Ontario quick off mark with iGaming
By Julius Melnitzer | April 25, 2022 By all accounts, Ontario got it right when it became the first province to open its Internet gaming market to the private sector on April 4. “The government should be commended for its commitment, especially because of the noise from some people opposing the move,” said Cameron MacDonald, […]
Oil producers optimistic about deal with Enbridge over Mainline pipeline access
Enbridge says that at this point, two options are under consideration Optimism is growing that Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and producers and shippers of Canadian oil will reach a negotiated settlement on how shippers will pay to send crude on Enbridge’s Mainline system, Canada’s key export pipeline, over the next decade. “I think we’re looking at […]
LegalWriter.net’s Top 10 business decisions of 2021, Part II – – – and the law firm players
Welcome to our third annual list of the Top 10 business decisions in Canada. This is the second of a two-part series, and features the top five cases in ascending order. Cases ranked 6-10 can be found here. By Julius Melnitzer | March10, 2022 5. 6362222 CANADA INC. v. PRELCO INC. (SCC) Law Firms: Borden […]
LegalWriter.net’s Top 10 business decisions of 2021, Part I – – – and the law firm players
Welcome to our third annual ranking of the Top 10 business decisions in Canada. This is the first of a two-part series, which begins below with the cases ranked 6-10, in ascending order. The top five cases, found in Part II, are here. By Julius Melnitzer | March 7, 2022 10. Sahlaoui v. 2330-2029 Quebec […]
Ruling may make Competition Bureau more likely to pre-emptively challenge mergers in court
‘It’s pretty clear from this decision that the Bureau mismanaged the litigation by lying in the weeds until the last minute’ By Julius Melnitzer | March 3, 2022 A Federal Court of Appeal decision confirming the Competition Bureau’s power to stop a proposed merger in its tracks could make the regulator more likely to pre-emptively […]
FP Dealmakers: As governments pulled back on debt issuance, corporations picked up the slack
By Julius Melnitzer | February 3, 2022 Depth was the hallmark of Canada’s debt market in 2021 even as overall deal count and supply declined from the year previous. Anomalous? Not really. Close examination of statistics compiled by Financial Post Data show a sharp divergence between the corporate and public sectors. Corporate issuance rose 11.3 […]
FP Dealmakers: Law firms on overdrive amid ‘hunger and urgency to get deals done’
By: Julius Melnitzer | February 1, 2022 It’s rare for lawyers to be unequivocal. But then, when it comes to capital markets activity, 2021 was a rare year for law firms. “We certainly had not planned for what occurred this past year, which produced one of the best capital markets ever, and we’re talking all […]
Share transfers to executives, employees are income not capital gains: appeal court
By Julius Melnitzer | December 23, 2021 A Federal Court of Appeal ruling will make it very difficult for executives and employees to treat share transfers from their companies as capital gains rather than income. The decision involved Kitchener, Ont.-based D2L Corp., whose intention was to distribute appreciated shares of the company, held in a […]
Why Supreme Court ruled Alta Energy’s ‘treaty shopping’ not abuse of tax planning
By Julius Melnitzer | December 13, 2021 Short of abusive behaviour, companies are allowed to minimize their tax liability In November, the SCC rejected Ottawa’s claim that the taxpayer, a Luxembourg resident, should be denied the benefit of the Canada-Luxembourg tax treaty because it engaged in treaty shopping and its economic ties to Luxembourg were […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: OCA reverses heroin trafficker’s conviction after judge delays reasons for 4 years | Woman lawyers working 100 more hours than men | 90% of UK lawyers resisting return to office | EU pushes gig workers’ rights | Top 5 law firm bulletins & webinars
By Julius Melnitzer | December 6, 2021 JUDGE TAKES FOUR YEARS TO DELIVER REASONS AFTER THREE-DAY TRIAL The trial involved only three days of evidence. But Judge Kofi Barnes of the Ontario Superior Court took four years to deliver reasons. And that was some 31 months after Shane Artis appealed his conviction and 10-year sentence […]