bob tarantino

That Boy in the Library

One of the most under-appreciated Canadian blogs out there is Michel-Adrien Sheppard's Library Boy.  Always packed with information, including deep linkage, on a variety of topics, it should definitely be in your RSS reader.  Yesterday's post, about the new federal criminal legislation, is typical: information and links to the bills themselves, along with helpful links to a slew of parliamentary reports on mandatory minimum sentences.

"the darker side of this new phenomenon"

Blogging on your own time can provide a legitimate basis for being fired if you're attacking your employer or fellow employees, even if you do so anonymously without identifying by name any of the individuals involved - so says the recent decision in Alberta v. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (R. Grievance), [2008] A.G.A.A. No. 20 (the full text can be found here - [pdf]).  Mary Gleason wrote a concise and comprehensive summary of the decision and its importance over here in the The Lawyers Weekly.  In order to be actionable, the posting needs to rise to the level of "irreparably harm[ing] the employment relationship" - the 75-page (!) decision provides, in sometimes excruciating detail, precisely what that might entail.  While that decision is specifically within the context of employment relations, this item I wrote for the OBA's Entertainment, Media and Communications Newsletter, now almost a few years old, contains some thoughts which might also be pertinent for employers thinking about allowing their employees to blog.

"apply online as well as off-line"

For elusive reasons, today's a big day for blogging and defamation lawsuits.  So I'll do my bit to add to the pile-on.

• The Globe and Mail has an article outlining a number of recent lawsuits that have been launched in Canada relating to statements made on blogs
• in the US, a suit in small claims court over blogging statements looks like it's about to turn into a federal case (pun intended)
• And back at home, Steve Janke is evidently being sued by "a prominent member of Paul Martin's inner circle".  Help him out.