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I hope you appreciate by now that it is impossible to properly understand the law of property in a vacuum. So lesson 2 on "Property in Perspective" tries to provide a contextual basis for our study of property law, with particular focus on the social, economic and political issues that impact resource allocation.
We begin with a glimpse into the intersections among gender, race, class and property by watching the NFB documentary, "No Place Called Home." There are no required readings from the casebook to accompany this film, but I do want you to look carefully through the content at the website of Ontario's Landlord Tenant Board. Pay special attention to this guide, and be sure to browse through the statute governing this area, the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.
Those themes are picked up in the materials on pages 107-24, which we'll tackle in the class following the film. Homelessness and panhandling are difficult but fundamentally important topics, so please read the materials carefully. When reading, please think back to chapter 1 when we talked about why we have property in society, and the implications of those theoretical justifications on the problems of homelessness and poverty. Note the inclusion of Jeremy Waldron's perspectives in both these and the previously assigned materials.
The final part of the lesson looks at the politics of expropriation. There's a heavy emphasis here on property as a "human right," and what that might mean practically speaking. To prepare for class discussion on topic, go through pages 124-155 of the casebook. (Yes, I know that's a lot of reading for one class, but readings were light for the last two classes, so it all balances out.) We will consider the rationale for excluding private property protection from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Comparisons with American “takings” law and the implications of NAFTA will also be raised. For this class you'll also have to download and read this  comparative list of constitutional provisions.
Our all-group class on Monday 03 October 2011 at 16h00 in FTX 147 will deal with human organ transplants and donations. This is an ideal topic for transition between the conceptual and contextual materials we have been discussing in the class so far (like property in body parts), and the doctrinal materials we'll begin to transition toward (like the legal and policy limits on transfering property). In preparation for this lecture by Dr. Sam Shemie, please skim this very brief background document.
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