Civil Litigation
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July 15, 2024
Canada updates draft report on forever chemicals, proposes new health and environmental regulations
The federal government has updated its draft report on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, proposing to conclude that they may cause harm to human health and the environment.
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July 15, 2024
Appeal Court orders Crown to pay insurer out of forfeited cyber fraud proceeds after Crown error
The Ontario Court of Appeal has ordered that an insurer be paid amounts paid out to a cyber fraud victim from crime proceeds forfeited to the Crown after the Crown failed to raise the insurer’s claim at a restitution hearing.
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July 15, 2024
Former Liberal MP’s defamation claim survives anti-SLAPP motion
The anti-SLAPP motion decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Dong v. Global News, 2024 ONSC 3532, offers a cogent example of a defamation lawsuit that will require a full trial to determine or disprove liability. In response to the defendants’ motion to dismiss the action at an early stage, the motion judge determined that there was a genuine dispute over whether the impugned publication was defamatory and had damaged the reputation of a plaintiff. In such a case, the proper battleground to adjudicate the dispute is at trial not at an early-stage motion.
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July 15, 2024
SCC provides guidance on the interpretation of exclusion clauses, relies heavily on context
In its recent decision, Earthco Soil Mixtures Inc. v. Pine Valley Enterprises Inc., 2024 SCC 20, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) addressed just how express an agreement needs to be to oust an implied statutory condition and exclude liability. Specifically, the SCC clarified what is required for an exclusion clause to exempt a seller from an implied condition under Ontario’s Sale of Goods Act (SGA).
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July 15, 2024
AGRICULTURE — Farms — Financing — Price supports and guarantees
Motion by Plaintiff for summary judgment to recover a certain amount plus interest and cost against the Defendants. The Corporate Defendant (“Wimmer Brook”) applied to the Canadian Canola Growers Association (“CCGA”) for an advance payment for the crop year and entered into a Repayment Agreement with CCGA.
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July 15, 2024
How to undermine your dismissal for just cause | Stuart Rudner
“In light of what he did, we just can’t trust John and there’s no way he can continue as an employee … once we get through the trade show next month, we’ll terminate his employment.”
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July 12, 2024
Supreme Court declines to hear municipalities’ challenge to CN Rail intermodal hub in Milton
The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear arguments by several southern Ontario municipalities that CN Rail is obligated to seek and obtain requisite approvals under more than 65 listed provincial laws, regulations and municipal bylaws to continue the construction of a $250 million intermodal container facility in Milton, Ont.
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July 12, 2024
Judges must consider size and scope of company when considering OHSA fines: Ontario Court of Appeal
Ontario’s top court has overturned the findings of a lower court of a proceeding under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), saying a fine imposed on a corporation must take its financial means into account in order to achieve both specific and general deterrence.
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July 12, 2024
Nova Scotia Court of Appeal affirms broad scope of regulation concerning lawyer conduct
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has affirmed that a regulation empowering the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society to consider complaints regarding conduct unbecoming of the legal profession is not limited to examples provided in the regulation.
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July 12, 2024
Customer service, Kafka-style | Marcel Strigberger
The citadel has been breached. The floodgates opened. Eureka. A Quebec judge has recently come out with a decision rivalling the iconic Donoghue v. Stevenson snail-in-the-ginger-beer negligence case.