Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

COVID-19 has caused much suffering and death worldwide since its discovery in late 2019. Part of Canada’s response has been tightening restrictions on those who enter Canada by air by enacting emergency orders under the federal Quarantine Act. These measures were the focus of a wide-ranging Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) attack by several applicants in the Federal Court case of Spencer v Canada (Health), 2021 FC 621 (CanLII). With two limited exceptions, Chief Justice Paul Crampton rejected the claims that the emergency orders were unconstitutional. The . . . [more]

Periodically on Thursdays, we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Constitutional Pariah: Reference re Senate Reform and the Future of Parliament

Author: Emmett Macfarlane
ISBN: 9780774866224
Publisher: UBC Press
Series: Landmark Cases in Canadian Law
Page Count: 198
Publication Date: April 2021
Regular Price: $27.95 (paperback) | Series subscriber price: $22.00

Excerpt: From Chapter 1 [Footnotes omitted. They can be found in . . . [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.

Wounded Feelings: Litigating Emotions in Quebec, 1870–1950. By Eric H. Reiter. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019. xiii, 482 p. Includes illustrations, bibliographic reference, and index. ISBN 9781487506551 (hardcover) $55.00; ISBN 9781487526986 (softcover) $44.95. 

Reviewed by Mary Hemmings
Law Librarian and Instructor
Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University
In CLLR 46:2 . . . [more]

In mediation, it is always a delicate question how much the mediator should try to shape an agreement, or leave it entirely to the parties.

This is especially true when the parties the parties are very close to agreement and reach an impasse. I think most mediators would agree that the impasse can often be broken by challenging the parties’ assumptions – and their assessments of positions and interests – that lead them to say: “This far and no further.”

Maybe one side feels that it has been making more concessions than the other. And, usually, each side believes its . . . [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. Skoblenick v. Aviva General Insurance Company, 2021 ONSC 5340

[21] One might not ordinarily expect, in the exercise of professional courtesy between counsel, that a request for an adjournment of examinations to accommodate the personal schedule of one counsel would lead to a claim for costs thrown away. However, there was no obligation on the defendant to consent to the adjournment request. . . . [more]

In my last post, I discussed whether private employers and other entities can require proof of vaccinations (spoiler alert: I concluded they can, subject to human rights requirements). In this post, I consider how normal expectations of privacy in the workplace are giving way to requirements intended to control the spread of Covid-19. . . . [more]

After several years in development, the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) has published its updated Ethical Principles for Judges (EPJ). The updated EPJ can be found here.

The Canadian Association for Legal Ethics/Association Canadienne pour L’ethique Juridique (CALE/ACEJ), of which we are President and Vice-President, has followed the revision of the EPJ with considerable interest and has offered comments and suggestions to the CJC along the way (see here, here, here, and here for CALE/ACEJ’s submissions to the CJC). Now that the updated EPJ have been released, it is time to take stock. Below we . . . [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

A Singular Problem
Neil Guthrie

I received an e-mail informing me of the death of an alumni of the firm where I articled. I was saddened by that news – he was a very nice guy – but also (albeit in a less significant way) by the writer’s choice of words. … . . . [more]

In 2016, Justice David Stratas of the Federal Court of Appeal took the unusual step of posting “A Plea for Doctrinal Coherence and Consistency” online, stating,

Our administrative law is a never-ending construction site where one crew builds structures and then a later crew tears them down to build anew, seemingly without an overall plan…

Administrative law matters. Resting at its heart is the standard of review, the body of law that tells us when the judiciary can legitimately interfere with decision-making by the executive—a matter fundamental to democratic order and good governance, a matter where objectivity, consistency

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.

FAILLITE ET INSOLVABILITÉ : La débitrice n’avait pas la qualité de fiduciaire ou d’administratrice du bien d’autrui à l’égard d’un véhicule automobile acquis aux termes d’un contrat de vente à tempérament; par conséquent, l’une des conditions essentielles à l’application de l’article 178 (1) d) de la Loi sur la faillite . . . [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:

• Hospitality Clerk (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bennett Jones)
• Legal Assistant, Resource Team (Corporate & Litigation) (Contract role) | Edmonton, AB
  (Bennett Jones)
• Director, Legal (Full-time) | Toronto, ON
  (Insurance Bureau of Canada)
• Director of Market Policy and Industry Relations (8+