Family
-
June 26, 2025
CUSTODY, PARENTING, AND ACCESS - Best interests of child - Capacity or conditions of parents - Parental alienation
Appeal by appellant (Father) against a decision awarding primary care to respondent (Mother). Following the breakdown of the parties’ marriage, they initially shared equal parenting time for their two children. However, the children remained solely with the father due to unsubstantiated allegations of sexual abuse against the mother's boyfriend.
-
June 25, 2025
Deaths from illegal drug supply fell 17% in 2024; thousands who died were men, many in their 30s
There were more than 7,000 opioid-related drug toxicity deaths in Canada last year — 20 people per day — an overdose crisis primarily driven by a toxic illegal drug supply, according to the latest data reported by the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health and the Chief Coroners and Chief Medical Examiners.
-
June 24, 2025
N.S. court denies leave to appeal certification of class action related to COVID-19 deaths
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has denied a care home’s leave to appeal for an interlocutory certification order of a class action. The home argued that the judge incorrectly applied the test to certify common issues in a case where over 50 residents died at its facility due to COVID-19 exposure.
-
June 24, 2025
Have your voice heard: Take Law360 Canada’s 2025 survey on lawyer satisfaction
Law360 Canada is seeking participants for an anonymous survey on career and life satisfaction in the legal profession. Take the survey in English or French.
-
June 24, 2025
Passion and the practice of family law
This week I had the pleasure of attending a Toronto Lawyers Association event. It was a lovely evening. I had to leave early for another social event but while there I certainly noticed that I was clearly the oldest attendee. That fact must have been noticed by others as, a number of times that evening, I was approached and asked to comment on what qualities I believed are necessary to make one a good family lawyer. Happily, this is an issue that consumed a fair bit of my time during my tenure (now over, thank G-d) as managing partner of our firm.
-
June 24, 2025
Australian law encompasses best interests for all concerned in pet custody cases
We live in multi-species families with humans and non-human animals co-existing. Companion animals are considered family members by most people, and fortunately legislation in various parts of the world is starting to recognize this fact.
-
June 24, 2025
Mandatory charging: Has its time come and gone?
In the mid-1980s, mandatory charging policies came into effect across Canada. They directed police to lay charges whenever they believed there were “reasonable and probable grounds” to do so. Put another way, police were expected to lay charges where they believed the evidence was likely to lead to a guilty verdict.
-
June 23, 2025
Two new judges appointed to the Court of Quebec
Quebec Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette has announced the appointment of Isabelle Charles and Mathieu Locas as judges of the Court of Quebec. According to the announcement, Charles and Locas will serve in the Criminal and Penal Division in Montreal.
-
June 23, 2025
Only 24 hours to live
There was a time, altogether not too long ago, when I lived and practised law in Nunavut. Living in the Arctic was a wonderful experience. Learning from Inuit and sharing in Inuit culture was a privilege. I have many fond memories and could speak at length about them. One of the most serious challenges that nearly every person who has visited or lived in Iqaluit knows about, however, is the city’s loose dog problem.
-
June 16, 2025
SCC clarifies how to determine child’s ‘habitual residence’ in non-Hague Convention custody disputes
In upholding an Ontario Superior Court’s assumption of jurisdiction over an international custody dispute, the Supreme Court of Canada has given guidance on how courts should determine the habitual residence of children allegedly wrongly taken or withheld by a parent from a foreign jurisdiction that has not signed onto the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention).