One Sunday each month we bring you a summary from Supreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, to which you may subscribe. It’s a summary of all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted from March 15 to April 9, 2021 inclusive.

Appeals

Constitutional Law: Carbon Tax; Division of Powers
Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11 (38663)(38781)(39116)

Parliament has jurisdiction to enact this law as a matter of national concern under the “Peace, Order, and good Government” . . . [more]

Spring is here, so allow me to introduce you to Joshua Palacios, a young outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays who has something to teach us about the development of new lawyers.

Josh, who is 25, made great strides last summer at an “alternate training site” that the Blue Jays created for their young players when the pandemic forced the cancellation of the minor-league season. And during spring training in March, he tore the cover off the ball and made spectacular defensive plays in the outfield. Combined with strong character and leadership skills, his new productivity made him a . . . [more]

By Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

A recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Alberta, Kvaska v Gateway Motors (Edmonton) Ltd., 2020 AHRC 94, confirms the law on accommodation of alcohol addiction. In this case, the human rights complaint of a dismissed employee was upheld. The Tribunal offers important advice to employers in how to deal with such difficult situations. The risk in not doing so is potentially costly: in this case, $30,000 in general damages, lost short-term disability benefits, lost wages and interest were awarded. . . . [more]

Once a country has been officially declared as sanctioned, trying to locate, evaluate and access reliable sources of information becomes a struggle. Depending on the levels of sanctions enacted, research of all kinds can be severely curtailed or completely cut. This lack of most, if not all official channels of communication has a severe impact when you are trying to secure pivotal materials or sources, either physical or online; accessing websites and evaluating online information; and contacting vendors, universities, experts, research centers based in these countries.

When it comes to legal research, these impediments and challenges are maximized regardless of . . . [more]

Self-represented litigants (SRLs) make up a significant percentage of litigants appearing before the court in civil and family cases. In the NSRLP’s 2013 report data provided by provincial ministries of justice indicated that at least 40% of individuals who appeared in provincial family court and at least 30% of litigants in civil court are self-represented.

These statistics are staggering, and it is no secret that SRLs face unique challenges within the court systems across Canada. Although it is the case that Canadian courts operate with the principle of access to justice as a foundational pillar, the reality is that . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. Cybulsky v. Hamilton Health Sciences, 2021 HRTO 213 (CanLII)

[113] This Tribunal stated in Moore v. Ferro (Estate), 2019 HRTO 526 (“Moore”) at para. 183, that in certain circumstances, it is a violation of the right to be free from discrimination protected under Part I of the Code where a respondent fails to take appropriate steps to respond . . . [more]

In my last Slaw post, I reviewed the concept of “universal design”, which was initiated about 25 years ago to respond to the increased participation of persons with disabilities; at the time, it tended to be limited to the built environment, although it has since expanded to other contexts. In this post, I begin considering how universal design might provide a feasible framework for the legal system. My post of May 5, 2020 also provides background. . . . [more]

For those of us that use Facebook, one of the fun features is Facebook Memories – those tidbits we posted or reacted to over the years that remind us of moments in time. A year into the pandemic, it is interesting to look back at our reactions to COVID-19 at the early stages. A lot has changed during that time: Zoom is now a household name; there have been fun viral moments like “I am not a cat”; and unfortunately depressing news about death and job losses. In many ways our priorities changed as we watched this unfold on the . . . [more]

Civil litigation can be an expensive ordeal. In many circumstances, it’s not entirely clear that either side has the resources to go the full distance for an entire trial, and with competent counsel and reasonable parties, it’s frequently not necessary to do so.

For every step along the way though, there are still expenses to be incurred. Rule 56.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure in Ontario allows a party to see security for costs, typically where another party is ordinarily a resident outside of Ontario, there is a duplicity of proceedings elsewhere, other costs remain unpaid, there is good . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

ACTION COLLECTIVE (RECOURS COLLECTIF) : Estimant détenir une créance conditionnelle à la suite de l’approbation de leurs honoraires, les avocats des représentants demandent la communication de l’identité et des coordonnées des membres du groupe; toutefois, étant donné que leur objectif ultime semble être d’obtenir des honoraires additionnels en intentant éventuellement . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Operations Manager – College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents (Full-time) | Remote/Canada
  (College of Patent and Trademark Agents of Canada)