Wills, Trusts & Estates
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June 21, 2024
Public school boards are bound by Charter; tribunals’ Charter rulings reviewed for correctness: SCC
In an important Charter and standard of review case, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that labour arbitrators and other administrative tribunals “should play a primary role” in deciding Charter issues within their bailiwicks — which Charter determinations courts should review on a “correctness” rather than “reasonableness” standard — and that the Charter applies to Ontario public school boards, thereby protecting board employees’ reasonable expectations of privacy in their workplaces and shielding employees from unreasonable search or seizure by their employers.
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June 21, 2024
Ontario Court overturns finding that company directors were personally liable in property dispute
The Ontario Court of Appeal has overturned a finding that the directors of two companies were personally liable for the proceeds of the sale of a property that was the subject of a joint venture dispute.
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June 20, 2024
Ottawa lists Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity in Criminal Code
The Government of Canada listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code, effective June 19, 2024.
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June 20, 2024
Inheriting assets: Balancing wealth and family dynamics
A recent legal decision surrounding the death of the founder of the prominent Onni Group, DeCotiis v. DeCotiis Estate, 2023 BCSC 2163, highlighted how important it is for families to use diverse planning strategies to safeguard assets and to keep out of expensive legal disputes.
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June 14, 2024
2 Pushor Mitchell articling students promoted to associates
Pushor Mitchell LLP recently announced the addition of two new associates to its team. Leah Sorge and Colin Grimard were both called to the B.C. bar in 2024 and completed their articling at Pushor Mitchell.
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June 14, 2024
Providing value to the difficult client | Jacob Murad
Many lawyers (myself included) over the course of any practice, run into issues withdrawing from representing and terminating a difficult client. (A recent example of this was when Peter Nygard’s defence lawyer asked to be removed as his counsel just before his sentencing for sexual assault, reportedly due to a “breakdown and loss of confidence in the solicitor-client relationship.”)
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June 13, 2024
New asset freezes, entry bans & export prohibitions target Russian war of aggression against Ukraine
Canada has aimed new sanctions and export prohibitions at participants in Russia’s military-industrial complex, in a co-ordinated move with other countries on the first day of the G7’s three-day summit in Italy.
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June 13, 2024
Liberal government unveils in Commons ‘2030 Nature Strategy’ and proposed Nature Accountability Act
The minority Liberal government’s newly proposed Nature Accountability Act would hold Ottawa “accountable to make progress” (but not via an enforceable legal mechanism) toward the goal of protecting at least 30 per cent of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030, says federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault.
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June 13, 2024
Business income within a TFSA is taxable, confirms Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal of tax reassessments where the appellant argued that a tax-free savings account (TFSA) trust for a business should be tax-exempt because that is the case for a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP).
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June 13, 2024
Federal government announces expansion of early retirement eligibility for some front-line workers
Ottawa has announced plans to introduce legislative changes this fall to expand early pension eligibility for specific front-line workers, including federal border services officers and federal and territorial firefighters.