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February 03, 2026
The recent decision of Ontario’s Animal Care Review Board (ACRB) to reduce a $108,928 cost recovery order — subsequently conceded by the respondent, the chief animal inspector, to be $101,771.64 — to $10,000 following the seizure of 64 dogs (55 miniature poodles; one Maltese; one shih tzu; one German shepherd; four poodle/Maltese puppies; and two miniature poodle puppies) from a Hamilton residence raises troubling questions not only about accountability in cases of large-scale animal neglect but also about the structural limits of Ontario’s animal welfare regime.
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February 02, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada has set a presumptive ceiling for delay at 18 months for cases tried in provincial court (R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27). When an accused’s right to a speedy trial under s. 11(b) of the Charter is violated, charges should be stayed under s. 24(1) of the Charter.
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February 02, 2026
British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma is marking Access to Justice Week by reaffirming the province’s commitment to building a justice system that is “responsive, inclusive and accessible.”
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January 30, 2026
Canada’s government is supporting a new initiative providing renters in New Brunswick with free legal advice and education in navigating their “housing challenges.”
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January 30, 2026
International law likes to enter the room wearing a tailored suit, speaking in solemn tones about order, peace and a rules-based world. It carries binders full of treaties, conventions, charters and resolutions from an era post 1945. It invokes history, morality and the collective will of nations. It sounds authoritative. It looks official. It insists it is law.
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January 30, 2026
Every criminal defence counsel fears that a case may be lost on an evidentiary issue overlooked during trial. One such mistake would be to overlook in cross-examination what is known as the rule in Browne v. Dunn.
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January 29, 2026
A Newfoundland carpet cleaner convicted of murdering his girlfriend in a 1994 shooting death in Richmond, B.C., is one step closer to having his conviction overturned after the British Columbia Court of Appeal outlined procedural issues that must be resolved before a new appeal can proceed (R. v. Skiffington, 2026 BCCA 26).
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January 29, 2026
The role played by mentorship in both professional and personal development is indisputable. Whether based on professional-sector or personal identity, mentorship can contribute to higher rates of success. Studies have established a positive correlation between mentorship and youth mental health, as well as sense of belonging in their communities.
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January 28, 2026
In the Dec. 17, 2025, issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Julian De Freitas, Gideon Nave and Stefano Puntoni write that “the rise of generative AI is reshaping not just how we work, but how we think. In our experience, many leaders focus on productivity in generative AI deployment. Generative AI will indeed make many tasks easier and quicker to perform, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. But we think that one of the biggest promises of this technology lies elsewhere: in unlocking new forms of human creativity that can drive innovation and growth.”
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January 28, 2026
It is not a secret that I live in Toronto. I did not move to Toronto for leisure or lifestyle reasons. I moved because remaining where I was had become unsafe.
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January 27, 2026
The Northwest Territories is boosting an assistance program for Indigenous groups in a bid to strengthen their ability to “participate meaningfully” in land and resource management.
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January 27, 2026
Here are the six obscenity prosecutions for consideration.
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January 27, 2026
On Jan. 26, the Toronto Star reported on very serious allegations that criminal defence lawyer Sudine Riley has made against police serving as security in the Oshawa, Ont., courthouse. She says she was seriously assaulted by them while just doing her work in the ordinary course.
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January 26, 2026
The British Columbia government has appointed Micah Rankin, Charles Hutchinson and Jodi Michaels as judges of the Provincial Court of B.C., according to the province.
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January 26, 2026
It was around 1978 when the “comedy” duo of brothers Blair and Gary MacLean came to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
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January 26, 2026
It was big news, first reported in the Edmonton Journal on May 8, 2020. The RCMP responded to a report of an unresponsive man found near a rural Alberta roadside just after 8 a.m. on April 12. The death was later deemed a homicide following an autopsy in Edmonton a few days later. The body was identified as that of a 74-year-old Wetaskiwin man, Larry Parker.
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January 23, 2026
Nova Scotia has a new funding program for organizations serving the province’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
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January 23, 2026
The importance of mentorship and elevating young lawyers was a focal point of the Ontario Bar Association’s (OBA) Civil Dinner, which celebrates excellence in the bar. Both recipients of the OBA awards emphasized the vital position role models play in the profession.
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January 23, 2026
Sentencing in the high-profile prosecution of members of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) remains on pause as the Supreme Court of British Columbia considers constitutional arguments that could have lasting implications for drug trafficking cases across the country, as well as for public health efforts to reduce the harms of the ongoing toxic drug crisis.
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January 22, 2026
The job of protecting animals in Saskatchewan is changing hands.
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January 22, 2026
For the past 10 years, I have enjoyed teaching animal law as an adjunct professor at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law in Vancouver. This year, I am showcasing snapshots from some of the thought-provoking research papers my students have produced.
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January 22, 2026
“Good fences make good neighbours” is the oft-quoted line from Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall. It suggests that clear boundaries and respect for personal space foster better relationships. Even with walls and fences, relationships sometimes sour.
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January 21, 2026
In its latest bid to increase access to justice for French-speaking residents, Manitoba’s government has launched a francophone service hub for those seeking help with family law matters in that language.
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January 21, 2026
Alternate dispute resolution continues to grow in popularity in family law matters. The reasons are well known: avoiding delay, choosing your “judge,” and the avoidance of multiple expensive procedures within the court system that may not lead to resolution. However, with this trend comes a number of real concerns.
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January 21, 2026
Before dawn on a winter morning in Calgary, a brief encounter in a deserted school parking lot set in motion a chain of events that would carry a 20-year-old man from street-level allegations to years of appellate scrutiny and a penitentiary sentence measured in years.