Family
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March 22, 2024
Ottawa unveils proposed military justice reforms ‘in response to’ Fish and Arbour external reviews
The federal Liberal government has proposed long-awaited reforms to “modernize” the National Defence Act (NDA), including measures to bolster the independence of key military justice system actors.
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March 22, 2024
B.C. legal institute recommending changes to update parentage rules in family legislation
A legal institute in British Columbia has set out a number of tentative recommendations to reform the rules surrounding parentage in the province, which it says will help the law keep pace with modern times.
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March 22, 2024
Ottawa looks to reduce percentage of temporary residents to five per cent of population
Citing the need to “ramp things down,” in part to address Canada’s “affordability challenge” in such areas as housing, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the federal government wants to stem the rapid growth in temporary residents by reducing their number over the next three years from 6.2 per cent of Canada’s population (2.5 million people in 2023) to five per cent.
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March 21, 2024
Does subject matter expertise matter? | Avril Hasselfield
The law is complex, with each area having its own nuances. It is in a client’s best interest to retain an experienced mediator to help them settle their disputes, but is it also necessary to have a mediator who is an expert in the subject matter being litigated?
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March 22, 2024
Imposing sanctions for breaches of family court orders
Does a court have jurisdiction to impose a monetary penalty or fine pursuant to Rule 1(8) of the Family Law Rules in the absence of a finding of contempt? There is a conflicting line of family law cases with respect to this emerging issue.
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March 21, 2024
Ottawa cuts back on temporary foreign workers; reduces permitted percentage of ‘low wage’ workers
The federal government has announced it is “adjusting” its temporary foreign worker program which has experienced “a surge in demand” due to the post-pandemic economy, low unemployment rates, and record-high job vacancy rates in 2022.
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March 21, 2024
Politicization of tribunal appointments worse than that of judicial appointments | Brian Cook
Recent moves by the current government to politicize the process of appointing judges have caused significant concern. The process for appointing adjudicators who sit on Ontario’s adjudicative tribunals is much worse. The government has been criticized for making political appointments to the committee responsible for making judicial appointment recommendations. There is no such committee, and virtually no other form of oversight for appointments to adjudicative tribunals.
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March 20, 2024
Cherished Mulroney memory | Bruce Baker
In the past few weeks, many tributes have been paid to former prime minister Brian Mulroney. As a lifelong New Democrat, one might think that I have little or no time for him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Brian Mulroney came from an era in Canadian politics that was far more civil in its nature compared to today's mass polarization to the right and left, with no room to build consensus or listen to or respect others' opinions on matters of public policy.
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March 19, 2024
Ottawa appeals declaration of constitutional requirement for timely federal judicial appointments
“Stay in your lane” — those words might encapsulate the thrust of the federal government’s message to the Federal Court in Ottawa's appeal of a recent groundbreaking judgment, which declared that the prime minister and federal justice minister are constitutionally obliged to fix the lengthy federal judicial appointment delays that have for years bedeviled litigants, lawyers and judges.
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March 18, 2024
Appeal and judicial review of a tribunal decision | Sara Blake
The Supreme Court of Canada has breathed life into an Ontario statutory provision that has been mostly ignored since it came into effect in 1972. Section 2(1) of the Judicial Review Procedure Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. J.1 (JRPA), authorizes the Divisional Court to grant relief on judicial review “despite any right of appeal.” For 40 years, Ontario courts consistently overlooked this provision, instead preferring to exercise their discretion to deny a remedy on judicial review because it regards a right of appeal to the court as an adequate alternative remedy.