Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from sixty recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. First Reference Talks  2. Canadian Appeals Monitor 3. Blogue du CRL  4. The Court  5. Michael Geist

First Reference Talks
Alberta the newest province to add gender identity and gender expression to human rights legislation

Effective December 11, 2015, Alberta has added gender identity and gender expression as a prohibited ground of discrimination under its Human Rights Act. Former Bill 7 does not define what gender identity or expression mean, however, the amendments to the Act are intended to affirm the rights of transsexuals, transgenderists, intersexed persons, cross-dressers and other groups who routinely suffer discrimination based on the expression of their gender or the gender identity they experience. …

Canadian Appeals Monitor
Looking Back – The 10 Most Important Appeals of 2015

Over the holidays, many reflect over the past year in search of lessons learned for the coming year. In line with this tradition the Appeals Monitor is, once again, pleased to present our annual review of the most significant appeal decisions of the past year which we should be mindful of and which can be expected to impact Canadian employees and businesses for years to come. …

Blogue du CRL
Bye bye 2015 – partie 1

À chaque année, le Blogue du CRL vous présente une brève revue de l’année judiciaire, en faisant une liste de choses que les tribunaux ont retenues (ou non) comme étant du domaine de la connaissance d’office. Ces faits considérés comme étant (ou n’étant pas) raisonnablement incontestables dressent un portrait intéressant de notre société. ….

The Court
Swern v Amazon Hardwood Centre Inc: Clever Judicial Decision-Making or Confusing Law?

Due to a dearth of commercial appellate decisions around the holiday season, a tort decision from the Ontario Divisional Court has caught my attention. Swern v Amazon Hardwood Centre Inc, 2015 ONSC 7590 [Swern] is a Small Claims Court decision appealed by the Defendants to the Divisional Court on a number of well-reasoned points of law and fact. …

Michael Geist
The Trouble with the TPP, Day 1: U.S. Blocks Balancing Objectives

The debate over the merits of the Trans Pacific Partnership is likely to play out in Canada and other TPP countries throughout 2016. While it seems likely that the treaty will be signed in early February (February 4th is the earliest possible date for the U.S. to sign), decisions on whether to ratify the agreement will extend into 2017 and beyond. …
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*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.