Know How, the blog of the Great Library

House of Bills: A Weekly Update on Ontario Bills

December 2 – December 6

42^nd Parliament, 1^st Session

Bill 116, Foundations for Promoting and Protecting Mental Health and Addictions Services Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried (Dec 3)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Social Policy (Dec 3)
Considered by Standing Committee on Social Policy (Dec 6)

Bill 123, Reserved Parking for Electric Vehicle Charging Act, 2019

Considered by Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills (Dec 4)

Bill 132, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019

Considered by Standing Committee on General Government, reported as amended (Dec 3 & 4)
Third Reading (Dec 5)

Bill 136, Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019

Considered by Standing Committee on Justice Policy, reported as amended (Dec 3)
Third Reading, carried (Dec 4 & 5)
Royal Assent (Dec 5)

Bill 138, Plan to Build Ontario Together Act, 2019

Considered by Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs (Dec 2, 4 & 5)

Bill 144, Northern Health Travel Grant Advisory Committee Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried on division (Dec 5)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills (Dec 5)

Bill 154, Stop Cyberbullying in Ontario Day Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried (Dec 5)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Social Policy (Dec 5)

Bill 155, Rent Control Act, 2019

First Reading (Dec 2)

Bill 156, Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2019

First Reading (Dec 2)

Bill 157, COPD Awareness Day Act, 2019

First Reading (Dec 3)
Second Reading, carried (Dec 5)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Social Policy (Dec 5)

Bill 158, Defibrillator Training and Access Act, 2019

First Reading (Dec 5)

Bill 159, Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act, 2019

First Reading (Dec 5)

The Great Library’s Oddest Law Book Titles

Law books are not generally known for having interesting titles. Most carry functional but yawn-inducing titles such as Business Law in Ontario. Typically, after a respectable number of editions, a legal author’s name is fused to the topic, as in Chitty on Contracts or Orkin on Costs. And sometimes successive authors of a legal treatise share space in the title – Coke on Littleton, Sullivan and Driedger on the Construction of Statutes, etc.

No such staid conventions exist in the world of non-legal book titles. There’s even an annual prize for the oddest non-fiction book title.

The Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year was first awarded in 1978. The prize was the invention of Trevor Bounford and Bruce Robertson, co-founders of the publishing firm, The Diagram Group. The two dreamed up the prize as a way to relieve boredom while working at the annual Frankfurt Book Fair. The winner of this year’s prize, marking the 41^st anniversary, was just announced last week.

The Oddest Book Title contest rules are simple: author and publisher of the winning title receive no tangible prize, only publicity. The nominator of the winning title however receives “a passable bottle of claret”.

To get an idea of what it takes to be a Diagram winner, here are a few recipients from past years:

1992 – How to Avoid Huge Ships (advice to pleasure boat sailors on the dangers of shipping lanes)

1993 – American Bottom Archaeology (an archaeological history of the Mississippi River Valley)

2004 – Bombproof Your Horse (techniques for training horses to be less easily spooked by the unexpected)

2010 – Managing a Dental Practice: The Genghis Khan Way (practice management tips on “how to build an empire in the dentistry field”)

Surprisingly, at least one legal book has won the dubious honour of oddest book title. In 2001, the prize was awarded to Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service, a serious guide for lawyers dealing with corporate liability for manslaughter and fatal accidents.

This discovery inspired Great Library staff members to seek out odd legal titles on our shelves.

Here are our staff’s top picks for oddest legal book titles in the Great Library’s print collection, arranged by category:

Best Alliteration or Rhyme

Beer, Butter and Barristers (report on reforming Canada’s Competition Act)
Bewigged and Bewildered? (with apologies to Rodgers and Hart, a guide to becoming a barrister in England and Wales)
The Lunatic and the Lords (sensational murder trial at the Old Bailey)
Pine and Swine (lumber, pork and dispute settlement under the Canada-U.S. FTA)

Best Horror

Is Eating People Wrong? (essays on notable common law cases, including the 1884 cannibalism at sea case of R v Dudley and Stephens)
Lawyers and Vampires: Cultural Histories of Legal Professions (collection of essays including “He Would Have Made a Wonderful Solicitor: Law, Modernity and Professionalism in Bram Stoker’s Dracula”)

Best Self-Help

Why Lawyers Love Golf (helping lawyers understand “the legal dimensions of golf”)
Why Lawyers Should Eat Bananas (no nutrition tips, just “inspirational ideas for lawyers wanting more out of life”)

and Best Miscellaneous

An Essay on the Legality of Impressing Seamen (18^th century text on forcible recruitment by the British Navy)
Fat Cats and Lucky Dogs (an estate planning guide for pet owners)
It Takes Two Judges to Try a Cow (collection of bizarre legal cases)
Splinters: or A Grist of Giggles (amusing anecdotes about the legal profession, circa 1886)

House of Bills: A Weekly Update on Ontario Bills

November 25 – November 29
42^nd Parliament, 1^st Session

Bill 6, Poet Laureate of Ontario Act (In Memory of Gord Downie), 2019

Considered by Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills, reported as amended (Nov 27)

Bill 116, Foundations for Promoting and Protecting Mental Health and Addictions Services Act, 2019

Second Reading (Nov 26 & 27)

Bill 123, Reserved Parking for Electric Vehicle Charging Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried on division (Nov 28)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills (Nov 28)

Bill 132, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019

Considered by Standing Committee on General Government (Nov 25)

Bill 136, Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried on division (Nov 26 & 27)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Justice Policy (Nov 27)
Considered by Standing Committee on Justice Policy (Nov 29)

Bill 138, Plan to Build Ontario Together Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried on division (Nov 25 & 27)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs (Nov 27)

Bill 145, Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2019

Second Reading, carried (Nov 25)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on General Government (Nov 25)

Bill 149, Dyslexia Awareness Month Act, 2019

First Reading (Nov 26)

Bill 150, Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019

First Reading (Nov 26)

Bill 151, Smoke-Free Ontario Amendment Act (Vaping is not for Kids), 2019

First Reading (Nov 27)

Bill 152, Occupational Safety and Health Day Act, 2019

First Reading (Nov 27)
Second Reading, carried on division (Nov 28)
Ordered referred to Standing Committee on Social Policy (Nov 28)

Bill 153, Long-Term Care Homes Amendment (Till Death Do Us Part) Act, 2019

First Reading (Nov 27)

Bill 154, Stop Cyberbullying in Ontario Day Act, 2019

First Reading (Nov 28)