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. Environmental Law and Litigation 2. Canadian Combat Sports Law Blog 3. Eloise Gratton 4. Michael Geist 5. Family Health Law Blog

Environmental Law and Litigation
The Canadian consumer: Regional differences and buying behaviour

A franchise system opens its first Canadian location in the Greater Toronto Area and performs in line with projections. The same brand, the same price points, the same marketing message, opens eighteen months later in a mature site in Alberta with comparable foot traffic and comparable operating costs. Sales run materially below the Toronto comparable. A franchisor investigating the gap often looks first at the operator. The better explanation is usually regional: price sensitivity, service-speed expectations, and brand-switching behaviour vary across Canada, and a pricing and marketing strategy validated in one metro does not automatically perform in another. …

Canadian Combat Sports Law Blog
Ontario Legalizes Professional Muay Thai

Today Ontario announced that they will “officially begin sanctioning professional Muay Thai“. Below is the full announcement: Hello Everyone, I’m pleased to share an important update for Ontario’s combative sports community. Effective October 1, 2026, the Ontario Athletic Commission (OAC) will officially begin sanctioning professional Muay Thai events across Ontario and will be responsible …

Eloise Gratton
Using Personal Information for Innovation and AI (Queen’s Law intensive program – November 20th)

I am delighted to be contributing to Queen’s Law intensive program Emerging Directions in AI and Privacy Law. I am scheduled to provide a virtual class on Friday, November 20, 2026, from 10:00 am to 11:25 am (EST). My session will focus on Using Personal Information for Innovation and AI, covering consent vs. legitimate interests, predictions and inferences, and related governance nuances (including a discussion on Bill C-36). …

Michael Geist
Ofcom Did the Work Canada Plans to Skip: What the UK’s Age Verification Report Reveals About the Bill C-34 Social Media Ban

The most contentious aspect of the government’s Bill C-34 social media ban for under-16s is that millions of Canadians will need mandated age verification to create social media accounts. The bill tacitly acknowledges that this raises privacy concerns, as it includes a mandatory consultation with the Privacy Commissioner and leaves the future Digital Safety Commission to set the necessary standards. But as I wrote in June, the problem is that the government plans to bring the ban into force before the Commission even exists, meaning the age verification will proceed without established standards or the privacy consultation the bill itself requires. The United Kingdom, …

Family Health Law Blog
When a Surrogate Refuses an Abortion: What a Tragic U.S. Case Can Teach Us About Surrogacy in Canada

A recent surrogacy case in the United States is tragic on just about every level. It is also a case that intended parents, surrogates and the professionals who work with them can learn from. According to reporting on the case, a surrogate was carrying a child for intended parents when, at around 20 weeks, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious congenital heart defect. The intended parents wanted the pregnancy terminated. The surrogate did not. …

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