Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
In the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal, some advocates are calling for the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to be banned or restricted in settlement agreements in cases involving abuse.
University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane is one of the founders of the "Can't Buy My Silence" campaign to end the use of NDAs in abuse cases. She says these agreements have often been used by organizations and companies under the guise of protecting the privacy of the victim.
"(Victims) are told that in order for their name to be kept secret and their identity to be protected, they also have to protect the identity of the other side -- the perpetrator -- and not disclose what it was that happened to them," Macfarlane told CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.
But instead of protecting victims, Macfarlane says these agreements pressure victims into silence while protecting organizations and even perpetrators.
"(NDAs) are held over the head of the claimant who's received a settlement. And they are told that if they were ever to speak about their case … they will be in breach of that agreement and could lose their compensation," she said.
Last month, it was revealed that Hockey Canada had paid out $7.6 million since 1989 in several sexual assault-related settlements, and some of the claimants involved in the settlements were bound by non-disclosure agreements.
On July 27, Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith told a parliamentary committee the organization would allow any claimant who had signed an NDA to speak out about their experiences.
"If they wish to eliminate those, unless there is a legal reason not to that I'm not aware of, I'm not sure why we wouldn't," Smith told MPs.
Back in May, P.E.I. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to restrict the use of NDAs in cases of discrimination and harassment, including sexual misconduct. Under the legislation, an NDA is only legal in these cases if the victim requests one and if the agreement will not lead to the harming of a third party.
Macfarlane calls the conditions in P.E.I.'s legislation "fairly common sense," particularly the provisions in the bill that say the NDA must not harm a third party.
"There's an expression that has been developed in the last few years: 'pass the trash.' That refers to the idea that somebody who has already behaved in a way that might be dangerous … could move with impunity to another workplace that knows nothing about their background," she said.
"We argue that that always harms third parties because people who behave in this way tend to reoffend over and over again."
Similar bills have also been put before the legislatures in Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Canada's Minister of Sport, Pascale St-Onge, has criticized the use of NDAs, and told the Canadian Press in June that NDAs contradict the "very principle of safe sports."
Macfarlane says the public outcry over the Hockey Canada scandal has led to a new "momentum" in the campaign to ban or restrict the use of NDAs. She said the "Can't Buy My Silence" campaign has been working with legislators across Canada on NDA bills.
"It's really a matter of trying to educate the lawmakers who are looking at this issue and also the public as we go along," she said.
With files from The Canadian Press.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.
An investigation is underway after a Regina police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow officer’s gun during the search of a house early Friday morning.
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.