The number of workers over the age of 65 has risen significantly in recent years. The increasing number of older employees who choose to remain in the workplace, combined with the elimination of mandatory retirement across Canada, has put into question the issue of the termination of benefits after an employee reaches the age of 65.

While most employers routinely terminate benefits at age 65, the changing workforce demographic has created a demand for benefits coverage for older workers. However, providing benefits to employees past the age of 65 can be difficult because insurers either will not provide the coverage, . . . [more]

You can expect to hear, “A trial is not a tea party,” from a lawyer on the other side, sometime in the near future.

That lawyer will likely be acting in an obstinate, demeaning, impolite, or even aggressive manner, and this quip will come quickly in defence of their conduct.

The reason I can predict this with absolute certainty is the recent  Supreme Court’s decision in Groia v. Law Society of Upper Canada, released this week, which evaluated the law society’s discipline hearing decision in 2013. The discipline involved Groia’s defence in R. v. Felderhof, of a mining . . . [more]

With a smartphone in every pocket, and easy access to the law in every home, when does independent research by a juror become sufficient for a mistrial? The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently explored this issue during a personal injury trial in Patterson v. Peladeau, where Justice Hackland dismissed the motion for mistrial.

At issue for the mistrial motion was an unusual jury question on the first day of deliberations. The content of the note inferred that the jury had been discussing the liability issue at trial, but in an context of a statutory reference that was not at . . . [more]

Cannabis aficionados can start making their travel plans now after the Ontario government has officially opened the province’s doors for cannabis tourism.

In late April, the provincial government quietly drafted and filed Ontario Regulation 325/18 made under the Provincial Cannabis Act, 2017. No public announcement was made after the Regulation was filed, and its existence for most people did not come to light until recently when it was printed in the Ontario Gazette on May 12, 2018.

Although short (only 9 sections), the Regulation is an important one as it deals with restrictions and exemptions on places of cannabis . . . [more]

On May 9, 2018, the Quebec government published its criteria for reasonable accommodation under an Act to foster adherence to State religious neutrality and, in particular, to provide a framework for requests for accommodations on religious grounds in certain bodies (the Act, previously Bill 62) that requires among other things, Quebecers to leave their faces uncovered in order to provide or receive public services.

Under the Act, employees and members of public bodies and certain other bodies, as well as elected persons, must exercise their functions with their face uncovered. In addition, persons who request a service from one of . . . [more]

The civil (private) law system serves an important function in the resolution of disputes between individuals. Essential to this resolution is some protection from outside interference by external interests. Regulation of these relationships have changed over the years, where work would be done in advance by a lawyer on a promise of recovery, but is still limited in many ways across Canada.

The common law prohibited champetry, bargains by a stranger to a suit in consideration of proceeds; maintenance, meddling in a suit by maintaining or assisting a party; and barratry, an offence of exciting and stirring up quarrels in . . . [more]

Last month the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA-FCAB) issued a position statement on the treatment of indigenous knowledge in Canada’s Copyright Act. This three page position paper was prepared by the Indigenous Knowledge Protection Working Group operating under the CFLA-FCAB Indigenous Matters Committee. It provides background information, an analysis and a recommendation.

The issue, as framed in this paper, is as follows:

“Canada’s Copyright Act does not protect Indigenous knowledge, which may be found in published works as a result of research or appropriation. In Canadian law, the author of a published work holds the legal copyright

On May 7, 2018, the Ontario government filed Ontario Regulation 375/18 under the Employment Standards Act, to change temporarily how public holiday is to be paid and calculated. In essence, the government is reverting back to the old formula that was in place before the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 (Bill 148) came into force January 1, 2018. . . . [more]

In my last blog post I talked about the new privacy breach notification requirements coming under PIPEDA this November 1. I said that perhaps the most challenging aspect is a requirement to maintain a “record of every breach of security safeguards involving personal information under its control.”

Why is that so challenging?

Many large companies already have this kind of procedure in place. But most business do not. Maintaining a record sounds easy. But this is not so simple when you think it through. First, the business must create a procedure and educate its staff to recognize breaches and report . . . [more]

On April 12, 2018, the British Columbia government granted third reading to Bill 6, Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2018 to better support working families by providing new, extended and more flexible maternity, parental and compassionate care leaves. The Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent. Specifically, when enacted, the Bill will: . . . [more]

The federal Standing Committee on Health is recommending a single-payer, universal prescription drug plan for Canada. The recommendation came in its report Pharmacare Now: Prescription Medicine Coverage for all Canadians (in PDF), tabled in the House of Commons on April 18, 2018. . . . [more]

The Ontario government is updating the accessible employment standards to make employment more accessible to people with disabilities. Consequently, the Employment Standards Development Committee would like to get interested stakeholders and the public’s feedback on the initial recommendations to the 2018 Review of the Employment Standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The following is the Employment Standards Development Committee’s initial advice and recommendations on the initial proposed Employment Standards, itemized and organized by focus area, and some thoughts. . . . [more]