Access to Justice
-
February 14, 2025
Unifor members win ‘historic’ $15 million arbitration award in severance pay dispute
Unifor has announced it has won what it calls a “historic arbitration award” of about $15 million for 200 of its union members who worked at Wingham, Ont.-based automotive exhaust manufacturer Wescast Industries. The union and the company were involved in a nearly two-year dispute regarding severance and termination pay.
-
February 14, 2025
Jump principle properly considered in sentencing, Appeal court decides
Sentencing is often said to be the most challenging part of a trial judge’s duties. As pointed out in R. v. Hamilton (2004), 189 O.A.C. 90 (C.A.), sentencing is a human process that requires a look at the specific offence as well as the unique attributes of the offender.
-
February 13, 2025
CBA urges new funding as Federal Court’s massive budget shortfall threatens drastic service cuts
The Liberal government’s underfunding of the Federal Court could “drastically” reduce service to litigants, its chief justice warns, spurring the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) to call for urgent “off-cycle” federal funding to address the national trial court’s chronic multi-million-dollar budgetary shortfalls.
-
February 13, 2025
NWT looking for input on new Builders’ Lien Act
The Northwest Territories is looking for input on regulations needed to bring into force its Builders’ Lien Act — new legislation setting out the legal rights and remedies for those embroiled in construction disputes.
-
February 12, 2025
Ontario joins settlement requiring GS Partners to provide refunds to digital asset investors
Ontario’s securities regulator has joined a multi-jurisdictional settlement requiring GS Partners and its affiliates to refund all money and cryptocurrency deposited by investors after allegedly offering illegal digital asset investments tied to blockchain technology, gold, and metaverse projects.
-
February 12, 2025
Feds release report on stakeholder concerns regarding copyright and generative AI policies
A federal government report on how copyright should be protected from potential threats posed by generative AI (artificial intelligence) reveals sharply divided views among industry stakeholders.
-
February 11, 2025
Claims process to begin for First Nations Child and Family Services, Jordan’s Principle Settlement
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has announced that the Federal Court has approved a launch date for the first claims period for those affected by the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and the narrow application of Jordan’s Principle class action settlement.
-
February 11, 2025
Yukon’s Teslin Tlingit Council moves further towards establishing justice system
A First Nation in Yukon has taken another step towards having its own justice system after signing an agreement furthering the use of community-based “restorative measures.”
-
February 11, 2025
Landmark U.S. copyright decision and its implications for AI and canadian copyright law
The legal profession has entered a new frontier in the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law. On Feb. 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued a landmark decision in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v Ross Intelligence Inc, No 1:20-cv-613-SB, ruling in favour of Thomson Reuters in the first major fair use copyright case involving AI. The decision, which found that ROSS Intelligence unlawfully used Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw headnotes to train its legal AI research tool, raises profound questions about the future of AI training, data access, and copyright law.
-
February 10, 2025
Another day another Charter violation
A June 9, 2022, Toronto Star investigation by Rachel Mendleson and Steve Buist with the help of Western University’s Law School examined more than 600 cases and found that police are not often told when judges find they violated the Charter. Further, the reporting found that officers rarely face consequences. Yet Charter violations continue to occupy Appeal Courts’ dockets.