There is no “one” solution to the delays in administrative justice in Canada. When a problem is caused by multiple reasons, it often takes multiple approaches to resolving it. The volume of disputes has grown over the last decade and the reasons for this are complex. Society is becoming more litigious, which could be due to an increased awareness of legal rights and also a reduced willingness to compromise. The volume of complaints or applications to tribunals is also partly due to the rise of self-represented parties, who may not have a full understanding of the law. One of the . . . [more]

I am writing this on December 15^th. You may not read this until after Christmas but I hope it will still be timely!

If you have had enough Hallmark movies, or podcasts highlighting the latest twists in US politics, I have a suggestion for you. Tune in to the CBC’s See you in Court podcast. It tells the stories behind legal cases that changed Canada. Host Falen Johnson teams up with a journalist to dig into a case that challenged the status quo and reshaped the law.

The series begins with the story of Henry Morgantaler, and continues . . . [more]

As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in commercial, administrative, and professional decision-making, disputes involving opaque or unpredictable system behaviour are becoming increasingly common. Traditional litigation struggles to address these conflicts, which blend technical uncertainty with evolving legal and regulatory principles. Mediation offers a proportional, flexible, and forward-looking process capable of bringing clarity to the “unexplainable” and helping parties navigate accountability in an AI-driven environment.

Although the term AI was originally used in 1955, our awareness and use of it have rapidly accelerated through the launch of OpenAI’s GPT series. OpenAI released the GPT-3.5 model in November 2022, and its latest . . . [more]

The Condominium Authority Tribunal is experiencing a trend. There has been an increase in the number of applications filed that do not fit within its jurisdiction. The parties in these cases are often neighbours who live in a community while they continue looking for ways to resolve their dispute.

In such situations, people can often find guidance on how to escalate matters, but what happens when a situation does not warrant that time and cost?

Let’s look at a couple of examples and explore ways the parties can address their issue without resorting to escalation…

Ramadhin v. Niagara South Standard . . . [more]

It was very encouraging to hear about the new Early Intervention Program launched by the Society for Children & Youth of BC (SCYBC). This is great news of support for the growing movement to ensure that children and youth are able to meaningfully participate in the BC family justice system. We need your help to get the word out to the legal profession, youth serving agencies, the judiciary and your personal networks.

For too long, many kids whose parents are separating have not been offered the opportunity to express their views on issues that significantly impact their lives – such . . . [more]

“Expedition, economy and concision are sound practices in administrative adjudication.”

Justice David Stratas, Canadian National Railway Company v. Canada (Transportation Agency), 2025 FCA 184, para. 47

In this recent decision of the Federal Court of Appeal about railway interswitching rates, the court observed that the Canadian Transportation Agency had never “conducted a full and rigorous statutory interpretation analysis, i.e., explicitly examining the elements of text, context and purpose” of those rates. Justice Stratas stated that “[c]utting corners and conclusory statements, without more, are not how the Agency should roll … only explicit and rigorous analysis will do…”

He . . . [more]

Described as everything from an ecosystem to a fourth level of government, a condo community can be representative of society on a much larger scale. This is a brief examination of what happens when an individual facing an issue takes matters into their own hands…

There is this memorable story from the early 2000s about a condo President, so eager to ensure that enjoyment of the community’s playground was limited to only the building’s residents that he took it upon himself to approach children playing on the equipment to ask them where they lived… until the police showed up!

Hero

If mediation is meant to provide a genuine opportunity to resolve disputes, why do so many mediation briefs read like pleadings and offer little value to the process? This article examines the pitfalls of current practice and offers practical guidance on how to make briefs work as genuine tools of persuasion for counsel.

Mediation briefs are meant to advance settlement. Yet too often, they do the opposite. Instead of opening space for dialogue, they entrench positions. Instead of persuading the other party, they restate pleadings which can inflame an already tense situation.

Why do so many briefs fall short? In . . . [more]

The way governments appoint judges and tribunal members is mostly mysterious – we know the general framework but not the inner workings of the process. It is only when the appointment process fails that we learn of some of the weaknesses in the system. In this column, I want to focus on recent examples of a particularly serious gap in appointment processes – the lack of a robust screening mechanism.

My purpose in highlighting these recent examples is not to suggest that the people appointed did not deserve to be appointed but rather that the government was surprised by information . . . [more]

In June 2025, Yuval Hoah Harari (Note 1) was interviewed by Poppy Harlow at the ‪@WSJNews Leadership Institute on AI and Human Evolution. It is a fascinating discussion and well worth 25 minutes to watch it.

While Harari acknowledges that AI has enormous positive potential he also warns of some dangerous issues affecting many areas of human life.

Highlights of Harari’s insights:

• AI is not just another tool. It is an agent capable of making decisions independently, generating new ideas, and learning without human input. A tool like the printing press cannot write a book by itself and decide

In the May 2025 edition of ADR Perspectives, Marco Abruzzi a med-arbitrator in Victoria, B.C., makes a strong case for Med-Arb as an Effective Mechanism for Resolving Wills & Estates Disputes, concluding,

Med-Arb presents a compelling solution for resolving estate disputes, offering an effective balance between the flexibility of mediation and the finality of arbitration. By increasing the chances that disputes are resolved efficiently, privately, and with minimal damage to family relationships, med-arb is an ideal method for estate conflict resolution. As estate disputes continue to grow in complexity and cost, Med-Arb should be considered as a potential alternative

“If I was having a conversation with someone I disagreed with, in good faith, I would probably start that conversation with what we do agree with.” – Ronny Chieng

The very notion of mandatory mediation is inherently flawed.

A process based foundationally on collaborative self-determination cannot really be forced upon people. There must be buy-in, some desire amongst those experiencing a dispute to work together to sort it out.

While contracts and laws can force mediation on paper, the reality is that the process can practically only come together with willing participants. They can be skeptical – it is not . . . [more]