By Lewis Waring, Paralegal, Student-at-Law, Editor, First Reference Inc.

In Nowicki v Labourer’s International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 1059 (“Nowicki”), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario found that an employer’s offer of retirement, although it was an explicit attempt to remove an employee from her office, was not discriminatory under the Human Rights Code (“Code“) because it was not based upon her age or a disability. This finding was significant because the employee did in fact have a history of suffering from a disability, namely, depression. Also, the finding in Nowicki is significant because her age, being 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.

Intimate Lies and the Law. By Jill Elaine Hasday. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2019. 294 p. Includes endnotes and index. ISBN 978-0-19-090594-1 (hardcover) $34.95.

Reviewed by Lori O’Connor, LLB, MLIS
Public Prosecutions
Melfort, Saskatchewan
In CLLR 45:4

Intimate Lies and the Law is an in-depth review of deceptions . . . [more]

It’s been a year of discovery for many of us. Some introspection is called for, so here goes.

1. Silence is best enjoyed in the midst of noise

For years, I have identified myself as an introvert, insofar as personalities can be classified, anyway. I dreamed of owning a cabin in the country, sitting quietly in front of a fireplace, reading a book or surfing the interwebs, looking out into a pristine lake, nothing but nature and me. I gave hundreds of talks to crowds, sure, but returned home exhausted. I hobnobbed, sure, but enjoyed more the company of one . . . [more]

Since the onset of COVID-19 and the requirements for physical distancing, the Canadian court system has been criticized for being archaic, outdated, out of touch with the modern era and too deeply traditional. Most commentators have vigorously pushed for our criminal courts to utilize videoconferencing technologies to deliver justice – arguing that using videoconferencing technology platforms to conduct court business will be more beneficial to Canadians, ease the growing backlog of cases, reduce cost and improve access to justice.

As a result, courts across Canada have increasingly accepted videoconferencing technology as a fair and efficient way to move judicial proceedings . . . [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. Armstrong v. Royal Victoria Hospital, 2019 ONCA 963 (CanLII)

[87] In any case where standard of care is at issue, the court must determine what is reasonably required to be done (or avoided) by the defendant in order to meet the standard of care: Berger v. Willowdale A.M.C. (1983), 1983 CanLII 1820 (ON CA), 41 O.R. (2d) 89 (C.A.), at p. . . . [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

Miscellaneous Jargon
Neil Guthrie

We’ve had lots on bad business jargon in this space, but other fields of endeavour have also been polluting the language. Surface: This is from the world of technology, a jargon-generator if ever there was one. … . . . [more]

Project managers have the responsibility of organizing and directing the completion of projects. In normal times, this might mean making sure the project stays within scope, doesn’t go over budget, and is completed on time. However, this year brought about a change none of us expected, adding an extra layer of challenge and forcing project managers into unchartered territory.

Over the past year, CanLII worked with over 30 volunteers to compile an open BC litigation practice manual. Looking back on this experience, there are a few things I’ve learned about managing a project during a pandemic that I’d like to . . . [more]

We are witness to a parallel or alternate dimension where the constitutional rights democratic nations have toiled to enshrine and interpret, including freedom of speech, can be effectively – and imperceptibly – bypassed. While this situation prevailed prior to COVID-19, the pandemic has fast-tracked erratic private mediation of expression out of sheer necessity.

Questions respecting social media platforms’ ad hoc or arbitrary reactions to sensitive matters abound, including Twitter’s unprecedented restraint of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden piece and Facebook’s slowdown of the story.

Presumably recognizing some degree of state-like responsibility, platforms are deploying algorithmic decision-making tools and . . . [more]

Most of us are looking forward these days to vaccines, especially to help us see a world where we are living following a pandemic. Not everyone is keen on vaccines though, and those divisions extend to disputes between parents over their kids.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released an appeal in A.P. v. L.K. of an arbitration, where the arbitrator concluded it was not in the best interests of the two children of the relationship to become vaccinated. A court may confirm, vary, or set aside an arbitral award, or remit it to the arbitral tribunal, under s. . . . [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.

PROCÉDURE CIVILE : En publiant l’enregistrement d’une audience virtuelle de la Cour d’appel sur Facebook, le défendeur a contrevenu à la règle interdisant l’enregistrement et la rediffusion des audiences; par conséquent, il se voit ordonner de retirer l’enregistrement vidéo de sa page Facebook et de ne pas le publier, ni . . . [more]

“Minds have been opened and changed over the past few months,” legal author and commentator Richard Susskind wrote in a 2020 article titled The Future of Courts. “Many assumptions have been swept aside.”

The global pandemic has forced lawyers and justice system stakeholders out of their normal physical environments and into what on the surface appears to be the safe harbour of the virtual world. Remote hearings may protect us all from a virus; the platforms that make them possible may, however, have their own issues.

An internet truism is that if you’re not paying for the product, you are . . . [more]