Under Arrest

Did you know that Canada's Criminal Code still has provisions outlawing the practice of witchcraft and "crafty sciences"? Did you know that blasphemy is a crime in Canada? And did you know that putting a picture of a red poppy on your website could get you in trouble with the Royal Canadian Legion? Lawyer and author Bob Tarantino takes readers on an entertaining and informative romp through Canada's legal labyrinths in a book that spotlights the country's past and present strange-but-true laws and legal history. He examines odd statutes and arcane jurisprudence across the spectrum of Canadian endeavours, from war and religion to sex and culture to politics and business. Frequently, he demonstrates the parallels between yesterday's prohibitions and today's trends such as the edict against duelling and the legalities of twenty-first-century hockey slugfests, or the confiscation of so-called crime comics in the 1950s and the controversy surrounding violence in contemporary video games.