Real Estate
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February 21, 2024
When courts are asked to rule on scope of s. 35, Montour provides racially just approach
In the second article of our firm’s four-part series on Montour, I examine how Montour’s shift in thinking about Aboriginal rights marks a crossroads in Canadian law’s commitment to racial justice in judicial decision-making (R. v. Montour [2023] Q.J. No. 11554).
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February 21, 2024
NEW HOME WARRANTY PLANS - Vendor - Registration requirement
Appeal by appellant from finding of application judge that respondent was entitled to terminate the agreements of purchase and sale (APS) because of late payment. The appellant, the purchasing party, entered into an APS for residential homes that would be newly constructed by the respondent, the vendor.
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February 20, 2024
Alta.’s Justice Mary Moreau welcomed at celebration of first female-majority Supreme Court of Canada
The milestone appointment of Justice Mary Moreau was celebrated in Ottawa, where the ex-chief justice and former criminal lawyer and constitutional litigator from Alberta was lauded for her “unparalleled work ethic,” “great intelligence” as well as for her “humility” and “compassion.” “For the first time in the history of our country, the majority of judges sitting on the Supreme Court are now women,” federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said
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February 20, 2024
Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board numbers speak for themselves | Kathy Laird and Voy Stelmaszynski
There is little justice to be found for Ontarians who have to turn to Ontario’s busiest tribunal — the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). The LTB has been failing badly since 2019, when the current government began removing its experienced adjudicators and moved the LTB under the leadership of Tribunals Ontario, a mega-cluster of tribunals.
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February 14, 2024
Court rules PM, justice minister ‘failed’ litigants & courts with many tardy judicial appointments
A Federal Court judge has refused to order the Trudeau government to fill the present high level of 75 superior court vacancies within specified timeframes; instead the judge recognized a “constitutional convention” that judicial vacancies “must be filled within a reasonable time” and declared his “expectation” that Ottawa will begin to discharge its unfulfilled constitutional duty to fix the country’s “untenable and appalling crisis and critical judicial vacancy situation,” including by reducing the vacancies to the mid-40s “within a reasonable time.”
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February 13, 2024
SCC’s output fell to 34 judgments in 2023, renewing questions, concerns within the bar
Is the Supreme Court of Canada giving enough legal guidance to Canadians, particularly in private law cases? It’s a question simmering within the legal community, one that attracts the attention of academics and litigators and that might benefit from the court shedding some light, especially because the numbers of cases the nine judges hear and decide have been trending down for more than a decade, without explanation.
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February 12, 2024
Vancouver bylaws on single room accommodations exceeded City’s powers, court says
B.C.’s top court has upheld a decision which struck down Vancouver bylaws that were put in place to control rent increases in single room residential units.
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February 08, 2024
Barring intervener counsel from pleading in person at SCC ‘improves access to justice’: CJ Wagner
The Supreme Court of Canada’s controversial policy of restricting intervener counsel to virtual appearances, rather than giving them the same hybrid option as party counsel to appear in person before the judges, “offers substantial savings, especially to those farthest from Ottawa” and “as such levels the playing field and improves access to justice,” Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner told the Canadian Bar Association (CBA).
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February 08, 2024
CHBA: Whole systems approach, shift to factory-built construction needed to meet housing needs
Canada needs significant policy changes and a shift to factory-built construction to address high prices and inadequate supply of homes, according to a report by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), released on Feb. 8.
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February 07, 2024
Ontario Court of Appeal finds agreement among creditors exempt from immediate disclosure rule
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a finding that an oral agreement among creditors to jointly negotiate a settlement with a debtor did not breach the immediate disclosure rule, which requires settlement agreements that fundamentally change the landscape of the litigation to be disclosed immediately.