Pulse
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August 01, 2025
Court: NOVA must operate joint ethylene plant with Dow, despite removal of exclusivity clause
An Alberta court has ordered NOVA Chemicals to continue supplying ethane to, and operating, an ethylene plant it co-owns with Dow Chemical, even though contract provisions barring Dow from independently sourcing ethane in the region have been found to be illegal under competition law.
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August 01, 2025
Why judge’s sentencing error breeds public distrust of system
According to a CBC report, a Hamilton Superior Court judge has been reprimanded for failing to correct a sentencing mistake.
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July 31, 2025
SCC rules Ontario court lacks jurisdiction over Ont. man’s tort claims against Italian defendants
In an important private international law judgment on the jurisdiction of Canadian courts over tort claims involving foreign defendants, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 5-4 that an Ontario court does not have jurisdiction to determine tort claims launched against three Italian companies by an Ontario resident injured on a holiday in Venice. On July 31, 2025, Justice Suzanne Côté, writing for the top court’s majority, dismissed the appeal of injured plaintiff Duncan Sinclair and his spouse, Michelle Sinclair, from a 2023 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that stayed the plaintiffs’ Ontario Superior Court damages claims, for lack of jurisdiction: Sinclair v. Venezia Turismo, 2025 SCC 27.
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July 31, 2025
Langlois names Xavier Beauchamp-Tremblay as chief innovation and transformation officer
Quebec-based firm Langlois has announced Xavier Beauchamp-Tremblay as its new chief innovation and transformation officer.
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July 31, 2025
Lawyers Louis-Martin Aumais and Allison Stewart among new diplomatic appointments
Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand has announced four diplomatic appointments, including Louis-Martin Aumais, legal adviser and director general of the International Law Bureau and agent for Canada at the International Court of Justice, as well as Allison Stewart, who was most recently head of mission in Myanmar.
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July 30, 2025
Expert panel recommends 24 pre-1970 Supreme Court precedents for priority translation
The Supreme Court of Canada — which drew fire last year for its posting, and then removal, of some 6,000 pre-1970 untranslated (mostly English) judgments from its website — says it has started to translate some of the court’s “most significant” decisions rendered before the 1970 Official Languages Act (OLA) required all new judgments to be issued simultaneously in both official languages.
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July 30, 2025
Not all health services are the same, Alberta court rules in podiatrist sexual abuse case
Alberta’s top court has ruled in favour of a podiatrist who was found to have committed sexual abuse under the provincial Health Professions Act because of his relationship with a woman he had once treated.
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July 30, 2025
Whelton Hiutin LLP welcomes Anasofia Heilbron and Reese Nemeth
Whelton Hiutin LLP has announced that Anasofia Heilbron and Reese Nemeth have joined the firm as articling students.
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July 30, 2025
Christine Dimitrov joins MLT Aikins in Vancouver
MLT Aikins has welcomed Christine Dimitrov as an associate lawyer in its Vancouver office, where she has joined the trusts, estates and legacy planning team.
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July 30, 2025
Travelling for parties instead of funerals
I recently attended a party in Toronto for my buddy Billy’s 70th birthday. It was a lowbrow event at Dave & Buster’s, perfectly appropriate for a bunch of guys who are from what was, when we were young, a low-rent suburb of Montreal. Billy’s children and much beloved young grandchildren were also among the revellers.