When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Ontario, the provincial government made a special order on March 20, 2020 under s. 7.1(2) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, creating a suspension of limitations under O. Reg. 73/20,

Limitation periods

1. Any provision of any statute, regulation, rule, by-law or order of the Government of Ontario establishing any limitation period shall be suspended, and the suspension shall be retroactive to Monday, March 16, 2020. 

Period of time, steps in a proceeding

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.

ACTION COLLECTIVE (RECOURS COLLECTIF) : L’action collective visant des compagnies aériennes canadiennes en lien avec l’annulation de plusieurs vols en raison de l’état de pandémie mondiale de la COVID-19 est autorisée uniquement contre Sunwing, qui refuse toujours de rembourser le prix des billets vendus, contrairement à Air Transat, à Air . . . [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:

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

There was a time, for me at least, when it became expedient to appear to join those who would refute the Bill Gates’ “content is king” mantra in favour of something more transactional, like “it’s how you use the content that matters, not the content itself”. It played well, in relation to legal content, to those for whom some of it was too difficult, obscure or specialist and to those who could not otherwise relate to it. It meant that focus could be put on practice and back-office management, on other technology and tools, on marketing, sales . . . [more]

As the rate of COVID-19 vaccination increases in Ontario, many companies are asking their employees to return to the office in person. As a result, the “return to work” planning has sparked many discussions about improving the workplace. For example, “Six Steps to Make Your Legal Workplace Equitable” published in May 2021. Despite the proliferation of helpful articles on improving our workplaces, we still face barriers to adoption.

In the book The Behaviorally Informed Organization, there is an excellent article about confronting barriers to change. In the article, “Gut Check: Why Organizations that Need to be Behaviourally . . . [more]

I often think about how my role as a legal marketer draws a lot of similarities to the role of a lawyer. Legal marketers are driven by clients, are relied upon for our unique expertise, and our success is tied to positive outcomes and results. But, perhaps the most significant similarity is the simple idea that if you can build strong and trusted relationships with your clients, it can mean the difference between an ordinary career and one that truly thrives.

I canvassed some of my colleagues about how they perceived relationship building in our industry and how, in practice, . . . [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. Norheim v Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta, 2021 ABQB 465 (CanLII)

[38] While the privative clause does purport to preclude any judicial review, that is not the law. For at least the last 40 years, case law has held that no privative clause enacted by any Legislature can remove a Superior Court’s jurisdiction to review actions and decisions . . . [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

What Is a Supplement?
Susannah Tredwell

You will notice that some citations for acts contain the abbreviation “Supp.” (short for “supplement”). An example of this would be “Competition Tribunal Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.)”. But what does this mean? … . . . [more]

On March 1, 2021, the long-awaited amendments to the Divorce Act, RSC 1985 c3 (2^nd Supp) came into effect, changing the word “custody” to the more accurate “decision-making”, expanding on the best interests of the child test, creating presumptions for relocation, and for the first time, recognizing family violence. In addition to these crucial substantive changes, there has been a bubbling excitement among the family law bar about the amendments’ emphasis on resolving family law matters through non-adversarial processes. (E.g.: here and here.) Except where there is family violence, and only where “appropriate”, . . . [more]

While Canada wrestles with the mounting tolls of historic deaths at residential schools, many are reconsidering how to celebrate Canada Day on July 1, 2021. There are calls for an independent probe, and even for criminal charges to be laid.

The upside is that this might be Canada’s moment of reconciliation, with unprecedented interest in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Accepting the realities of this past may be the first steps to creating a better future.

How the legal system deals with these issues is equally challenging, as illustrated by the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision earlier . . . [more]