Constitutional
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March 05, 2024
White and Montour decision: Treaty rights to conflict resolution
This is the last in a four-part series of commentary on the Superior Court of Quebec’s recent decision in R. c. Montour, 2023 QCCS 4154. This part focuses on the court’s finding of a treaty right to a “conflict-resolution procedure” protected by s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982; how it can be extended to other historic treaties made in similar contexts; and how this renewed reading of treaties breathes life into Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination in Canadian law.
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March 01, 2024
Liberal government appoints new Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Konrad von Finckenstein, a respected legal expert and public servant with extensive and diverse experience in law, policy, and communications, has been appointed new Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
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March 01, 2024
Reports on harassment, specialization, helpline released for Ontario Convocation
Almost all of the Law Society of Ontario’s most recent Convocation was held behind closed doors, but several reports were published detailing numbers around harassment complaints against lawyers, members becoming certified specialists and those making use of the regulator’s practice helpline.
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March 01, 2024
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Legal rights - Protection against unreasonable search and seizure
Appeal by Appellant from a judgment of the Alberta Court of Appeal which affirmed a judgment of the Court of the Queen’s Bench of Alberta concluding that the Appellant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his Internet Protocol (IP) address.
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February 29, 2024
Legal experts ask Alberta to withdraw proposals for transgender youth, citing Charter concerns
Legal academics from across Alberta are raising red flags over a suite of proposed policies which would require parental notification when children alter their names or pronouns and place limits on gender-affirming care for youth, saying they could open the province up to constitutional challenges.
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February 28, 2024
Federal government facing lawsuit over 2022 invocation of Emergencies Act
The federal government is facing a lawsuit over its use of the Emergencies Act to deal with the protests which disrupted Ottawa and numerous border crossings as part of the Freedom Convoy in early 2022, a move which comes hot on the heels of a Federal Court of Canada ruling which said the government acted unreasonably and illegally when it invoked the Act.
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February 26, 2024
Saskatchewan, UR Pride turn to Appeal Court in student pronoun case
The warring parties in Saskatchewan’s student pronoun dispute may be heading to the province’s highest court to continue their legal fight, with the government looking for a “second kick at the can” following its recent loss to a 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy
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February 23, 2024
Governments can’t use notwithstanding clause to avoid judicial scrutiny: lawyer
Invoking the controversial notwithstanding clause does not allow governments to “duck” the courts, says a lawyer of a pivotal ruling in Saskatchewan involving students’ use of gender pronouns.
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February 22, 2024
New associate for Dickinson Wright
Michael Ng has joined Dickinson Wright’s Toronto office as an associate.
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February 21, 2024
When courts are asked to rule on scope of s. 35, Montour provides racially just approach
In the second article of our firm’s four-part series on Montour, I examine how Montour’s shift in thinking about Aboriginal rights marks a crossroads in Canadian law’s commitment to racial justice in judicial decision-making (R. v. Montour [2023] Q.J. No. 11554).