On July 13, 2013, the Commission for Public Complaints released the Report Following a Public Interest Investigation into the Conduct of RCMP Members in Nova Scotia in Respect to Matters Involving Nicole (Ryan) Doucet. After interviewing all parties involved and reviewing 25 incidences involving Ms. Doucet and Mr. Ryan, the Acting Commissioner, Ian McPhail, concluded the RCMP’s policy regarding violence in relationships “was followed at all times.” According to The Report, the RCMP did not fail to protect Ms. Doucet. These conclusions, however, seem to be at odds with the evidence presented in The Report. After discussing coercive control and reviewing R. v. Ryan, the paper analyses the Commission’s findings to argue that the evidence presented to the Commission clearly illustrates that police ignored Ms. Doucet’s repeated pleas for help. The Commissioner missed a real opportunity to review current RCMP policies on domestic violence to bring them in line with current and on-going research on coercive control.

The public use of the niqab and other religious face coverings is a source of considerable debate in Western nations. The veiled Muslim woman is often constructed as “other,” reviled as backward, represented as in need of rescue, or associated with Islamic extremism. Despite widespread racist attitudes, officially, Canadians purport to support multiculturalism and the equality of all people under the law as guaranteed under section 15 of the Charter. In a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision, R v NS, the Court had to consider the right of a Muslim woman to wear her niqab while testifying in a sexual assault trial. In “balancing” the conflict between the religious rights of NS and the section 7 rights of the accused to a full and fair defense, the Court ignored the security of the person and equality rights of NS. The Court instead legitimated anti-Muslim stereotypes and reiterated rape myths that had ostensibly been overturned.

Current Canadian law, by silence rather than explicit choice, does not prevent anonymous sperm donation. Anonymous sperm donation, however, may soon disappear. In the recent Pratten decision, the Supreme Court of British Columbia determined that anonymity violates the constitutional rights of children born of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). While finding that children should have access to genetic knowledge, the court failed to consider the impact of the elimination of anonymity on other parties to ARTs, both sperm donors and ART families. The case was appealed by the Attorney General of British Columbia and heard by the British Columbia Court of Appeal in February 2012 and was overturned. While agreeing with the decision of the Court of Appeal, this article argues that the court failed to provide a fulsome analysis of issues related to privacy, genetic knowledge, alternative family formation, and the false assertion that sperm donation makes a man a father.

The dominant story of matrimonial property law reform in English Canada treats the farming family case of Murdoch v. Murdoch as the great catalyst for change, but there are persistent inequalities affecting farm women, even in provinces that have made progressive changes in the law of relationship breakdown. The farm is the quintessential family business and is both place of residence and source of income. Since the farm is not readily divisible, it is not surprising that all the major marital property law cases to reach the Supreme Court of Canada have involved farm property. What is surprising is that most provincial property reforms, though inspired by the Murdoch case, explicitly exclude farms from division, and those that include farms in the property to be divided still have mechanisms that tend to favour husbands. This article examines Canadian courts' gendered conceptualization of what constitutes a family business by examining the cases on farm property and the related legislative reforms. Feminists, and all women who have benefited from matrimonial property law reform, have an obligation to recognize the problems created by our persistent failure to understand the farm as simultaneously home and place of business.

Background: Although sleep problems are commonly reported among dementia caregivers, the nature and frequency of caregiver sleep disruptions, and their relationship to health status, has received little empirical attention to date.

Methods: The current study investigated the sleep situations of a sample of 60 spousal caregivers currently residing with a Alzheimer disease care recipient, including the frequency of nocturnal disruptions by the care recipient, and the reasons for these disruptions. In addition, exploratory correlations were computed between caregiver sleep variables and health outcomes.

Results: Some 63% of spousal caregivers reported sleep disruptions due to the nocturnal behavior of the recipients of their care. Poorer caregiver sleep quality was associated with higher frequency of nocturnal disruptions by the care recipient, the care recipient needing to use the bathroom, and wandering, higher caregiver depressive symptoms, and higher levels of caregiver role burden. The frequency of nocturnal disruptions was associated with poorer mental health status and a greater number of depressive symptoms.

Conclusions: Results suggest that nocturnal disruptions by the care recipient may have adverse health consequences for spousal caregivers, and that further study of the determinants of caregiver sleep quality and health outcomes are warranted.

Background: This study was carried out to determine why women caring for men report more burden than other caregivers, and to further examine the role of care-recipient problem behaviors as determinants of burden.

Method: A sample of 557 primary caregivers of community-dwelling individuals referred to a memory clinic was used. All care-recipients had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (NINCDS-ADRDA). Data on care-recipient function, caregiver attributes, external supports and caregiver burden were obtained on the first visit. Hierarchical regression models were used to determine the contribution of gender, after controlling for care-recipient status, caregiver attributes, and external supports.

Results: This model explained 46% of the variability in caregiver “role burden”, with care-recipient problem behaviors and dependence in instrumental activities of daily living. The caregiver/care-recipient gender interaction explained an additional 4% of the variance (p=0.001); women caring for men scored 5.61 higher on the burden scale than other caregivers. Specific problem behaviors (e.g., anger) were more problematic for women caregivers than men.

Conclusion: These results indicate that the experience of men and women caregivers may be different despite seemingly identical circumstances, and highlight the need for interventions geared to the specific needs of women caregivers.