The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) that is responsible for the Canadiana collection of digitized documentary heritage has replaced the subject heading “Indians of North America” with “Indigenous peoples.”

This will effect a little under 2,000 records.

“The content, metadata, and resource descriptions in the Canadiana collections contain language that reflects the biases, norms, and perspectives of the time in which they were created. With the guidance of CRKN’s Preservation and Access Committee (PAC), CRKN staff are replacing inappropriate language in the metadata and resource descriptions introduced during legacy cataloguing practices. The first phase of this critical three-phase project is

Written by Lewis Waring, Paralegal, Student at Law (last year), Editor at First Reference

In Turnbull v Edmonton Pipe Trades Educational Fund o/a Alberta Pipe Trade College (“Turnbull”), an employer discriminated against its employee in violation of the Alberta Human Rights Act when it dismissed her one day after learning of her high-risk pregnancy. By failing to investigate whether the employee’s condition could be accommodated, the employer failed to implement its procedural duty to accommodate and paid the employee $35,000 in damages to dignity and lost wages.

Background

The employer, an Alberta technical college, employed the employee for a period . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

In Your Face: Law, Justice, and Niqab-Wearing Women in Canada. By Natasha Bakht. Toronto: Irwin Law, 2020. xiii, 251 p. Includes illustrations, bibliographic references, and index. ISBN 978-1-55221-549-4 (softcover) $34.95. ISBN 978-1-55221-550-0 (e-book) $34.95. 

Reviewed by Sonia Smith
Liaison Librarian
Nahum Gelber Law Library, McGill University
In CLLR 46:3

In this . . . [more]

The Battle Royal: Hybrid or Back to the Office?

You might as well resort to reading goat entrails and tea leaves to predict the future of law practice, because it is woefully unclear what law firms will decide. There are two large and outspoken groups, those who believe that we need to get back to the office if we haven’t already and those who believe that some combination of going to the office and working from home is the way to go.

As COVID continues to complicate our lives, most law firms we deal with are opting for the hybrid . . . [more]

Cryptocurrency is becoming more mainstream. However, the law has not kept pace with the technology, leaving a vacuum, akin to a “Wild West”. In the recent decision, Cicada 137 LLC v. Medjedovic, 2021 ONSC 369, Justice Myers touches upon the issue of litigating cryptocurrency, an area that is under regulated.

In Cicada, it is alleged that the defendant stole money ($15 million in cryptocurrency tokens). In handling the interlocutory matters, Justice Myers notes that there are different theories on when cryptocurrency can be considered stolen. At paras 5-6, Justice Myers writes that one theory is that if . . . [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. Green v. CIBC, 2022 ONSC 373 

[93] In MacDonald, Belobaba J. suggested that the most import element of fee approval in mega-cases is the need to apply a principled approach. From my discussion throughout these reasons, I find that of the ten principled factors listed by Perell J. in SNC-Lavalin above, (including: complexity, risk, demonstrated skill, the amount in issue, . . . [more]

The purpose of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-3 (BIA) is to relieve an honest and unfortunate debtor of their debts and liabilities. A discharge from bankruptcy releases the insolvent debtor from pre-bankruptcy debts or liabilities provable in bankruptcy subject to certain exceptions.^[1]

An exception to this rule is s. 178(1)(e) relating to “any debt or liability resulting from obtaining property or services by false pretences or fraudulent misrepresentation”.^[2] Where the exception applies then such debt or liability is not released, and continues to remain enforceable against the debtor after bankruptcy.^[3]

A successful claim . . . [more]

INTRODUCTION

If the state of Florida were a province in Canada, on the one hand, people might find it easier to travel to warmer climes when winter really hits snowy and cold part of Canada. On the other hand, they might find Canada too expensive to travel for long-term winter escapes. But that’s not my topic today. I’m more interested in an article in The Globe and Mail discussing the quandry facing health care providers in that state, caught as they are between opposing vaccine mandates. What if this conflict existed in Canada?

VACCINES MANDATES: FLORIDA LAW AND FEDERAL CMS . . . [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

Finding UK Docket Materials
Susannah Tredwell

I’ve previously talked about how to find docket information about Canadian courts. If you’re trying to find information about the status of current British cases, there are a few options: … . . . [more]

If 2021 is any indication, 2022 promises to be another busy year in estate litigation. With the incredible transfer of inter-generational wealth occurring right now, skyrocketing real estate values, the increase in blended families, and the heightened level of emotion when a loved one dies, estate litigation is going to continue to be a reality for many people in Canada.

Here are 12 of the top trends and recurring themes in estate litigation that I see as we start the New Year.

1. Challenging whether a person was actually the “spouse” of the deceased

Spouses have certain rights and available . . . [more]

As the many COVID-19 employment law cases continue to work their way through the courts, there is an increasing number of decisions emerging in the unionized context.

A recent arbitral award by Arbitrator Jesin in Teamsters Local Union 847 v Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment looked at the issue of vaccination disclosure, and the reasonableness of it in context of a mandatory vaccination mandate by the employer.

The unionized employee worked in a sporting and events environment that required close contact with other parties, including other employees. The employer implemented a mandatory vaccination policy after the provincial government in Ontario . . . [more]