Problems

Problems

Because this coursebook is “problem-based”, each weekly problem provides the foundation on which to build your understanding of the readings and their relationship to one another (including content you have studied in previous weeks).

  • 1. Protest at Dalhousie University

    Students and local residents are engaged in a protest on the Quad and inside one of the administration buildings at Dalhousie. The University is considering a legal claim against the protesters as part of efforts to exclude their activities from campus.

  • 2. Wowkwis

    A Mi'kmaw hunter pursues a fox through the woods, where it is killed by a dog walking off-leash with its owner. You are asked to consider the possible legal relationships at play in a claim to ownership.

  • 4. Wolastoqey and MTI Title Claims

    Two claims for recognition of "Aboriginal Title" in New Brunswick under section 35 of the Constitution Act have been launched in recent years. This problem explores how these territories came to be understood in Canadian law as subject to both the Crown's radical title and to the common law estates of private parties.

  • 5. GMOs

    This hypo concerns a heritage corn grower's attempts to prevent pollination of their crops from GMO varieties grown by a neighbouring farmer.

  • 6. After the Protest

    Returning to the context of our problem in Week 1, this hypothetical explores the interpretation and consequences of legislation by the provincial government that could apply to "take" a landowner's right to exclude.

  • 7. Land Back by Bequest

    A testator attempts to return ownership of their family farm to the Mi'kmaq by including a special provision in their Last Will & Testament.

  • 8. A Letter to the Prime Minister

    A letter to Prime Minister WIlliam Lyon Mackenzie King serves at the starting point for addressing the history of Japanese-Canadian dispossession and internment.

  • 9. End of Term Rapid Review

    A series of rapid review questions to assess your knowledge and understanding at the end of term.

  • 10. Parkland, Shelter and Possession

    A problem addressing issues of both adverse possession and shelter rights.

  • 11. Sheltering in Public Spaces Bylaw

    Analyze a model municipal by-law regarding sheltering on public property according to the changing constitutional standards for a right to shelter in public spaces.

  • 12. Flood on the Red River

    The Province of Manitoba exercises its statutory authority to flood regions upstream of Winnipeg in the course of operating the city's floodway, while a local municipality amends its bylaw to prevent adjacent land-uses.

  • 13. 3000 Funston Street

    This week's problem builds from a public radio documentary surrounding a restrictive covenant impeding a municipality's plans to build affordable housing in the city of Austin, Texas.

  • 14. Mid-Term Rapid Review

    A series of rapid review questions to assess your knowledge and understanding to this point in the term.

  • 15. Membertou First Nation and the FNLMF

    Our problem this week examines the context of land rights and governance under the federal Indian Act and the Membertou First Nation's adoption of the First Nations Land Management Framework.

  • 16. Revisiting the MTI Title Claim

    We return to our study of the pleadings in the MTI and Wolastoqey claims.