The Friday Brief: Managing Editor’s must-read items from this week

Matthew Grace

Here are my picks for the top stories we published this week.

SCC’s ‘barnburner’ fall session features TWU, Groia, Comeau and other hot cases
Two cases that have galvanized the legal profession — TWU and Groia — are among the 28 appeals the Supreme Court of Canada is hearing during a busy fall session that marks the swansong of the court’s longest serving chief justice.

Ottawa tables statute clean-up bill: 41 federal laws fixed or repealed
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould, says there are no Charter problems with a legislative clean-up bill introduced into the Commons on Oct. 3.

Ontario court orders Ecuadorian plaintiffs to secure nearly $1 million in costs before appeal in Chevron case
A group of Ecuadorian villagers has been ordered to put up almost $1 million in security for court costs as part of a long-shot appeal in an ongoing pollution claim against an American energy company and its Canadian subsidiary.

Updated: Liberals drop controversial height restriction on homegrown pot plants
The Liberals have dumped the controversial 100-centimetre height restriction on homegrown cannabis plants that lawyers had warned was apt to be struck down in court for arbitrariness and irrationality.

The legal challenges of chronic pain
In their column, Bernard Gluckstein and Jan Marin write: “Although the Supreme Court spoke out about the challenges of chronic pain in Martin, the same difficulties persist today. Not only do sufferers face barriers and increased scrutiny by the government and treatment providers, they face similar obstacles in our legal system.”

Matthew Grace is the Managing Editor of The Lawyer's Daily.