Access to Justice
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March 10, 2025
Procedural errors lead to successful appeal bid
“Hard cases make bad law” is an adage dating back to 1837. It stands for the proposition that cases that spark moral outrage should not be used as precedent for sentencing. Caleb Nettleton is no stranger to cases that result in moral outrage. While not the subject of comment in the most recent judgment, Nettleton's history suggests the Crown’s patience with this offender was likely strained.
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March 10, 2025
Mutual recognition of law licences: A step toward greater access to justice? | Daniel J. Escott
Canada’s first ministers have made a strong commitment to eliminating internal trade barriers, including the mutual recognition of professional credentials across provinces. While this effort is largely driven by economic concerns, including the need to strengthen domestic trade in the face of U.S. tariffs, the proposal raises fundamental questions for the self-regulated-by-jurisdiction legal profession. Specifically, should Canada’s lawyers be able to practice freely across provincial boundaries? And if so, how would this affect the longstanding principle of self-regulation by law societies? Furthermore, how would such a reform impact access to justice for Canadians, particularly those in underserved regions?
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March 06, 2025
Split SCC strikes down 3rd-party political ad spending limits for breaching Charter right to vote
In what winning counsel call a “landmark” judgment that bolsters democracy, the Supreme Court of Canada has divided 5-4 to strike down an Ontario provision that imposed spending limits on third-party political advertising for a full year before any provincial election period.
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March 07, 2025
Court stays class action against workers’ compensation regimes over lack of legal representation
An Ontario Superior Court has stayed a proposed class action challenging workers’ compensation regimes across Canada, finding that the plaintiffs were required to retain legal counsel to proceed with the action.
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March 07, 2025
Tobacco companies’ plans of arrangement approved, claims to begin for class action worth billions
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved the plans of compromise and arrangement for three tobacco companies, which allows the claims process to begin for a class action against them potentially worth billions of dollars.
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March 07, 2025
B.C. mayor denied procedural fairness in decision to strip him of his powers, judge says
A B.C. judge has ruled that the mayor of a municipality in the province’s central Interior region was denied procedural fairness when the city’s council voted to censure and sanction him over his alleged promotion of a book disputing some of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings on residential schools.
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March 06, 2025
Settlement of over $535M reached to resolve Federal Indian Hospitals class action
The federal government has announced a final settlement agreement worth more than $535 million in the Federal Indian Hospitals class action, which alleged that patients at the facilities suffered verbal, psychological, physical and/or sexual abuse.
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March 06, 2025
N.B. inquest calls for changes after worker's death on home construction site
A coroner’s inquest jury in New Brunswick has made recommendations for improving construction site safety following the death of a carpenter who fell from scaffolding while working on a home.
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March 06, 2025
Federal Court enforces forum selection clause, stays B.C. business owner’s action against Meta
The Federal Court has stayed an action against social media giant Meta Platforms brought by a business owner from British Columbia whose Instagram account was suspended, citing a forum selection clause in the user agreement.
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March 06, 2025
Quebec labour unions sound alarm over new bill that could limit strikes
The Quebec government has tabled a bill that gives it sweeping new powers to curb and limit strikes or lockouts by broadening the notion of essential services and granting the labour minister the power to refer labour disputes to an arbitrator — proposals that critics have derided as nothing less than a direct frontal attack on the constitutionally protected right to collective bargaining.