In-House Counsel
-
June 25, 2024
Ongoing compliance under ‘modern slavery act,’ implications for junior issuers
Canada’s new modern slavery act, Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the Act), came into force on Jan. 1, 2024, and it was enacted to combat forced labour and child labour by requiring certain government institutions and private entities to disclose their efforts to address these issues within their operations and supply chains. While the initial reporting deadline under the Act has passed as of May 31, 2024, businesses must stay attentive to the evolving nature of the Act and stay proactive in meeting ongoing compliance requirements.
-
June 25, 2024
25 new judges, part two | Norman Douglas
Generally (specifics to follow), the answer is all about control.
-
June 24, 2024
Feds to launch consultation to consider surtax to counter unfair competition from China in EVs
The federal government has announced a 30-day policy consultation to consider introducing a surtax in response to unfair competition from China in the electric vehicle (EV) industry.
-
June 24, 2024
British Columbia first province to launch class action targeting makers of ‘forever chemicals’
The government of British Columbia has launched what it is hailing as the first class action lawsuit by a Canadian province against manufacturers of so-called forever chemicals, alleging they knew the products would contaminate the environment indefinitely and jeopardize human health.
-
June 24, 2024
Liberal government’s ‘intransigence’ and undue secrecy spurs litigation: information commissioner
A recent ruling from the Federal Court affirming a disclosure-of-government records order by Canada’s Information Commissioner illustrates the growth in litigation highlighted by the commissioner's 2023-24 annual report to Parliament, a litigation trend she says is fuelled by the Trudeau government’s court challenges and flouting of her legally binding orders.
-
June 24, 2024
25 new judges | Norman Douglas
The Ontario Court of Justice (Justices of the Peace, family court judges and criminal court judges) currently has approximately 300 members.
-
June 24, 2024
Ontario anti-SLAPP law has strayed too far away from its original intention, lawyer says
Ontario’s top court has overturned a decision that dismissed a man’s defamation case as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP, but a legal expert is saying the ruling once again demonstrates the failings of the province’s current anti-SLAPP legislation.
-
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.
-
June 21, 2024
Court of Appeal rules $730K business debt for pipeline cleanup not covered by B.C. environmental law
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal in a ruling that found that the lower court judge erred in determining that a creditor’s recovery claim for environmental remediation work related to a pipeline spill involved issues to be tried, rather finding that there was no cause of action.
-
June 21, 2024
Settler’s remorse: Professional negligence claim against litigation lawyer dismissed
In Kiselbach v. DeFilippi, 2024 YKSC 7, the Supreme Court of Yukon dismissed a professional negligence claim against a litigation lawyer who acted for the plaintiffs in a dispute with their former U.S. business partner. While the plaintiffs’ lawyer was found to have breached the applicable standard of care in failing to advise them about a potential settlement option, the plaintiffs nevertheless failed to establish that the lawyer’s error was the legal cause of any damages.