Access to Justice
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October 01, 2025
Future is traditional: Traditional ecological knowledge’s transformative potential in Canadian law
Indigenous peoples in Saskatchewan have long cultivated diverse and sustainable land stewardship practices that are integral to their cultural frameworks and relational worldviews. Yet, despite their proven ecological value, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) remains largely peripheral within provincial environmental policy.
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September 30, 2025
OSC holds roundtable to discuss draft Action Plan for Truth and Reconciliation
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) will be holding a virtual roundtable to “explore and discuss” its draft Action Plan for Truth and Reconciliation. According to a press release issued Sept. 24, the OSC Roundtable: Pathways to Truth and Reconciliation is “one of the last chances to consider the draft” and to provide the commission with comments before the feedback period closes on Oct. 31.
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September 30, 2025
B.C. case offers look at legalities around inmate transfer
Canada’s prison system has been seen as totalitarian. An inmate is often perceived as losing all their rights as a citizen upon being imprisoned.
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September 29, 2025
Manitoba Justice receiving support for bilingual access to victims’ programs
Manitoba Justice is increasing access to bilingual support for victims of crime and domestic violence through a funding program aimed at bolstering French services in the province.
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September 29, 2025
Ontario to raise small claims court monetary limit to $50,000
As a litigation associate, I have come to appreciate that big challenges do not always involve large sums. My experience in handling a broad range of commercial, insurance and collections disputes in Ontario’s small claims court has taught me that claims with smaller monetary amounts can present legal and factual complexities comparable to those in the regular stream of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
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September 29, 2025
Historical child sex offences demand no less accountability than those committed today: SCC
Paul Sheppard is a former teacher and headmaster of the now closed Saint John’s School of Alberta, an elite all-male boarding school along the North Saskatchewan River in Stony Plain, near Edmonton.
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September 26, 2025
SCC clarifies that Friesen sentencing principles apply to historic sexual crimes against children
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 9-0 that the contemporary sentencing principles the court laid down for sexual crimes against children, in its 2020 landmark ruling in R. v. Friesen, must also be applied in sentencing historical sexual offences against children. On Sept. 26, 2025, the top court handed down reserved reasons for its unanimous oral judgment last April, which restored the six-year prison term that a trial judge imposed on ex-teacher Paul Sheppard for his repeated sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boarding school student in 1993 and 1994: R.v. Sheppard, 2025 SCC 29.
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September 26, 2025
Ottawa introduces bill to remove CAF jurisdiction over sexual offences, enhance military justice
National Defence Minister David McGuinty has introduced legislation that would remove the Canadian Armed Forces’ jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of Criminal Code sexual offences committed in Canada, according to a release.
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September 26, 2025
Ontario opening of the courts ceremony highlights digitization, reform of Rules of Civil Procedure
On Sept. 25, judges, attorneys general, leaders of law associations and others met for Ontario’s opening of the courts ceremony, discussing various strategies that have been and will be undertaken to improve access to justice. This included digitization and reformation of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
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September 25, 2025
B.C. court narrows herbicide class action, strikes battery and general damages claims
The B.C. Court of Appeal has narrowed a class action alleging that exposure to paraquat in herbicides increased the risk of Parkinson’s, ruling exposure cannot ground a battery claim and that a common issue on general damages could not be addressed on a class-wide basis.