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June 24, 2026
The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) awarded honorary doctor of laws (LLD) degrees to six individuals at its June call to the bar ceremonies.
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June 24, 2026
What purpose does imprisonment serve when a person’s body has already become its own prison? That question lies at the core of Canada’s compassionate release laws under s. 121 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA). More than 30 years after its enactment, however, the provision remains rarely used, raising concerns that it exists more in theory than in practice.
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June 22, 2026
The federal government has published proposed regulations to implement recent asylum reforms introduced through the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12).
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June 22, 2026
On June 19, the Government of Manitoba appointed Judge Jerilee Ryle as the provincial court of Manitoba’s first associate chief judge of reconciliation. “The creation of an associate chief judge of reconciliation marks a historic step toward building a court system that better reflects and respects Indigenous traditions, values and lived experiences,” said Justice Minister Matt Wiebe.
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June 22, 2026
Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, widely reputed in recent years to be a leading candidate for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, has been nominated to fill the western vacancy that opened up with the May 30 retirement of Supreme Court of Canada Justice Sheilah Martin, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on June 22.
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June 18, 2026
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has appointed Valerie Phillips as interim correctional investigator of Canada, effective June 18, 2026.
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June 18, 2026
It could have been a scene out of the 2002 film The Hire: Beat the Devil. Clive Owen was the driver piloting a BMW in an intense drag race down the Las Vegas Strip, and Gary Oldman was playing the devil in his customized Cadillac Eldorado. In reality, it was two Ontario teens in their fathers’ luxury vehicles.
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June 18, 2026
The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has chosen Shalini Konanur to serve as treasurer for the 2026-27 term. The Toronto-area bencher was elected by her colleagues at a meeting June 17. Konanur, the first racialized woman to serve in the top job, will officially take over from current treasurer Peter Wardle at the LSO’s June 25 convocation.
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June 17, 2026
Four mainly First Nations organizations were granted leave to intervene in a proposed class proceeding in September by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Lise Favreau in a ruling released on June 12. In B.M. v. Ontario, 2026 ONCA 422, Justice Favreau said the Anishinabek Nation, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), the Chiefs of Ontario and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation will be able to participate as friends of the court in an appeal of a motion judge’s decision to dismiss a claim as a class proceeding.
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June 17, 2026
After a lengthy trial, Jeffrey Brian Ber was found guilty on Sept. 18, 2024, of two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of accepting a secret commission. He appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial judge committed several legal and evidentiary errors that undermined all the verdicts.
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June 16, 2026
The evil that men do reaches its lowest ebb in acts of pedophilia and, with the advent of the internet, in “sextortion” and emailing lewd pictures. But is it always men who engage in such activity?
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June 16, 2026
On Aug. 1, 2026, the remaining provision of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Amendment Act, 2025 (Bill 4-2025) will come into force, following an announcement on Feb. 9, 2026, by the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General.
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June 16, 2026
“You don’t go to prison to make friends” is one of the aphorisms new prisoners often hear. Connections with other people are fundamental to human life; we all need meaningful relationships with others. There’s lots of evidence that a lack of human connection is bad for our physical and mental health. But human connection takes on a very different form when you are in prison.
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June 12, 2026
When a survivor of sexual violence steps forward to engage with the criminal justice system, they do so under the comforting myth of state neutrality — the belief that the law exists to heal a breach, discover the truth and deliver accountability. Yet, for decades, feminist legal scholarship and the lived realities of survivors have told a radically different story.
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June 12, 2026
There was a late-night gunfight outside Karma Nightclub in St. Catharines, Ont., on Sept. 29, 2019. The Crown had to prove that Jamar Stephens was one of the shooters. It did. A jury convicted Stephens on a multi-count indictment charging him with various offences arising from the shooting.
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June 11, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada says it will continue to provide the bar, litigants and the public with all its usual services from its historic courthouse in Ottawa while its judges and registry staff undertake a phased move to the court’s temporary facilities across the street during the months of July and August.
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June 11, 2026
Restitution orders are often imposed to require a convicted offender to compensate a victim for the victim’s direct, quantifiable loss caused by the crime. Restitution is often considered a rehabilitative sentencing tool, providing the victim with a swifter, more direct path to compensation rather than relying on a civil judgment.
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June 11, 2026
A recent judicial ruling recognizing homelessness as an analogous ground of discrimination under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has come under fire as “judicial activism.” (Waterloo (Regional Municipality) v. Dugas, 2026 ONSC 2971.)
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June 10, 2026
The Supreme Court’s controversial Jordan decision, which has sparked the dismissal of thousands of cases due to unconstitutional trial delay, is still good law, but stays of proceedings are not a cure for undue systemic trial delay, Canada’s top judge says. “One stay of proceedings is too many,” Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner stressed at his annual press conference in Ottawa June 9.
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June 10, 2026
The Ontario Superior Court has approved a $1.95-million settlement of a proposed class action alleging BMO overwithheld taxes on withdrawals from registered retirement income fund (RRIF) accounts, finding that a cy-près payment to charity was justified because direct compensation to class members was impractical.
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June 10, 2026
The legal profession spent more than two decades adapting to search engines with algorithms that continually evolved. Law firms focused on websites, search engine optimization (SEO), online directories and content marketing because their audience turned to Google when looking for information and representation.
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June 09, 2026
Newfoundland and Labrador has passed legislation giving its seniors’ advocate the powers of “individual advocacy and investigation.” According to a June 5 news release, the move aligns the role of the province’s seniors’ advocate with that of “similar statutory officers,” such as the citizens’ representative and the child and youth advocate.
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June 09, 2026
The adage that “the devil is in the details” may remind criminal defence counsel that a successful appeal may hinge on examining inferences rather than hard facts. A Saskatchewan man, Jeffrey Leonard Stark, was convicted by a jury of unlawfully confining and sexually assaulting a female complainant. He appealed his conviction. The appeal in R. v. Stark, 2026 SKCA 48 centred on the trial judge’s instructions to the jury rather than on denying the facts as alleged.
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June 08, 2026
The Law Society of Saskatchewan turned out a “solid” annual report for 2025 — and members should pay particular attention to the implementation of limited licensing in the province, says the regulator’s past president.
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June 08, 2026
My good friend Felicity had a problem. Her relatives were making comments about how she takes care of her elderly father, who I will call Allan. She gave me the example of an aunt who asked, “Why is Allan still driving?” and expressed her opinion that Allan is too old and ill to be driving. She said it in a way that implied it was Felicity’s fault.