I recently visited with a friend in my hometown in Lethbridge, Alberta who is struggling with an incurable cancer. He was suffers from pain, confusion, and despair. He loves his life and his family and is sad to think about dying.

I asked about his future medical plans and his wife proudly declared, “we’ve been to the lawyer and filled out those forms” — suggesting that nothing more needed to be done. But can a form filled out in a lawyer’s office really ensure that you get the medical care that’s right for you?

I asked my friend’s wife for . . . [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. Colistro v. Tbaytel, 2019 ONCA 197

[27] The requirement that the defendant have intended to produce the harm that occurred, or known that the harm was substantially certain to follow as a result of his or her conduct, is an important limiting element of the tort and distinguishes it from actions in negligence. It is now well established that a plaintiff . . . [more]

This morning, the UK Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament. Its decision in R (on the application of Miller) v. The Prime Minister and Cherry and others v. Advocate General for Scotland held that the Prime Minister had broken the law because the length of the prorogation without reasonable justification “prevented Parliament from carrying out its constitutional role [of holding the Government to account]” [para.56].

The decision is significant in finding that considering whether the Prime Minister acted lawfully in this instance is justiciable and that the reasons . . . [more]

Construction law is being reformed at the federal and provincial levels across Canada. The changes will have wide-ranging impacts across the construction sector and related industries. Among the changes are “prompt payment” reforms that impose legislated payment deadlines on private and public construction contracts, as well as a new fast-track private dispute resolution regime called “adjudication.”

Any lawyer with clients in the construction supply chain ought to take careful note to avoid being caught unprepared by new deadlines and new dispute resolution forums introduced by the legislation. Alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) professionals may also be interested in the new adjudication . . . [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.

Practice
Unclear Days: Computing Time in Statutes and Regulations
Shawn Erker

What does it mean when a statute or regulation says that there must be “x days between” two actions? What about “at least x days between” two actions? In keeping with the relative, wibbly-wobbly nature of time itself, the answer sometimes depends on where you are. …

Research & Writing
Redundancy Redux
Neil Guthrie

Remanded back: I heard . . . [more]

Toronto might be the megalith of cities when it comes to Canada’s metropolis, but it has no constitutional authority to oppose the province’s interference with municipal elections. That is the invariable conclusion arising out of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision this week.

The split 3-2 decision largely focused on two main issues. The first, whether unwritten constitutional principles could provide a basis to resist provincial modifications of the election, was unanimously decided by the court. The dissent only differed from the majority on the applicability of s. 2(b) rights in the circumstances of an ongoing election.

The majority was . . . [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.

CONSTITUTIONNEL (DROIT) : La disposition législative exigeant que la mort naturelle soit raisonnablement prévisible (art. 241.2 (2) d) C.Cr.) porte atteinte aux droits à la vie, à la liberté et à la sécurité des demandeurs (des personnes atteintes de maladies dégénératives incurables s’étant vu refuser l’aide médicale à mourir), tandis . . . [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 (newest first):

• Family Law Lawyer (Full-time) | Sherwood Park, AB
  (Ahlstrom Wright)
• Family Lawyer (4-6 years) (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Civil Litigation Associate (3-5 years) (Full-time) | Langley, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Wills and Estates Lawyer (4-6

Some of the law librarian Slaw readership will be deep in budget planning for next year. I am thinking of colleagues in private law firms and particularly those new to budget creation or those who have been caught by surprise when there are substantial and unexpected increases for print or electronic material.
The Canadian Association of Law Libraries webinar team is coming to the rescue with a one hour webinar on Effective Budgeting for Libraries on Wednesday, September 25 from noon to 1 Eastern.

Creating a budget document that helps decision-makers understand the true cost of information is important. It . . . [more]

The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled against Sikh truck drivers who sought an exemption from wearing personal protective equipment – a helmet – as required by their employers because their religion requires them to wear a turban.

The Court ruled that workplace safety must take precedence over temporary impacts on freedom of religion.

According to Wikipedia, wearing a Sikh dastaar, or turban, is mandatory for all Sikh men. Among the Sikhs, the dastaar is an article of faith that represents honour, self-respect, courage, spirituality, and piety (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dastar).

Quick facts

In 2016, three Sikh truck drivers sought to be exempted . . . [more]

In 2010, when the American Association of Law Libraries inducted 78 law librarians in its inaugural Hall of Fame, I noted in a Slaw article that eight of them had made major contributions to the profession of foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) librarianship. And I wondered what criteria could there be for induction into an International Law Librarians Hall of Fame, and who would be initial inductees. Jolande Goldberg was on that list, and she was inducted into the 2019 AALL Hall of Fame this past July. It’s been almost 10 years, so I thought I’d revisit my list. . . . [more]