A provincial election is currently scheduled in Ontario for June 2, 2022. The process for this date is set under the Election Act, where the the Lieutenant Governor in Council proclaims a date for an election on a Wednesday.

Although this date was was generally anticipated, there are often a number of legal issues that emerge prior, during and following an election. In this election, just days after the election date was proclaimed, an individual sought to reserve the name Direct Democracy Party of Canada with Elections Ontario.

The process for registration is governed by s. 10 of the . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

MUNICIPAL (DROIT) : L’adoption du règlement 2326, lequel limite la distribution des imprimés publicitaires, dont le Publisac, sur le territoire de la Ville de Mirabel aux citoyens qui apposeront dorénavant un autocollant vert sur leur porte d’entrée ou leur boîte aux lettres afin de signifier leur intention de les recevoir, . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Director of Programs and Partnerships (Full-time) | Virtual with a preference for Ottawa or Montreal)
  (CanLII)
• Real Estate Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)

Are you a people pleaser?

Do you agree to things before you’ve had a chance even to think it over?

Do you find yourself overcommitted and taking care of so much business for others that you have no time left for yourself?

Altruism is the instinct to help others and is a significant value. When I ask lawyers what they like most about their work, the answer will often touch on how they help. Helping people out can be intrinsically rewarding. It feels good.

People-pleasing is the dark side of altruism. It is saying ‘yes’ and doing things out of . . . [more]

By Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

When an employee who is off work due to a disability is terminated, there are typically red flags signaling a potential situation of discrimination. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s decision in Fick v Loomis Express, 2022 CHRT 2 (CanLII) confirms that it is not always as it seems. Despite bad first appearances, the employer’s actions can be found legitimate, countering a claim of discrimination. . . . [more]

In “The Litigator and Mental Health“, Chief Justice Strathy writes about mental health in our profession and what we can do to improve it. Unfortunately, practicing law can be damaging to one’s mental health. In fact, there is a strong correlation between traditional markers of success in the law and depression in lawyers.

One of the recommendations, Justice Strathy makes is eradicating the myth of the “fearless gladiator”. The fearless gladiator powers through long work hours with pride, never breaking emotionally, never taking time off, focuses exclusively on work, and has a stay-at-home spouse to take care of . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. Render v. ThyssenKrupp Elevator (Canada) Limited, 2022 ONCA 310

[78] In my view, the appellant is entitled to receive his proved statutory benefits unless that entitlement is precluded by the wording of ss. 2(1)3 and 9(1)6. ESA entitlements are statutory and disentitlement cannot be achieved by agreement, unless to provide for a greater benefit to the employee: ESA, s. 5(1). . . . [more]

The point of making ADR more diverse … is that this element of the legal system remains out of touch with the reality of society, the wider workforce, and the legal profession.

Ontario Bar Association Working Group on Neutral Diversity, “Neutral Diversity in Ontario”, March 2022

We have two systems of justice in Canada – the public system of courts and tribunals – and the private system of ADR (mediation and arbitration). The focus of my previous columns has been mostly on the former. In this column I want to turn the focus to the private ADR system.

There are . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Esports
Neil Guthrie

This is now a thing, as they say. I’m not entirely sure what it all involves, but then I’m not that keen on the non-electronic version of sports. My interest in esports is orthographical, naturally. Why no hyphen (e-sports)? … . . . [more]

I understand that, despite the incessant reports about the amount of investment money being directed at legal technology, it is difficult to sell it to lawyers and their firms. No doubt, there are as many reasons and opinions as there are lawyers, though Hugh Logue, author of Automating Legal Services: Justice through Technology, suggests that “fresh strategies are desperately needed as outdated market assumptions, inflexible sales structures, and sledgehammer products prevent the legal solution market leaders from reaching the lucrative small law market”; some might question just how lucrative that market is. Equally, it is . . . [more]

The Charter‘s right to counsel under s. 10(b) is an often misunderstood and confused right by many members of the public. This confusion likely emerges from unintentional analogies to the commonly cited American case Miranda v. Arizona, 86 S. Ct. 1602 (1966) in television and movies.

The Court did adopt elements that mirrored Miranda rights in the early Charter case of R. v. Brydges, 1990 CanLII 123 (SCC). The Court found that s. 10(b) meant that police have a duty to informed individuals who are detained or arrested of their right to retain and instruct counsel, and . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : La preuve permettait au juge de conclure que l’appelant avait tiré profit des vulnérabilités psychologiques de la plaignante et de sa dépendance à la cocaïne pour la recruter, qu’il avait exercé une emprise sur la vie de celle-ci et qu’elle était dans une situation d’exploitation, et ce, . . . [more]