Today's schedule is:
9:15 - 11:50 B Block Legal Studies
12:30 - 3:05 C Block Social and Environmental Sciences
B Block Legal Studies - Welcome to Law/Canadian Legal Studies. Today we will go through the course outline package and then we'll talk about career paths that are available with Law. Law 12 is an intense one semester course that deals with the foundation, the structure, and the key principles and concepts of the Canadian legal system. We will try, as much as possible, to cut through the “Legal speak” so that you can simply become a legally literate person. In February we'll look at the foundations of the Canadian legal justice system along with civil and human rights. The rest of the third term sees us look at criminal law in Canada while in term four we'll focus on civil and family law in Canada. Today I'll have you partner up in groups of three and discuss:
- what is crime (come up with a definition),
- why do we have laws (there are five big reasons),
- give 15 examples of Canadian Laws - What are Canadians not allowed to do? (without looking at the Criminal Code)
- what is the difference between what is legal what is moral and what is ethical.
The Oxford Dictionary defines a crime as 'an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law'. So we may do something 'wrong' that is not a crime. Lying to a friend may be wrong but it may not be a crime. On the other hand we may do something 'right' which is a crime. So, a crime is a fact, a matter of law. It is not an opinion. As society changes, some actions which used to be criminal, for example, are no longer criminal. Likewise, some actions, such as smoking in covered public places are. Laws are made by the Government, a government we elect democratically, for the good of us all. We may not agree with the law but there are democratic opportunities to change it.
- Morality governs private, personal interactions and different social groups have differing moralities...groups tend to agree (consciously or subconsciously) on a set of rules for how they’ll behave around each other. Things that are considered immoral have personal consequences.
- Ethics governs professional interactions. Codes of professional ethics are often established by professional organizations to help guide members in performing their job functions according to sound and consistent ethical principles. Things that are unethical have professional consequences
- Law governs society as a whole, often dealing with interactions between total strangers. People in a society are subject to the laws that reflect society's collective morals and ethics (that are codified as law). Things that are illegal have personal and social consequences.
We'll then jump in to our Introduction to Law unit by looking at the five functions of law and the divisions of Public (criminal, constitutional, and administrative) and Private law (tort, family, contract, property, and labour law). Lastly we'll take a look at the differences between Substantive and Procedural Law.
C Block Social and Environmental Sciences -We'll start in 115 where Benton and I will introduce your terrestrial ecosystem land use conflict project and then after we'll spend the rest of the time in the learning commons/library to work on your land use (terrestrial ecosystem) conflict poster project.
Covering 36 million square kilometres, or roughly 30 percent of the globe, the world’s forests are among its most important natural resources. For many communities, forests are crucial to food security and nutrition, to meeting energy needs (fuelwood), and to their ability to produce and sell non-timber forest products, which may account for a significant proportion of household income (From the OECD Forests and Violent Conflict). And from the World Resources Institute, Human society and the global economy are inextricably linked to forests. More than 1 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. And forest ecosystems play a critical role in stabilizing the climate; providing food, water, wood products, and vital medicines; and supporting much of the world’s biodiversity. So it can easily be seen that forests and how they are used can become a source of conflict. From Global Forest Watch
Red = Commodity-driven deforestation: long-term, permanent conversion of forest and shrubland to a non-forest land use such as agriculture (including oil palm), mining, or energy infrastructure
Yellow = Shifting agriculture: small to medium-scale forest and shrubland conversion for agriculture that is later abandoned and followed by subsequent forest regrowth
Green = Forestry: large-scale forestry operations occurring within managed forests and tree plantations
Brown = Wildfire: large-scale forest loss resulting from the burning of forest vegetation with no visible human conversion or agricultural activity afterward
Purple = Urbanization: forest and shrubland conversion for the expansion and intensification of existing urban centers.
The commodity-driven deforestation and urbanization categories represent permanent deforestation, while tree cover affected by the other categories often regrows. The data set does not indicate the stability or condition of land cover after the tree cover loss occurs, or distinguish between natural and anthropogenic wildfires.
So for your project, remember:
- Why is there a crisis over forested land in your area? What social and environmental factors do you think are contributing to the crisis? Does this forest have intrinsic value? What are common factors that go along with the land disputes, such as political instability, social unrest, economic downturn, heavy unemployment, civil warfare, etc.?
- Who are the “players” or "stakeholders" in this conflict? What are their motives and interests in the forest?
- What (and what type) is the forested land in question (Tropical rainforest; Sub-tropical forests; Mediterranean forest; Temperate forest; Temperate rainforest; Coniferous forest; Montane forest)? How large is the forested space, and how large is the area which it belongs to? Who and how many people use this forest and what do they use it for? Identify 10 dominant plants and 10 dominant animals of the forest. Are there any endangered or endemic species in this area?
- Where in the world and in the country and/or region is the forest? Identify the forest on a map, and highlight areas of the map involved in or affected by the issues in dispute (locations of villages, industries, crops, water sources, country/clan borders, etc.).
- How would the forest and its biodiversity be affected by different outcomes of the dispute (logging, mono culture, dams, agriculture, tourism, human development)? Has any group of humans successfully lived sustainably with the forest?
- How, if at all, would this forest conflict be resolved? What is the current state of the dispute, if it is ongoing? Are there forest products of economic value that preserve the integrity of the forest? What are solutions to the forest crisis? Can you come up with ways that would provide the basis for a forest-sharing plan?
- Virunga/Bwindi region of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Uganda
- Rondônia or Maranhão in the Brazilian Amazon
- Ogun State in Nigeria
- Vancouver Island or Haida Gwaii here in British Columbia
- the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, La Macarena, and San Lucas mountains, and in the regions of Tumaco and Catatumbo in Colombia
- Mekong forests of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar
- Chocó rainforest Ecuador
- Khabarovski Krai and Primorski Krai in Siberian Taiga, Russia
- Kalimantan, Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia)
- Menabe region of western Madagascar
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