my twenties, I was constantly sexually ha-
rassed on the street and sometimes elsewhere, though harassed
doesn’t convey the menace that was often present.
The former Marine David J. Morris, author of a book on post-
traumatic stress disorder, notes that the disorder is far more com-
mon and far more rarely addressed among rape survivors than
combat veterans. He wrote me, “The science on the subject is pretty
clear: according to the New England Journal of Medicine, rape is about
four times more likely to result in diagnosable PTSD than combat.
Think about that for a moment— being raped is four times more psy-
chologically disturbing than going off to a war and being shot at and
blown up. And because there are currently no enduring cultural nar-
ratives that allow women to look upon their survival as somehow he-
roic or honorable, the potential for enduring damage is even greater.”
In war the people who try to kill you are usually on the other side.
In femicide, they’re husbands, boyfriends, friends, friends of friends,
guys on the street, guys at work, guys at the party or in the dorm, and,
the week I write this, the guy who called a Lyft and stabbed the
pregnant driver to death and the guy who went into a bank and shot
five women and the guy who shot the young woman who took him in
when his parents kicked him out, to name a few examples of the car-
nage that made it into the news. Morris calls PTSD “living at the
whim of your worst memories.”

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · Sep 9

Pamela Cross on why we should pay attention to a Kingston sexual assault trial involving 98 charges and 28 complainants

pamelacross.ca/taking-back-...

Taking back the night - Pamela Cross

Why do some sexual assault trials catch the eye of the media and not others? There is much to be learned from a trial underway now in Kingston, but almost no one knows about it.

pamelacross.ca

Reposted by Debra Haak

Montreal Gazette @mtlgazette.bsky.social · Sep 6

Air Canada flight attendants overwhelmingly reject tentative agreement

The near-unanimous result saw 99.1 per cent of members vote against the deal, with 0.9 per cent voting in favour. The process will now proceed to mediation and — should that fail — binding arbitration.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Debra Haak

irina cerić @irinaceric.bsky.social · Sep 3

🚨Windsor Law is hiring! 🚨
@windsorlaw.bsky.social is looking for 4 asst/assoc profs who bring social justice & critical perspectives to our core curriculum, esp environmental law, torts, constitutional, family, evidence, int'l trade & Indigenous law. Deadline: Sep 24
www.uwindsor.ca/faculty/recr...

Four (4) Tenure-Track Assistant or Tenured Associate Professor Positions - Faculty of Law

www.uwindsor.ca

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Reposted by Debra Haak

CanLII @canlii.bsky.social · Sep 2

We are delighted to share the news that the second edition of The Canadian Constitutional Law Open Access Casebook (co-edited by Richard Moon, Howard Kislowicz, and Asha Kaushal) is now available on CanLII! #constitutionallaw #legalcommentary zurl.co/1159f

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Colleen M. Flood @colleenmflood.bsky.social · Sep 2

Welcoming our incoming class to Queen’s Law and Professor Jacob Weinrib introduces their keen minds to the language and narratives of law.

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Debra Haak @debrahaak.bsky.social · Aug 28

Bought my 4 year old grandson pajamas with dinosaurs on them (because he loves dinosaurs). He told me the name of each dinosaur but he was uncertain about one. So he went to get his dinosaurus (yes he has a book). The pride! #academicgrandma #mormor

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Audrey Fried @audreyfried.bsky.social · Aug 24

Videos (and slides and transcripts) from the symposium on Legal Education and the Human Lawyer are now posted educatinghumanlawyers.com/recordings/ Check them out! #educatinghumanlawyers #legaled @osgoodenews.bsky.social @altlaw.bsky.social @theltjournal.bsky.social

Recordings

educatinghumanlawyers.com

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Reposted by Debra Haak

CanLII @canlii.bsky.social · Aug 12

New from the #CanLIIAuthorsProgram: "Litigation Abuse in Ontario Family Law Cases" by Nicholas Bala #familylaw #litigationabuse #legalcommentary zurl.co/9M0Ur

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · Aug 2

If you are heading to law school this month and a bit worried if you “belong.” You do. Here is a letter to a 1L on the First Day of Law School. Free to read. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Letter to a 1L on the First Day of Law School (Excerpt from 'The Law of Law School')

Law school creates a challenging educational environment for all students. A “Letter to a 1L on the First Day of Law School” offers words of comfort and encour

papers.ssrn.com

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Reposted by Debra Haak

VassB @vassb.bsky.social · Aug 10

"In response to America’s threats, Canada is in the middle of the greatest explosion of nationalism in the country’s history, far more substantial than the nationalism of the 1960s."

Stephen Marche @stephenmarche.bsky.social · Aug 10

I wrote about the state of Canadian rage for @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/o...
The piece is a kind of capstone to all the work of Gloves Off. shows.acast.com/gloves-off

Opinion | ‘Acute, Sustained, Profound and Abiding Rage’: Canada Finds Its Voice

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Matthew Lebo @matthewlebo.bsky.social · Jul 28

Political Science at Western University, Canada is searching for three tenure track assistant professors. There are two ads, one in International Politics (IR or comparative) and one in Comparative or Canadian. Ads are here: www.uwo.ca/facultyrelat...

Faculty (UWOFA)

Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

www.uwo.ca

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Reposted by Debra Haak

International Human Rights Program (IHRP) @ihrp.bsky.social · Jul 29

Come work with us! Full-time International Human Rights Program Coordinator opportunity with @ihrp.bsky.social based in Toronto. The closing date is August 10th. jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

International Human Rights Program Coordinator

jobs.utoronto.ca

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Reposted by Debra Haak

Daniel Del Gobbo @danieldelgobbo.bsky.social · Jul 26

Excellent piece by Jennifer Llewellyn @restorativelab.bsky.social about how restorative justice offers a better way to address harm, engage communities, and bring about culture change in sexual violence cases.

Opinion: Restorative justice could have offered a better path for everyone involved in the Hockey Canada trial

Despite myths that restorative justice is about leniency for the accused, Canada is well placed to invest in a rigorous process that offers a path to accountability and meaningful change

www.theglobeandmail.com

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