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. Canadian Appeals Monitor 2. Know How 3. Administrative Law Matters 4. Library Boy 5. Civil Resolution Tribunal blog

Canadian Appeals Monitor
Limiting Liability for Duties of Good Faith: California Dreamin’?

Limitation of liability clauses are a common feature of commercial agreements in Canada. Parties frequently include such provisions in an effort to allocate risk, often by excluding monetary liability for losses of certain types (e.g., consequential or indirect damages), while capping monetary liability for remaining losses to certain amounts (e.g., the price which the contract-breaker was paid under the contract). There is nothing inherently problematic about this, as Canadian courts recognize that “clauses limiting or excluding liability are negotiated as part of the general contract”, …

Know How
Some Changes at the Great Library

As many of you may have read in the recent Licensee Update, changes are underway at the Great Library. The Law Society will be vacating certain areas of Osgoode Hall that have long supported the operations of the library. Rest assured that this will not interrupt the services of the Great Library. Read on to learn more. …

Administrative Law Matters
Dynamic Statutory Interpretation: Connotation, Denotation and Judicial Updating

In my factum for the Telus case (noted here), I discussed two ways in which courts can engage in dynamic statutory interpretation. I represented the Canadian Telecommunications Association. I thought it might be helpful to reproduce the relevant portions of the factum here. Commonwealth courts manage the difficult task of applying statutory provisions to changing circumstances in two different ways. First, courts distinguish between the “connotation” (textual meaning) and “denotation” (purposive application) of statutory terms. Second, in appropriate circumstances, courts apply the principle of dynamic interpretation to statutory language to give effect to the legislature’s purpose, especially in situations characterized by social change where achievement of that purpose would otherwise be thwarted. …

Library Boy
Supreme Court of Canada Releases 2024 Year in Review

The report covers the Court’s activities over the past year, including information about decisions and statistics. From the message of the Chief Justice of Canada, Richard Wagner: “In our democracy, legitimacy depends on public trust in the judicial system, and confidence is built and maintained when these principles are upheld. That is why I am committed to ensuring a judicial system that is open and transparent, accessible to the public and free from outside influence.” …

Civil Resolution Tribunal blog
Participant Survey – March 2025

The Civil Resolution Tribunal anonymously surveys people who have gone through the tribunal process. We use this feedback to improve the way we serve the public. We report the results every month on this blog. We had 39 responses to our participant survey in March 2025. We’re pleased to report that participant satisfaction remains strong in all areas except timely resolution. We’re taking measures to address a high volume of claims and improve timeliness in all areas of the dispute resolution process. …

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