Opinion

Thursday, April 02, 2020 @ 2:49 PM

With the world in flux and an unprecedented shutdown of the world’s economy, those who were planning to transfer businesses to the next generation have been given what is (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to defer additional taxes for many years. ... [read more]

Thursday, April 02, 2020 @ 12:58 PM

For decades, we have had an underlying tension in the world of employment law. Specifically, although employment standards legislation sets out the parameters for how a business can impose temporary layoffs, it does not give businesses the right to do so. The legislation explains how long a layoff can last, and other parameters such as when it will be deemed to be a termination of employment, but the right to impose a temporary layoff must come from contract. ... [read more]

Thursday, April 02, 2020 @ 11:13 AM

On March 31, the Ontario government issued an order via the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). The Act was developed by Emergency Management Ontario’s predecessor, Emergency Measures Ontario after a comparison study was completed which examined emergency programs in Ontario, similar jurisdictions in Canada and the United States. ... [read more]

Wednesday, April 01, 2020 @ 1:06 PM

On March 19, the Supreme Court of Canada refused leave in an important child protection case from Manitoba: M.B.H. v. Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services, [2019] S.C.C.A. No. 448. The Manitoba Court of Appeal had ruled that summary judgment was available in child protection cases, rejected the Ontario Court of Appeal approach to summary judgment in child protection and found summary judgment as a procedure did not violate s. 7 of the Charter. ... [read more]

Wednesday, April 01, 2020 @ 8:34 AM

Late on Friday March 13, Toronto Public Health advised that everyone who had travelled outside of Canada go into self-isolation for 14 days after their return. My wife and I self-isolated having returned from United States six days earlier. As I write, it is now more than two weeks into a new world. Much has changed. ... [read more]

Tuesday, March 31, 2020 @ 12:35 PM

I like to look for the silver linings in life. For example, bats will never be on PETA’s endangered species list and no more discussion about climate change for awhile. Those are just two silver linings in this health crisis. I also think there is a silver lining in how the administration of justice has responded to COVID-19 and that response means that the administration of justice is going to better off once this is over. ... [read more]

Tuesday, March 31, 2020 @ 9:06 AM

The class action proceeding is a modern procedural vehicle aimed at advancing access to justice. A rule that restricts the availability of class action proceedings to parties represented by counsel undermines this very purpose. Such a procedural bar may also be unconstitutional. ... [read more]

Monday, March 30, 2020 @ 1:04 PM

As social distancing and self-isolation have become the new normal while Canada tries to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic, ex-spouses who share custody of their children may wonder how to continue to share parenting. ... [read more]

Monday, March 30, 2020 @ 12:10 PM

When the federal government announced that it was invoking the provisions of the Quarantine Act to require returning Canadian travellers to self-isolate for 14 days, many people were concerned about the potential implications of a charge and conviction under the Act. After all, the Act provides for fines and imprisonment of up to three years in some circumstances. ... [read more]

Monday, March 30, 2020 @ 8:51 AM

Prior to the International Olympic Committee’s recent decision to postpone the 2020 Games, scheduled to begin on July 24, the regular cycle of the modern Olympic Games has been interrupted only three times, all the result of cancellations caused by 20th century wars. There has never been a postponement, an intermediate alternative lying between persisting with an original schedule and outright cancellation. ... [read more]