INTRODUCTION

In its December 2021 decision in Ontario Teacher Candidates’ Council v. The Queen, the Divisional Court held that the standardized Mathematics Proficiency Test (“MPT”) the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) had developed and the Ontario government had implemented for prospective teachers was unconstitutional because it disadvantaged Black and Indigenous candidates.

As a remedy, the Court allowed all candidates who had otherwise satisfied teacher qualification requirements to enter the profession. . . . [more]

Colombia has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world for human rights advocates, but the danger intensified in 2020 and 2021 with a surge of massacres and assassinations of human rights defenders and community leaders. The dire situation in Colombia has drawn the attention of the international coalition for the annual Day of the Endangered Lawyer marked each year on 24 January.

This year, LRWC is working with the Law Society of Ontario’s Human Rights Committee and Human Rights Watch to organize an online event to discuss the situation of lawyers at risk in Colombia. The . . . [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

Neil Guthrie

Commas can be confusing, and one of the most common misuses is this: Join partner, Eleni Papadopoulos for this informative seminar on … Sometimes another comma will be placed after the person’s name as well. … . . . [more]

Tobacco is a heavily regulated product. It is regulated under the Tobacco Tax Act to reduce the flow of untaxed products into the contraband market, and this is achieved through requiring a registration certificate for production and sale.

The Applicant in Sobczyk v. Ontario recently asked the Divisional Court to review the decision of the Ontario Ministry of Finance to refuse to issue a registration certificate for the 2021 calendar year. The Application for Judicial Review was dismissed, as the decision was found to be reasonable.

The Applicant is a tobacco farmer who was issued certificates from 2013-2020 on an . . . [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) : L’accusé, qui a donné 1 seul coup de poing au visage de la victime lors d’une querelle dans un cinéma, est acquitté relativement à 1 chef d’accusation d’homicide involontaire coupable; le tribunal a retenu la thèse de la légitime défense puisque la victime a été l’instigatrice du . . . [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:

• Real Estate Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Associate (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bernard LLP)
• Policy Counsel – Temporary Position – Conseillère ou conseiller en matière de politiques – poste temporaire (Contract role) | Ottawa,

“Any idea can be a great idea if you think differently, dream big and commit to seeing it realized.”
– Richard Branson

I would consider myself an idea person. It’s not a gift. I see it as experience coupled with enthusiasm, curiosity, and most importantly, a complete understanding of how to execute. Surrounding yourself with other idea people and consistently exercising the muscle helps too. Given the nature of the role, legal marketers must be skilled at generating new ideas and supporting other ones across the firm. At Lenczner Slaght, our marketing team is fortunate to have more new ideas . . . [more]

My post in January 2021 introduced the Family Law Unbundled Legal Services Research Project funded by the Legal Aid BC / Law Foundation BC Legal Research Fund. In this post I am very pleased to advise that the report on Phase 1 of the project is now available here.

Quoting from the Executive Summary:

The Family Law Unbundled Legal Services Research Project (ULSRP) is an initiative designed to both evaluate the effectiveness of family unbundled legal services and to facilitate access to justice by enhancing the working relationships between the existing community of ULS providers and BC citizens most in

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

A Bright-Line Test
Neil Guthrie

This phrase is frequently used by judges and lawyers: there are roughly 400 cases in CanLII which employ it. Notable among them is R v Neil, 2002 SCC 70, where Binnie J applies a bright-line test to identify lawyers’ conflicts of interest. … . . . [more]

Simultaneously and in conjunction, Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters have agreed to sell, in the case of the former, its legal information businesses in France and Spain, and in the latter, its Spanish legal information business, both to Karnov Group. There is change everywhere, as 2022 budget disciplines demand taking out the trash, and little is left in Europe in the hands of the giants.

Conversely, the news that Wolters Kluwer had sold its US academic publishing assets was hardly a surprise. For several years it has been withdrawing from the provision of legal information content. Long gone, in . . . [more]