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next little while will be important and watched by other jurisdictions." So what do these changes involve? Why are they so significant? And what do they mean for lawyers practising in one of the many areas that touch upon human rights? The answers are many and diverse. They involve huge social trends, important changes in the law, and perhaps significant adjustments to the way lawyers approach to human rights-related cases. Never before has there been so much interest in and concern over individual rights and the responsibilities of employ- ers and other organizations to accommo- date these rights. Whereas human rights concerns used to focus mainly on dis- crimination or harassment, society now expects a more proactive approach to accommodating disability and embrac- ing diversity. Complaints are becoming more varied and complex in an increas- ingly multicultural and diverse society. New issues are emerging, particularly in labour and employment law, in light of trends such as an aging workforce, the abolition of mandatory retirement, an epidemic of chronic disease, and a grow- ing understanding of mental illness, al- coholism, and drug addiction. These issues are coming to the fore Ownership notwithstanding, your business is our business. The most productive relationships are born of mutual understanding. That's why we're as committed to getting to know our clients' business as we are to helping them understand the intricacies of labour and employment law. in complicated and contentious cases. The freedom of the press or — look- ing at it from another perspective — the freedom to demonize certain religious groups has been scrutinized by the Hu- man Rights Tribunal in B.C. Alberta courts and tribunals have been strug- gling with the competing requirements for occupational safety and accommoda- tion of people with disabilities in a case that tended to trivialize the issues with a focus on the claim of a marijuana user that he shouldn't have to take a drug test to do construction work on an oil sands project. The Supreme Court of Canada recently erased a huge punitive damage award for human rights violations in a civil court wrongful dismissal case in- volving a Honda Canada employee suf- fering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Cases that involve drugs or mental ill- ness may involve a large number of ex- pert witnesses and conflicting evidence on diagnosis or prognosis, concerns about inappropriate or erratic behav- iour, and whether disabilities can be ac- commodated without undue hardship, notes David Corry, a Calgary-based partner at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP. The complexity of these issues, he says, "is potentially driving the need to re-evaluate the system to make sure it's the most effective system for advancing human rights in Canada." It's the best of times for lawyers special- Toronto 416.408.3221 I London 519.433.7270 I filion.on.ca izing in human rights. As Calgary-based Stikeman Elliott LLP partner Barbara Johnston puts it: "Human rights is one of the most exciting areas of law right now. The changes in the law and the in- teresting issues that we're faced with are unparalleled. We're dealing with ground- breaking cases with a very profound im- pact on society. I don't think I've gone a day in my practice where there hasn't been something new and exciting." 54 A UGUST 2008 www. ntitled-1 1 Law ye rmag.com 5/14/08 9:58:39 AM