NEWS

January 23, 2012: A Book Review of the text Military Justice in Action: Annotated National Defence Legislation, Scarborough, Carswell, 2011 written by the Honourable Mr. Justice Gilles Létourneau and Professor Michel W. Drapeau is published in the Canadian Military Journal. The Book Review is written by retired Lieutenant-General Richard Evraire, CMM, CD, Chair of the Conference of Defence Associations and Chair, Board of Governors, Royal Military College (Saint-Jean). See link.

January 3, 2012: The Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Peter MacKay, writes to Professor Drapeau to express his thanks for his services and participation in the Board of Governors, Royal Military College (Saint-Jean) at the end of his four-year term as governor.

November 23, 2011: MDLO staff welcomes Marie- Christine Fortin to the Team. Marie-Christine is a law graduate from the civil law programme at Université Laval, Québec City. She is currently completing the National Law Programme at Ottawa University where she is expected to graduate with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) next June.

November 7, 2011: Congratulations to Joshua Juneau on the completion of his Articles of Clerkship. Joshua is expected to be called to the Bar of Ontario in June 2012.

Octobre 25, 2011: The launch of the book Military Justice In Action takes places at the Canadian War Museum in the presence of His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnson, Governor-General and Commander-in Chief of Canada. The Honourable Ian Binnie, Supreme Court of Canada, the Honourable Edmond Blanchard, Chief Justice of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, and Mr. Richard Pound, Senior Partner, Stikeman Elliott and former Vice-President, International Olympic Committee, as well as the two authors, Justice Gilles Létourneau and Professor Michel Drapeau, addressed the crowd of approximately 125 guests draws from the military and civilian society.
>>  See article

October 7, 2011: As authors of the legal text, Military Justice in Action, the Honourable Gilles Létourneau and Professor Michel Drapeau travelled to Ankara, Turkey on October 7, 2001 to meet with members of the Military High Court to exchange on the structure and operation of the Turkish military justice system. See photos.
>>  See photo 1 | photo 2

September 28-October 2, 2011: Professor Drapeau is a Guest Speaker at a Conference on Military Jurisdiction in Rhodes, Greece organized by the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War.

September 19, 2011: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: “Falling out of step? Canada’s military justice system has opportunity to strengthen bond between Canada and England?”
>>  See article

September 8, 2011: At the invitation of Mr. Allan Rock, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, Professor Drapeau participated in a special panel discussion in honour of the tenth anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001, entitled Ten Years After 9-11: Did the World Learn Anything? Bernard Derome, former news anchor for Radio Canada’s Le Téléjournal, will serve as moderator. The Panel members included also Professor Robert Fowler, Professor Louise Lemyre and Professor Costanza Musu.

August 15, 2011: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: “Can Veteran Affairs Canada deal with a possible tsunami of mental health problems?”
>>  See article

May 17, 2011: In a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (Information Commissioner v. Minister of National Defence, 2011 SCC 25), the Court cited the legal textbook “Federal Access to Information and Privacy Legislation Annotated - 2011” co-authored by Michel W. Drapeau and Marc-Aurèle Racicot.
>>  See decision

March 14, 2011: Hill Times publishes an opinion piece written by Michel W. Drapeau on Bill C-41 – An Act to Amend the National Defence Act, titled "A Balancing Act: More military judges or the constitutionalization of summary trials.”
>>  See article

March 1, 2011: The Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued its determination and reasons in Almon Equipment Limited v. Department of Public Works and Government Services (File PR-2008-048R) recommending that PWGSCS compensate Almon for its lost opportunity by an amount equal to one third of the profit that it would reasonably have earned had it been the successful bidder. The CITT also awarded Almon its reasonable costs incurred in preparing and proceeding with their complaint which costs are to be paid by PWGSC.
>>  See decision

February 28, 2011: Professor Drapeau appears as a witness before the House of Commons Standing Commitee of National Defence to testify during their examination of Bill – C-41, an Act to amend the National Defence Act. In preparation for his appearance, Professor Drapeau submitted his comments on the legislative proposal.
>>  See comments

