Report to Community 2023

Professor David Wright has received almost $50,000 from the Government of Canada for his project "Building a Janus Perspective of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Impact Assessment." The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) Insight Grants support research excellence in the social sciences and humanities for established and emerging scholars.   

There is a pressing need to build a Janus perspective on CBA in this context to provide a sound foundation for IAA implementation. This research project will fill existing knowledge gaps in two important ways. First, it will retrospectively examine how CBA has been used in federal impact assessment decision-making to date by systematically reviewing past use of formal and informal cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in federal IA. No such analysis has been conducted previously in the Canadian context. Second, this research will look forward by examining potential uses and limitations of CBA in Canada's new federal IA regime. It will use provisions in the new IAA as starting points, and canvas legally-tenable alternatives to be used in IAA implementation. More broadly, this research will contribute to implementing the new legal framework in a manner that observed constitutional limits, and brings integrity and transparency to the process for all participants. It also has international relevance as countries update IA laws and practices. 

"I am delighted and honoured to receive this Tri-Council Insight Grant, which will support my next steps researching law and policy dimensions of impact assessment," says Wright. "The present Canadian context of ambitious decarbonization agendas and Indigenous self-determination make this area of research more important than ever. And with the Supreme Court of Canada set to release its landmark ruling on the constitutionality of the federal Impact Assessment Act in the very near future, the timing couldn’t be better for looking deeply into long-standing questions about cost-benefit analysis, decision-making, and the public interest." 

A new dual degree program with India’s Jindal Global University is putting the University of Calgary on a global stage, giving students from both India and Canada a chance to expand their horizons and providing a broader perspective on the world.  

“The advantage of the joint program with Jindal Global is that the students will get both the Canadian JD and the Indian LLB,” says dean Ian Holloway, with students getting credit for about one year when they come to the University of Calgary. 

From media stories of drug cartels to pop culture hits such as Ozark, money laundering is typically considered a criminal offence. But could there be positive benefits associated with the practice?   

A new course offered at UCalgary's law school and taught by Dr. Sanaa Ahmed, PhD, explores the evolution of money laundering and financial crime over the past century, as well as the laundering behaviours and practices that lie on the spectrum between “downright criminal” and “perfectly legal,” and the political, economic and historical contexts that make them so.    

According to third-year law student Eric Davies, the course far exceeds the common notion of money laundering proceeds from drug trafficking, like the ones we’ve seen in shows like Ozark and Breaking Bad. 

“This course delves into such topics as the theories around financial crimes, how we regulate or facilitate those crimes and the politics of which financial activity we deem illegal. Everyone is sure to find some interest in one of the topics covered in the course.”   

Professor Jennifer Koshan, LLB'88 is one of 22 faculty members to be appointed as a chair in the prestigious new UCalgary Research Excellence Chairs (UCREC) program, highlighting the university’s commitment to fostering cutting-edge research and innovation across various disciplines.  

Professor Koshan’s research has long focused on human rights, domestic violence, and access to justice. With this new position, she will be expanding her focus from adult survivors to include children who are victims of family violence, with particular attention to children who are members of marginalized groups. Her research will use intersectional, transdisciplinary, and community-based approaches in exploring how the Canadian legal system needs to be transformed to provide a rights-based and trauma-informed approach for children experiencing family violence. Amongst the various strands of her project, Professor Koshan will be partnering with the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in examining and addressing the re-traumatizing impacts of the legal system on children and youth who experience abuse. She will also be continuing her work with colleagues in Nursing and Social Work in developing interprofessional and experiential learning modules on family violence. Her research aims to produce recommendations that lead to concrete changes to law, policy, and educational programming for law students, lawyers, and judges. 

We live in an era marked by rapid technological advancements that promise to make our lives easier and more efficient. Artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms and facial recognition have immense potential to positively transform our lives; in fact, they are used daily by millions around the world.   

But these technologies are still in development and many currently operate unchecked and with standardization gaps. It's within those gaps where technology can inflict the most harm. That’s why Faculty of Law assistant professor Dr. Gideon Christian's area of expertise is on how AI and the law intersect.   

“There is this false notion that technology unlike humans is not biased. That’s not accurate,” says Christian, PhD. “Technology has been shown (to) have the capacity to replicate human bias. In some facial recognition technology, there is over 99 per cent accuracy rate in recognizing white male faces. But, unfortunately, when it comes to recognizing faces of colour, especially the faces of Black women, the technology seems to manifest its highest error rate, which is about 35 per cent.”    

Christian’s work was recently awarded a $50,000 Office of the Privacy Commissioner Contributions Program grant for a research project titled Mitigating Race, Gender and Privacy Impacts of AI Facial Recognition Technology to identify the complex issues surrounding private-sector development and deployment of AI-based facial recognition technology in Canada.  Christian was also awarded a Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism from the Ontario Bar Association Foundation. 

