Family
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January 07, 2025
‘Establishment’ evidence can by itself underpin successful H & C permanent residence claims: judge
A judge has disagreed with — and declined to follow — an established principle that is arguably “settled law” in Federal Court, which holds that evidence of a foreign national’s “establishment” in Canada cannot by itself be determinative of humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications for permanent residence.
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January 07, 2025
Lessons from RECO: Shared wells and rural real estate | Harjot Atwal
“We have what we need, if we use what we have.” — Edgar Cahn
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January 07, 2025
Federal Court decreases class counsel fees in $1.9B Indigenous boarding home class action settlement
The Federal Court has decreased requested class counsel fees of $50 million to $32.5 million in relation to the $1.9 billion settlement regarding the class action for Indigenous boarding home survivors, citing significantly less risk as compared to previous settlements.
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January 06, 2025
Manitoba moving to heighten teacher accountability, strengthen student safety
Manitoba is making moves to increase teacher accountability and transparency by having an online registry for the public and an independent commissioner to investigate complaints.
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January 06, 2025
Government bills die on order paper as Parliament prorogues, Justin Trudeau announces departure as PM
After more than nine years as Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau announced that Parliament is prorogued until March 24, 2025, and that he will step down as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada once his successor has been chosen “through a robust nationwide competitive process.”
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January 06, 2025
Domestic violence in Ontario: A beginning to an end? | Michael Cochrane
In three previous columns I examined the incredible cost to taxpayers of the consequences of domestic violence (billion$), the ill-considered judicial invention of a special tort of family violence (an invitation to a return to trench warfare over unhappy relationships) and the questionable value of trying to criminalize coercive behaviour in relationships (as if corrosive behaviour — as defined in the bill — could be deterred when it is so embedded in some cultures). All three of those issues deal with the aftermath of the violence, not the origins of the violence or the prevention of the violence, so let’s turn to that now.
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January 06, 2025
Presenting materials for a motion | Gary S. Joseph
Happy new year to all and thank you to the many readers who provide feedback to my frequent rants. Here’s another, one in my ongoing series of “do as I say not as I do.”
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January 03, 2025
Dozens of Indigenous governments working to run their own child and family services
In the five years since enabling federal legislation came into force, 85 Indigenous governments, representing more than 110 communities across Canada, have given notice to exercise their jurisdiction over child and family services or have made requests to enter into discussions about entering coordination agreements with the federal government, according to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
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January 02, 2025
Novel family violence tort, solicitor-client privilege & insurance are on the SCC’s winter menu
What does Canadian securities law mean by making timely disclosure of “material” changes? Should the judiciary create a new tort of “family violence”? Were a lawyer’s Charter rights breached as a result of police wiretapping her phone call to a client?
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January 02, 2025
Key deadlines, tax compliance for executors and trustees
I have previously written about executors’ tax compliance responsibilities. In the past two-plus years since that article, there have been a number of changes of which executors and trustees should be aware. This article provides an overview of key tax compliance responsibilities of executors and trustees and highlights some of these recent changes.