The Ontario Court of Appeal has taken a technical approach to interpreting “termination clause” in ruling that a failsafe clause that doesn’t clearly apply to the entirety of a termination clause won’t be enforceable. “The big takeaway from Andros v. Colliers Macaulay Nicolls Inc. is that courts will pay close attention to grammar and structure in interpreting failsafe […]
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled that portions of the province’s dependants’ relief legislation, which allow adult independent children to apply for variation of a will because it provides inadequate maintenance and support, are unconstitutional. “The decision expands the scope of the liberty interest protected in s. 7 of the Charter of Rights by recognizing that […]
The Home Depot Canada’s commercial customers are the latest target of the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) continuing priority audit of the underground economy in general and home improvement contractors in particular. In July, using what is known as the “unnamed person requirement”(UPR) found in the Income Tax Act, the CRA obtained a Federal Court order […]
An arbitrator has ruled that part-time employees who have returned to work after retiring and are receiving pension benefits from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan aren’t “members” of the plan for the purpose of calculating their benefit entitlements if they choose not to re-enrol in the HOOPP on resuming service. The upshot of arbitrator […]
Jeffrey Leon, a partner at Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto, has just completed a one-year term as only the second Canadian president of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL). His tenure saw him travel some 250,000 kilometres to visit 45 states and nine provinces, affording him a unique insight into the mindset and practices […]
The Federal Court has certified a $100 million class action brought by former members of the Canadian Armed Forces reserves who alleged that the government illegally delayed their retirement benefits. “There were 1,300 complaints to the CAF ombudsman between 2006 and 2017,” says Adam Tanel, an associate at Koskie Minsky LLP and co-counsel for the class. The […]
Construction may have resumed and Trudeau has promised to see TMX through, but it’s the legal delays that look set to hold everything back With the Federal Court of Appeal set to hold its second hearing on approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in December, it may seem that the end is near for the […]
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal’s recent decision in Hospitality Fallsview Holdings Inc. v. Morningstar 2019 ONWSIAT 2324, may signal a new jurisdictional regime around claims of wrongful dismissal premised on workplace harassment causing chronic mental stress. “The ruling precludes civil actions based on chronic mental stress due to harassment in the workplace on the basis […]
The main issue with Bill 41 appears to be whether the legislation gives First Nations a veto on resource projects British Columbia’s Bill 41, aimed at implementing the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into provincial legislation is — depending on one’s perspective — either a forward-looking framework that will provide much-needed […]
The Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a $267,017 award to a pensioner for negligent misrepresentation after the Alberta Pensions Services Corp. provided mistaken estimates of the pensioner’s retirement benefits. But the lawyer for Dr. William Calder and his wife says the ruling, which also validated a change in the ASPC’s interpretation of the governing […]