Other Areas of Practice
-
January 08, 2025
Trudeau faces court challenges for Parliament prorogation, parties urged to continue work on bills
Ottawa-based non-profit Democracy Watch and two lawyers are launching separate legal challenges to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to prorogue Parliament, which they argue was unconstitutional and “clearly in the Liberal Party’s self-interest."
-
January 08, 2025
The strange rules and restrictions of parole | David Dorson
Some time ago I wrote a column about my initial time on parole in a halfway house and promised to return to that topic — which I am now finally doing. To recap, after my release on parole, about 40 per cent of the way through my sentence, I had to spend several months in a halfway house. This is “day parole.” As I wrote last time, day parole made very little sense for me, who was considered very low risk and could live in my own home. My being required to stay in a halfway house took up a space that meant another prisoner had to wait for weeks or months longer than necessary to begin his parole. There was a big backlog in releases on parole because there were no halfway house places available, yet places were being taken by people who did not need them.
-
January 07, 2025
Federal Court decreases class counsel fees in $1.9B Indigenous boarding home class action settlement
The Federal Court has decreased requested class counsel fees of $50 million to $32.5 million in relation to the $1.9 billion settlement regarding the class action for Indigenous boarding home survivors, citing significantly less risk as compared to previous settlements.
-
January 06, 2025
Government bills die on order paper as Parliament prorogues, Justin Trudeau announces departure as PM
After more than nine years as Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau announced that Parliament is prorogued until March 24, 2025, and that he will step down as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada once his successor has been chosen “through a robust nationwide competitive process.”
-
January 02, 2025
Ontario approves transition of nine drug consumption sites into treatment hubs
Ontario has approved transitioning nine drug consumption sites into homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs, saying they will support community safety while investing in lasting addiction recovery — while at the same time facing a lawsuit which says the move to shutter the sites violates the constitutional rights of their users.
-
December 24, 2024
Ontario government files leave to appeal application with SCC in climate change Charter rights case
The Government of Ontario has filed a leave to appeal application to the Supreme Court of Canada in a case challenging its passing of the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, which lowered targets for greenhouse gas emissions.
-
December 23, 2024
Feds release data on opioid-related harms, finds almost 4,000 deaths in six months
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has released the latest surveillance data on opioid and stimulant-related harms, noting that from January to June this year there were an average of 21 related deaths per day.
-
December 20, 2024
Proposed settlements of over $3.3M reached in alleged electronic ‘cartel’ class actions
Two proposed Canada-wide settlements have been reached in proposed class actions relating to the alleged price fixing of linear resistors. The settlements are in the amounts of $3.3 million and $90,000.
-
December 20, 2024
The Friday Brief: Managing Editor’s must-read items from this week
Here are my picks for the top stories we published this week.
-
December 18, 2024
Feds release $1.3B border plan to combat ‘migration and opioid crises’
The federal government has released Canada’s Border Plan and announced a $1.3 billion investment into increasing security at the border and strengthening the immigration system. Measures include disrupting fentanyl trade, using new tools for law enforcement and minimizing unnecessary border volume.