Access to Justice
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March 07, 2025
Tobacco companies’ plans of arrangement approved, claims to begin for class action worth billions
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved the plans of compromise and arrangement for three tobacco companies, which allows the claims process to begin for a class action against them potentially worth billions of dollars.
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March 07, 2025
B.C. mayor denied procedural fairness in decision to strip him of his powers, judge says
A B.C. judge has ruled that the mayor of a municipality in the province’s central Interior region was denied procedural fairness when the city’s council voted to censure and sanction him over his alleged promotion of a book disputing some of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings on residential schools.
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March 06, 2025
Settlement of over $535M reached to resolve Federal Indian Hospitals class action
The federal government has announced a final settlement agreement worth more than $535 million in the Federal Indian Hospitals class action, which alleged that patients at the facilities suffered verbal, psychological, physical and/or sexual abuse.
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March 06, 2025
N.B. inquest calls for changes after worker's death on home construction site
A coroner’s inquest jury in New Brunswick has made recommendations for improving construction site safety following the death of a carpenter who fell from scaffolding while working on a home.
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March 06, 2025
Federal Court enforces forum selection clause, stays B.C. business owner’s action against Meta
The Federal Court has stayed an action against social media giant Meta Platforms brought by a business owner from British Columbia whose Instagram account was suspended, citing a forum selection clause in the user agreement.
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March 06, 2025
Quebec labour unions sound alarm over new bill that could limit strikes
The Quebec government has tabled a bill that gives it sweeping new powers to curb and limit strikes or lockouts by broadening the notion of essential services and granting the labour minister the power to refer labour disputes to an arbitrator — proposals that critics have derided as nothing less than a direct frontal attack on the constitutionally protected right to collective bargaining.
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March 06, 2025
Racial profiling argument fails to sway Ontario Court of Appeal
The advice offered by Chicago poet and journalist Carl Sandburg to young lawyers is that if the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. Sandburg’s admonition seems to underlie the defence of Amirhosein Alipourobati who appealed his convictions for offences related to unlawful possession of firearms discovered during a traffic stop.
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March 05, 2025
B.C. budget focuses on responding to tariff threats while also investing in justice initiatives
The B.C. government has rolled out a fiscal plan for the coming year that is aimed at protecting public services in the face of U.S. tariffs, while also focusing on increased investments in the justice system and public safety.
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March 05, 2025
B.C. appoints four new Provincial Court judges
The Government of British Columbia has appointed four new Provincial Court judges to support access to justice.
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March 05, 2025
Manitoba appeal asks if police action rose to level of implied threats, other questions
In December 2022, a judge sentenced Kyle Pietz to 16 years in prison for killing office cleaner Eduardo Balaquit. In May of that year, a jury convicted Pietz, then 37, of manslaughter in the 2018 killing. Balaquit’s body has never been found. Pietz denied killing Balaquit, and the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.