by Philippa Lawson*

Those following the development of Canadian privacy law have long awaited amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), some of which are proposed in Bill C-12. This rather long post addresses just one of these amendments: the proposed new definition of “lawful authority”.

Under PIPEDA, telecom service providers (“TSPs”) are permitted to disclose “personal information” (which includes name, address, and any other information about an identifiable individual) without the knowledge or consent of the individual only in certain specified circumstances. One of those circumstances is if the disclosure is “made to a . . . [more]

Hart v. Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the Diocese of Kingston, in Canada, 2011 ONCA 728

[1] The appellant, Father Hart, is an ordained Roman Catholic priest. In 2004, the respondent … appointed Father Hart pastor to a church … for a renewable six-year term.

[2] In 2006, the Archdiocese became concerned about Father Hart’s business relationship with …. and about irregularities in parish finances. The Archdiocese proceeded to issue three decrees to Father Hart. In July 2006, it placed him on administrative leave. In May 2007, it suspended his faculties to exercise sacramental ministry. Then in June 2008, . . . [more]

I like to know what is going on, especially in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

If you like to know what is going on in an assembly or in parliament, look to the Order Paper. The Order Paper is the complete and authoritative agenda for the legislature.

See this for a summary of the Order Paper and Notice Paper documents in the federal parliament. It gives a good overview of what type of information you can expect to find on an Order Paper.

In Alberta, order papers are stored as Assembly Documents and Records. Ontario organizes them . . . [more]

Following my post earlier this week about the injunction obtained in New York, lawyers for the movement brought their own respective motions in B.C. and Ontario.

Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the protesters must leave the Vancouver site by tomorrow, and a similar injunction was granted in Victoria.

I attended the motion in Toronto on Friday, where the judge has reserved his decision until Monday. Justice Brown was extremely accommodating to members of the media, allowing non-disruptive recordings of the proceedings and the use of electronic equipment, including social media. . . . [more]

In a report released this week, a Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel proposes that assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia should be decriminalized for competent individuals who make a free and informed decision that their life is no longer worth living.

The panel concludes:

1. That there is a moral right, grounded in autonomy, for competent and informed individuals who have decided after careful consideration of the relevant facts, that their continuing life is not worth living, to non-interference with requests for assistance with suicide or voluntary euthanasia.
2. That none of the grounds for denying individuals the enjoyment of their moral

. . . [more]

On November 8, 2011, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that a Catholic priest qualified as an employee of his diocese, thus exposing the diocese to vicarious liability for clergy sex abuse.

This morning I came across a U.K.-based online quiz setting out various scenarios. Titled “Are you an accidental outlaw”, there are 9 questions relating to: twitter, facebook, uploading, music, blogging, online discussions and selling content. After you complete each answer, you click through to your score, with an explanation/advice on the current law and top tips. You may want to ask your fellow employees to take the quiz too. Take the quiz. . . . [more]

Yesterday police cleared out the protests in New York for Occupy Wall Street. The same day, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) received a court injunction allowing the protesters to return. A copy of the injunction can be found here.

Coincidentally I was on The Agenda with Steve Paikin last night talking about whether we should be evicting protesters from our parks. You can see the episode here.

A press release from the NLG New York City Chapter is available here. . . . [more]

No, the big white bear hasn’t replaced our industrious beaver as the national animal, as one Conservative senator has suggested. But any such move might have to hurry a bit, because Environment Minister Peter Kent has just announced that Canada’s polar bear, Ursus maritimus, is now a “species of special concern” under the Species at Risk Act, SC 2002 c 29. Under that legislation there are four categories of flora and fauna, according to their plight [s.2(1)]:

1. “extirpated species” means a wildlife species that no longer exists in the wild in Canada, but exists elsewhere in the

. . . [more]

by Erik Magraken

I’ve written many times that the phrase tort ‘reform‘ is often used in association with efforts to strip the rights of injury claimants. Reform, however, is a neutral concept in and of itself. Reform simply means change and the change could be for better or worse. With this in mind I’d like to share a tort reform idea for the better which recently crossed my mind. In short the idea is to add a pool of liquidity to rectify the injustice of dry judgement.

The thought crossed my mind as I was reading reasons for . . . [more]

There’s an old saying among lawyers (and law profs) that claims “you can’t suck and blow at the same time.” But it would seem that inventor Sir James Dyson is managing to expel steam from his ears even while his vacuum cleaners continue to inhale a decent share of the “hoover” market. The reason for his turbulence is that his share has been somewhat lessened in Britain thanks to a recent decision of the court of appeal for England and Wales. In Dyson Ltd v Vax Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 1206 the court decided not to overturn a trial . . . [more]

Drafting proper trade-mark use descriptions when registering a trade-mark is important to get the right protection. Drafting uses can sometimes be a challenge when the wares or services the mark is used for is new and changing technology. The use description must accurately describe the wares and services the mark is used for, must stand the test of time, and must satisfy CIPO’s (Canadian Intellectual Property Office) rules on use descriptions.

Software is a good example of how things can rapidly change. If a business is selling software in the traditional manner where the user installs it on his/her computer, . . . [more]