On April 30, 2019, the British Columbia government tabled Bill 30, Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2019 to provide greater protection for unionized workers. According to the government, the changes will also bring greater stability for employers and more durable labour relations.

The labour changes are based on a report by a three-member, independent panel appointed last year that made 29 recommendations. The panel included labour and business representatives.

Harry Bains, Minister of Labour said that “for many years, B.C.’s workers have seen employment rights and job security seriously threatened. And yet the Labour Relations Code hasn’t had a substantive . . . [more]

Business decisions – especially those involving marketing and branding – require careful consideration. But they also require timely action. Are law firms hurting themselves by being too slow and cumbersome in making business decisions?

Within administrative and outside provider circles, law firms are notorious for their slow reactions and lengthy decision-making processes. It is for this reason that so many administrators who are hired from outside of law firms fail to last more than two years in this difficult environment. And increasingly, I’m hearing about consultants and suppliers who are opting to steer away from law firms as clients.

Generally, . . . [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. Tocco v. Bell Mobility Inc., 2019 ONSC 2916

[28] The causes of action premised on allegations of breach of consumer protection legislation centre on two types of breaches: unfair practices/misrepresentations and unsolicited services. These claims are focused on the alleged representations by the Defendant, and ask specifically whether they are false, misleading or deceptive in a material sense.

[29] The Plaintiffs . . . [more]

Today, Slaw Tips hit a remarkable milestone: one thousand tips!

Launched in 2011, the site’s very first tips dealt with turning off pop-up email notifications, finding moved web pages and preventing your firm’s star performers from being poached–all still relevant today.

Our current and past contributors are a talented team of practicing lawyers, librarians, consultants and entrepreneurs–smart folks who generously share their wisdom with our 15,000 monthly visitors.

We tip our hats (pun fully intended!) to all our past and present Tips authors: thank you for sharing your insight, skill, humour and enthusiasm with the Slaw community. . . . [more]

The blockchain continues to be a popular topic for entrepreneurs, journalists and technology lawyers. Also, in the United States, for legislators. Several states have enacted legislation about the blockchain in some manner. This note reviews what they do and why. To the best of my knowledge, Canadian legislators have not ventured into the blockchain universe. Feel free to note if and how they have, or if you think they should, in Comments.

Several states have done legislation. The most usual provision is to amend the state’s version of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (similar to the Uniform Electronic Commerce Act . . . [more]

In Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Ontario Court of Appeal sought to reconcile the religious views of doctors opposed to carrying out certain procedures with the rights of patients to equitable access to those procedures and to the public interest. Under Bill 21, the Quebec government seeks to deny the wearing of certain “religious” clothing in the interests of preserving a secular society. A comparison of these two situations help to illustrate how private religious beliefs might play out in the public sphere. . . . [more]

The SNC Lavalin controversy, and in particular the allegation that the former Attorney General was improperly pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to resolve the prosecution in favour of the defendant, has raised widespread concern about to the state of the rule of law in Canada. This is remarkable, as the rule of law does not often attract this degree of public attention. Canada is generally highly respected in the global community for its legal order.

One of the precepts of the rule of law is that all citizens are subject to the same law administered without bias by an . . . [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.

Technology

My Favourite Apps – Part I
Lesha Van Der Bij

While smart phones are an increasingly big part of most lawyers’ practices, many lawyers only use their phones for email, text and calls. But there’s so much more you can do! This is the first post in a series on my favourite apps. …

Research

Add Resources to the Internet Archive
Susannah Tredwell

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine . . . [more]

Dividing up family property after separation or divorce can be a complicated affair. It is even more complicated when a family business is involved. The butterfly transaction or, divisive reorganization, is a common way of dividing up business assets after the breakdown of a common-law relationship or marriage. A butterfly transaction is a very complex process which requires the assistance of professional accountants and tax lawyers, but for some businesses the significant tax saving makes these professional fees worthwhile.

Generally, when assets are pulled out of company taxes must be paid to the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA). It is important . . . [more]

Following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Carter v. Canada, amendments to the Criminal Code and other statutes allowed for some instances of physician-assisted death to be used in Canada. These amendments received Royal Assent through Bill C-14 on June 17, 2016, through what is now called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

The fourth and final interim report on MAiD by the Government of Canada confirmed that 6,749 medically assisted deaths occurred in Canada since legislation came into force on December 10, 2015 in Quebec, and on June 17, 2016 in the rest of Canada, to October 31, . . . [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.

RESPONSABILITÉ : Le fabricant pharmaceutique s’est déchargé de son obligation d’information en mettant en garde adéquatement les intermédiaires compétents, c’est-à-dire les pharmaciens et les médecins, des risques d’effets secondaires de nature neuropsychiatrique en lien avec la prise du médicament Biaxin.

Intitulé : Brousseau c. Laboratoires Abbott limitée, 2019 QCCA 801 . . . [more]