Constitutional
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December 13, 2024
Federal government intervenes to end postal strike as early as next week
In what one labour lawyer calls a significant challenge to legal norms, the federal government has announced that the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) will intervene to potentially bring an end to a strike by 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) as early as next week.
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December 13, 2024
Nova Scotia education minister moves to justice file
Nova Scotia has a new justice minister. Lawyer and former education minister Becky Druhan has been given the job of justice minister and attorney general following the Progressive Conservatives’ recent re-election as a majority government.
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December 13, 2024
Challenge launched against Alberta’s ‘unprecedented’ transgender health care law
A constitutional challenge has been launched against Alberta’s controversial legislation restricting health care for transgender youth, with advocacy organizations characterizing what the province has done as “unprecedented” in Canada.
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December 12, 2024
Yukon, Ottawa failed to consult Indigenous group on ‘economic feasibility’ of mine project
Yukon’s top court has found that both the territory’s government and that of the country failed to properly consult a First Nations group on the “economic feasibility” of a mine planned to be built on Indigenous land. The Court of Appeal of Yukon case of Ross River Dena Council v. Yukon (Government of), 2024 YKCA 18, released Dec. 6, pits the governments of Canada and Yukon (known as the “Decision Bodies”) against the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC), which brought the court the legal action on behalf of the Kaska Nation.
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December 10, 2024
Ontario appeal court sides with First Nation over beachfront land excluded from reserve
Ontario’s top court has ruled in favour of a First Nation that said that a stretch of beachfront property on Lake Huron had been unfairly excluded from its reserve lands.
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December 09, 2024
N.B. top court reinstates guilty verdict in impaired driving case
New Brunswick’s High Court has reinstated a man’s impaired driving conviction after it was found the trial judge was right to convict him — despite his rights being violated during talks with police about contacting a lawyer.
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December 06, 2024
B.C. Court of Appeal overturns order allowing third-party claim in Aboriginal title case
The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld an order adding a First Nation as a defendant in another First Nation’s Aboriginal title claim — but overturned an order permitting the additional First Nation to file a third-party claim, citing potential delays.
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December 05, 2024
Ontario township, mayor ordered to pay damages of $15K for refusing pride month proclamation
The Township of Emo, Ont., and its mayor have been ordered to pay damages of $15,000 for rejecting a request that the town declare June “Pride Month” after the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal found that the mayor’s vote against the proposal was discriminatory.
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December 04, 2024
Our land for the future: What NWT PFP means for Indigenous-led conservation
On Nov. 14, 2024, 22 Indigenous partners, alongside the federal and territorial governments and private philanthropists led by Pew Charitable Trusts, gathered in Behchokǫ̀ to celebrate a landmark achievement in conservation and reconciliation: the signing of the Northwest Territories (NWT) Project Finance for Permanence Agreement (NWT: Our Land for the Future Agreement). This agreement represents a transformative step toward long-term, Indigenous-led stewardship of Canada’s northern ecosystems.
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December 03, 2024
Privacy Commissioner: New Ontario law regulating AI in public sector has significant shortcomings
Ontario’s privacy commission Patricia Kosseim has said that a lack of transparency and explicit independent oversight in a recently passed bill addressing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems at public sector entities should be a “cause of concern of Ontarians.”