The Complete Brief

  • July 15, 2026

    Olivier Plessis joins McMillan as capital markets partner

    McMillan LLP has added Olivier Plessis as a partner in its capital markets and securities group in Vancouver.

  • July 15, 2026

    Death penalty: Canada marks 50 years of abolition; U.S. marks 50 years since resumption

    The date July 14, 2026, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most consequential human rights decisions in Canadian history: Parliament’s 131-124 vote to abolish the death penalty from the Criminal Code in 1976. In a striking historical contrast, less than two weeks earlier, on July 2, 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way for executions to resume (Gregg v. Georgia | 428 U.S. 153 (1976) | Justia U.S. Supreme Court), ending a four-year period where the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS (Furman v. Ga., 1972 U.S. LEXIS 169).

  • July 15, 2026

    Misusing AI before a disciplinary tribunal can be costly

    The misuse of generative artificial intelligence by litigants continues to plague the Canadian justice system. In the last two years, the number of cases cited on legal databases in which hallucinated cases have been identified in court filings has increased significantly, going from seven in 2024 to 39 in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

  • July 15, 2026

    ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGES - Measure of damages - Deductions - Limiting factors - Pre-existing conditions

    Appeal by appellant from a damages award arising from a minor motor vehicle accident. Liability was admitted and the trial proceeded on damages. The trial judge found that, after the accident, the appellant’s life and functioning markedly deteriorated, but rejected her position that she suffered a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury caused by the collision

  • July 14, 2026

    Court limits holdback priority to unpaid invoices absent subcontractor claims

    The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that construction lien claimants’ priority over a building mortgagee is limited to the deficiency in the statutory 10 per cent holdback based on unpaid invoices, rather than total invoices, where no subcontractor lien claims exist.

  • July 14, 2026

    B.C. establishes protection area on treaty land to preserve caribou habitat

    British Columbia has created the new K’ih t̲s̲aaʔd̲z̲e Protection Area under the Environment and Land Use Act to help conserve caribou habitat, boreal ecosystems and encourage ecological restoration on treaty land.

  • July 14, 2026

    Ontario’s ban on political ads on rural highways violates Charter, court says

    A three-judge divisional panel of the Ontario Superior Court has ruled that provincial restrictions on political advertising on certain rural highways violate the Charter’s free expression rights.

  • July 14, 2026

    Misfeasance claims against fisheries ministers in salmon culling case to go to trial

    The British Columbia Court of Appeal has found that claims against fisheries ministers for misfeasance in public office, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation due to a decision resulting in the alleged culling of millions of healthy salmon were appropriate for trial.

  • July 14, 2026

    CUSMA review: Cross-border mobility now a planning risk for Canadian employers

    The formal Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA /USMCA) joint review process officially started on July 1, 2026. Leading up to this date, governments accepted public comments and held hearings through late 2025, and the United States and Mexico officially launched bilateral preparatory discussions on March 5, 2026.

  • July 14, 2026

    When 4 CRA ‘fairness’ reassessments meet appeal rights: Forrest v. The King

    The Tax Court of Canada’s recent decision in Forrest v. The King, 2026 TCC 121 gives tax lawyers a detailed map of what happens when the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) reassesses the same taxation year four times, contradicting itself twice along the way, and then argues that the taxpayer has no right to appeal the last word.

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