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 more than 80 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. David Whelan 2. Employment & Human Rights Law in Canada 3. Canadian Appeals Monitor 4. The Authentic Lawyer 5. British Columbia Law Institute

David Whelan
The Place for Print

My immersion in law school life continues. All faculty are asked to proctor a final exam so I had that experience. The room slowly filled with laptops and piles of books and notes and outlines, sometimes supplemented with scratch paper. The laptops are a requirement for the exam. But I was still struck by the place print materials hold. Not everyone had them but most people had some book or book-adjacent stack of organized pages. When I was interviewing at another law school before taking this role, I sat in on a class. The class experience was very much like the exam experience: everyone had a laptop and most people also had a stack of paper. …

Employment & Human Rights Law in Canada
Bill 229, Working for Workers Six Act: What Ontario Employers Need to Know

The recently enacted Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229) introduces numerous legislative updates that Ontario employers need to understand and incorporate into their workplace practices. Bill 229 was passed into law in December 2024, meaning several provisions are already in effect, while others are set to roll out in 2025. Here, we break down the key components of Bill 229 and their practical implications for Ontario employers. …

Canadian Appeals Monitor
A New, Flexible Era for Leave to Appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario

In West Whitby Landowners Group Inc. v. Elexicon Energy Inc., 2024 ONCA 910 (“West Whitby”), the Court of Appeal for Ontario recalibrated the analytical framework governing applications for leave to appeal from the Divisional Court. Not only is the approach now more flexible, but the Court of Appeal also hinted that administrative and public law decisions may be more likely to be granted leave. …

The Authentic Lawyer
Year in Review

I hope your 2025 is off to a great start and your holidays were more eventful than mine! While I’m socially obligated to answer the ‘what did you do for the holidays’ question with ‘Saw some friends and family, took it easy, etc.’, that’s certainly not the authentic answer. The authentic answer is that they were shitty (literally). I spent most of my time picking up my toddler’s poo from the ground, his potty, his pants, the floor (where he threw it), the wall (where he smeared it), and wherever else it ended up. …

British Columbia Law Institute
Pension division reform and fifth edition Q+A updates

BCLI is pleased to note that on January 1, 2025, sections 8, 9, 11 to 14, and 17 to 20 of the Family Law Amendment Act as well as the Division of Pensions Regulations came into force. This Act implemented BCLI’s recommendations on reforms to part 6 of the Family Law Act and the Division of Pension Regulations. Changes to part 6 of the Family Law Act included clarifying and modernizing law on: locked-in retirement accounts and life income funds; private annuities; assignment of survivor benefits; calculation of commuted value; and, administrator fees. …

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*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.