She has become a symbol of resiliency and determination for Black law students across Canada. She was the only woman in her graduating class at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law, the first Black person admitted to the Alberta Bar, and Canada’s first Black female lawyer. Violet King Henry was born and raised in Calgary, and while a student at Crescent Heights High School, declared that she would become a criminal lawyer.   

To honour her courage and her contributions to the community and the legal profession, and to continue to inspire all law students who see it, a portrait of King Henry was unveiled in UCalgary Law's largest classroom on Thursday, March 30.   

For second-year law student Senait Yohannes, who attended the same high school as King Henry, finding a way to honour her legacy has been important. Along with fellow members of UCalgary Law’s Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA), Yohannes began working with Heritage Calgary in 2021 to recognize King Henry’s home in Sunnyside, and a plaque was installed in February 2022 formally recognizing the home as a cultural and historically significant site.   

The BLSA commissioned Edmonton-born Black artist Keon Courtney to create the rendition of King Henry, and the group was very intentional in how they wanted her portrayed: standing in front of a regal purple curtain, wearing her barristers’ gown, and smiling from ear to ear.

When Saliha Haq started law school in 2020, she was the only student in her year who wore a hijab. Today, the third-year student is excited at how the Muslim community within Murray Fraser Hall has grown.   

That community was on full display on March 27 when the University of Calgary Faculty of Law hosted its first-ever Ramadan Iftar, the evening meal to break the fast during the 30 days of the holy month.   

With Mayor Jyoti Gondek on hand to bring greetings from the City, along with members of the Muslim Bar Association and the larger Muslim community, the event likely made a bit of history, as well.   

“As far as I know, this was the first legally themed Iftar in Western Canada, and perhaps the whole country,” says Dean Ian Holloway.   

As attendees watched the sun set, lanterns and candles on each table brought a warm glow to the room, a radiance and enthusiasm that could be felt throughout the evening. The fast was broken with the traditional call to prayer, the Athaan, recited by Amanallah Abbas, representing the Muslim Council of Calgary, and concluded with each guest eating dates and drinking water, as is tradition during Iftar.   

“The commands to act equitably, to be steadfast in upholding justice, and to treat others with compassion are common threads in both Islamic belief and Western legal systems,” says Haq, BSc'19, JD’23. “And these fundamental values are exemplified in our Muslim law students at the faculty.   

There is indeed an invaluable skill in the passing on of knowledge to another. From the early philosophers and elders to the modern-day virtual classroom, society has always placed value in learning. Standardized exams are a measuring stick that, by their very nature, break down a person’s knowledge into a single number or score. 

But what does this truly measure in a student’s learning? What if we took the standard curriculum and not only gave it to students, but provided them with the tools with which to understand it, process it and synthesize it along with the teacher’s and student’s own experiences and thoughts? These kinds of ideals would only begin to scratch the surface of the techniques and innovations of Career Achievement Arch Award recipients, Aaron Renert, BSc'92, MSc'93, LLB'98, BEd'03, and Dr. Moshe (Moses) Renert, BSc'85, PhD. 

Since the inception of the Renert Tutorials at the University of Calgary in 1990, Moshe, Aaron and their staff have brought thousands of students to campus for high school diploma reviews and college admission and graduate school test prep sessions. Years of Renert Tutorials would lead to the opening of the Renert Tutoring Centre, the Bright Minds program and, ultimately, Renert School, an accredited kindergarten to Grade 12 private school, founded by Moshe and Aaron in September 2013.  

“Renert School's unique and innovative educational model provides students and teachers with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge, advance academically without bounds and discover their unique passions, all in the context of a safe and caring school community,” says nominator Dr. Bob Schulz, PhD. “At every stage over the past 30 years, Aaron and Moshe Renert used entrepreneurial thinking and innovative leadership to pivot, improve, enhance, and extend product offerings to extended target markets, to the betterment of the Calgary and Alberta communities.” 

The efforts of a tireless community champion — and University of Calgary Law alumna — were recently recognized at the 2023 Calgary Awards. 

Meenu Ahluwalia, BSc’95, LLB’99, received the 2023 Calgary Community Achievement Award for Community Advocate at the annual honours ceremony hosted by The City of Calgary. 

Aside from her work as a lawyer, Ahluwalia is a community volunteer and mentor who embodies UCalgary’s entrepreneurial spirit: taking action and using her dedication to law to be an advocate for underserved communities in Calgary.  

Ahluwalia is passionate about reducing barriers marginalized communities often experience. Her involvement in Calgary organizations such as Momentum, YMCA Calgary and Punjabi Community Health Services (PCHS) Calgary Society showcases her commitment to community building, which extends to volunteer initiatives in Colombia, solidifying her role as a catalyst for positive change. 

Meenu was also named one of Canada’s most influential lawyers by Canadian Lawyer.