Constitutional
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May 23, 2025
B.C. judge rejects proposed class action over alleged mall privacy breaches by Cadillac Fairview
A proposed class action against Canadian mall owner Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd., alleging the covert collection of biometric data from visitors to its shopping centres, has been denied certification by the British Columbia Supreme Court.
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May 22, 2025
SCC won’t weigh in, for now, on how chronic judge shortages may impact Charter speedy trial right
The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to rule on whether chronic judicial vacancies can contribute to criminal charges being thrown out for unconstitutional trial delay; however the top court appears to be open to grappling with that persistent problem in a future Charter s. 11(b) case, according to counsel for an accused whose Toronto jury trial was postponed for 10 months due to the lack of a judge to preside at the first scheduled trial date.
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May 21, 2025
B.C. Court of Appeal dismisses constitutional challenge to provincial spill regulations
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal launched by three major railways challenging the constitutionality of provincial spill regulations applied to interprovincial railways transporting crude oil and diluted bitumen.
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May 15, 2025
Ontario court affirms right to counsel in cannabis searches
Ontario’s top court has confirmed that people subject to a search under Canada’s cannabis control legislation have the right to counsel, but a legal observer is saying the question of the scope of police’s search powers under the law still remain unanswered. The accused in the case, Johvon Jermaine McGowan-Morris, was a passenger in a Jeep that police pulled over to investigate a possible violation of the Cannabis Control Act (CCA). Under that legislation, a police officer who has reasonable grounds to believe the Act is being contravened can conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle and any person found in it.
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May 14, 2025
Alberta court upholds privacy commissioner’s order effectively banning Clearview AI
U.S.-based facial recognition technology giant Clearview AI has been dealt another legal setback in Canada with an Alberta court decision upholding an effective ban on the company’s activities in the province.
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May 14, 2025
Quebec Superior Court orders amendments to Civil Code to recognize multi-parent families
In a landmark decision that redefines the legal framework for parenthood in Quebec, Superior Court has given the provincial government 12 months to amend the Civil Code to introduce a new system of filiation that would make it possible to legally recognize more than two parents for the same child.
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May 13, 2025
New Carney Liberal Cabinet puts many lawyers on front benches in critical federal leadership roles
Lawyers who were key Cabinet members in Justin Trudeau's erstwhile minority Liberal government have assumed dominant roles in Prime Minister Mark Carney's new 29-member Liberal Cabinet.
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May 13, 2025
Proposed privacy breach class action launched by RCMP officers dismissed by Federal Court
The Federal Court has dismissed a proposed class action brought by two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who alleged that their privacy rights were violated by unauthorized recordings of their conversations during a 2017 investigation.
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May 13, 2025
Yukon releases ‘What We Heard’ report on changes to public land laws
More land for housing, greater public input and the extent of Indigenous involvement were all touched upon as part of feedback on Yukon’s plan to modernize legislation governing the management and use of public land.
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May 12, 2025
Alberta government contravened access to information law, information commissioner’s report finds
An investigation by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta has found that the province’s government bodies have refused information access requests in contravention of provincial access-to-information legislation.