A verbatim report of the proceedings is also attached including a debate between Professor Drapeau, University of Ottawa and Professor Holloway, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario on the constitutional rights available to CF members when facing the CF justice system.
>>  See debates

February 17, 2011: In collaboration with her provincial counterparts, the Information Commissioner of Canada announces the creation of the Grace-Pépin Access to Information Award. The award has been created in memory of the late Dr John Grace, the first Privacy Commissioner of Canada and a former Information Commissioner of Canada as well as a dear and much respected friend and, Mr. Marcel Pépin, the fomer president and founder of the Commission d'accès du Québec.
>>  Righttoknow.ca

February 4, 2011: In a decision rendered by the Federal Court of Appeal in Zimerman v. Attorney General - A-94-10, the Court allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment of the Federal Court, quashes the decision of the Chief of the Defence Staff in a grievance filed by Commander George Zimmerman, a military chaplain. Colonel Drapeau acted as counsel. He was assisted at the hearing by Joshua Juneau, student-at-law.
>>  See decision

January 31, 2011: In an article titled "Parliament not covered by access laws. It should be”, published in Hill Times, Colonel Drapeau, and his co-authors, proposes that Parliament (House of Commons and the Senate) be subject to the Access to Information.
>>  See article

January 4, 2011: MDLO welcomes Joshua Juneau to the practice as a student-at-law completing his Articles of Clerkship for admission as barrister and solicitor to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2012.

January 3, 2011: In an article titled: Digging for Dirt on the CBC – Michel Drapeau has asked for Information from the CBC that its top brass says no one deserves to know in its January 3, 2011 edition MacLean’s Magazine profiled Michel Drapeau as a surrogate requester under the Access to Information Act for information in records.
>>  See article

May 10, 2010: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Time to transform the Canadian Forces on repatriation from Afghanistan"
>>  See article

April 26, 2010: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Welcome to information age, network society: a global modern phenomena currently bypassing Canadians"
>>  See article

February 16, 2010: Presentation to the Ontario Bar Association on Military Law - Colonel Drapeau address the Ontario Bar Association in Toronto, Ontario to offer will offer an overview of Canadian military law, notably its fundamental features and, in particular, its main distinctions with Canadian criminal law. Against the backdrop of the deployment of our Canadian troops in Afghanistan since 2006, Me. Drapeau discuss also the issue of Afghan detainees and the jurisdiction of the Military Police Complaints Commission in that matter, as well as the political and judicial deadlock with which the Canadian government is faced to resolve this issue.

February 8, 2010: Together with the Honourable Bob Rae, Member of the riding of Toronto Centre, and Professor Craig Scott, Director of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, York University, Colonel Drapeau acted as co-chair and co-moderator of a Special Forum on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan held at the Osgoode Law School on February 8, 2010. The Special Forum heard from a number of legal under the theme "Moral and Legal Responsibilities with respect to Alleged Mistreatment of Transferred Detainees in Afghanistan."
>>  See attached

January 7, 2010: Possessing extensive experience and expertise in access to information law, we are proud to announce our special collaboration with the law offices of Charles Veilleux et Associés, based in Québec City, for a class action lawsuit. The case, Spieser c. Attorney General of Canada, constitutes one of the most important environmental impact lawsuits in North America.

December 14, 2009: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "As the last resort, DND/CF’s Ombudsman’s intercession is crucial for soldiers"
>>  See article

November 25, 2009: Embassy publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Like it or not, the truth will come out"
>>  See article

November 16, 2009: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Military grievances: the Crown can do no wrong"
>>  See article

November 11, 2009: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Myths and mirrors of access"
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October 26, 2009: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Military summary trials: a victorian system of justice"
>>  See article

October 19, 2009: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Cry me river: compassion, commitment and leadership by government essential in Valcartier’s tainted water"
>>  See article

October 5, 2009: The Hill Times publishes an article written by Michel W. Drapeau titled: "Choosing next information commissioner: a tall challenge"
>>  See article