BARE BONES BRIEFS | OCA: ineffective lawyering can include bad advice on whether to testify | OCA: Police can’t investigate impaired driving on private property | OCA: Interest owing protected by CLA trust fund | Standard NDA approaches reality | Best law firm webinars and bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | June 7, 2021 OCA: COUNSEL’S FAILURE TO EXPLAIN BLENDED PROCEDURE IMPACT VITIATES CONVICTION The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that an accused who testified and made what amounted to a full confession on a voir dire should have his conviction overturned because counsel failed to advise him before agreeing to […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS | SCC: Can courts cancel child support arrears retroactively? | FCA upholds “unprecedented” site block order | SCC grants leave from $644 million patent infringement award| OCA rules on limitation in unidentified motorist cases | Can’t miss: law firm webinars & bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | June 1, 2021 CAN JUDGES CANCEL CHILD SUPPORT ARREARS RETROACTIVELY? On Friday, June 4, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will determine whether courts can retroactively cancel child support arrears. The judgment in Colluci v. Colluci will consider whether doing so provides an incentive for payors to be delinquent. Related Article: […]
Systemic issues, not hesitancy, disengage disenfranchised from vaccines
By Julius Melnitzer | May 26, 2021 In early May, a study from Toronto’s ICES research facility concluded that COVID-19 vaccination rates are lower among Ontario’s immigrants, refugees, and newcomers to the provincial health system: at the time, only 22 percent of refugees and 12 percent of newcomers had received at least at least one […]
New insolvency rules help energy companies carve out their environmentally-compromised assets
By Julius Melnitzer | May 26, 2021 Following their formal recognition by the Quebec Superior Court and British Columbia Supreme Court, reverse vesting orders (RVO) are poised to become extremely valuable tools in insolvency and restructuring proceedings — for the energy sector in particular. Historically, courts have used standard vesting orders to transfer purchased assets […]
Defending democracy: the status of “fake news” in Canada
By Julius Melnitzer | May 23, 2021 It’s hard to process the fact that the multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuits launched by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic in the U.S. following on media allegations that they helped President Joe Biden “steal” the American election from Donald Trump may be facing uphill battles in American courts. Why […]
Getting a head start on new Consumer Protection Privacy Act
May 17, 2021 | By Marilyn Clarke, guest contributor With the expected enactment of Bill C-11 in late 2021, Canada’s privacy regime, which had become increasingly ineffectual and obsolete, will be obsolete no more. Bill C-11 introduces the Consumer Protection Privacy Act (CPPA) and Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act (PIDPTA), which will replace Part 1 of the Personal […]
Owners can mitigate OHSA risk created by OCA in Ontario v. Sudbury
By Julius Melnitzer | May 20, 2021 For all the brouhaha about what the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) did or didn’t do in Ontario (Labour) v. Sudbury (City), or what courts might do in the future, what transpired is really quite simple: a unanimous Court said that an owner whose direct employees (as opposed […]
Perfect storm for Canadian jobless, Part III: the role of national champions
By Julius Melnitzer | May 19, 2021 This is the third of a three-part series. Read Part I and Part II. Canada’s competition laws don’t play favorites. There’s no preferential treatment for “national champions” whose expansionist aims are anti-competitive but don’t create efficiencies that – as we’ve pointed out previously – frequently promote job losses. […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS | Survey: full-time remote work off the table | Osler bulletin: corporate diversity tanks | Law firm gives away profits | OCA: “No escape” supports inmate’s duress defence | legaltrot: helping lawyers on the go get help on the go |
By Julius Melnitzer | May 16, 2021 REMOTE WORK: THE DISCONNECT The Littler 2021 Annual Employer Survey Report has uncovered a “disconnect” between employers and employees about what the return to physical workspaces should look like. The following paragraph says it all: While 71 percent of employers surveyed believe that most of their employees who […]
Perfect storm for Canadian jobless, Part II: making jobs count in M&A
By Julius Melnitzer | May 13, 2021 This is the second article in a three-part series. With unemployment on the rise, adding fuel to the fire by encouraging labour force reduction seems counterproductive. But, as pointed out in Part I of this series, Canada’s competition laws do exactly that. The key culprits are the “efficiencies” […]