August 31, 2026
A task force combatting gender-based violence in Newfoundland and Labrador is developing an engagement plan involving the “diverse perspectives” of various stakeholders, including survivors, newcomers, youth, 2SLGBTQIA+ people and those with “lived experience.”
August 31, 2026
This past July, the Ontario Bar Association’s family law section executive held its annual planning and insights meeting to help prepare for the year ahead. One of the questions we were asked was: What issues keep you up at night? As someone who has struggled with insomnia for basically my entire adult life, this wasn’t a straightforward question. But it did get me thinking about some of the serious challenges facing family lawyers today. This is not my typical research-heavy article. Instead, I wanted to share some of my reflections on my top three issues.
August 31, 2026
Francis Clifford Smith was sentenced to death in Connecticut in 1950. He was 25 years old. He was granted a last meal eight times. Each time, his execution was stayed. Smith died in prison on June 25, 2026, at the age of 101, having spent more than 70 years in prison and, by some accounts, becoming the longest-serving prisoner in the United States.
August 28, 2026
There is a familiar moment in family court.
August 28, 2026
A recent Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal decision demonstrates the sometimes difficult balance between protecting Charter rights and ensuring that serious criminal charges are decided on their merits.
August 27, 2026
Lawyers in Nova Scotia are examining whether a legal challenge could be launched against the province after it made what they called the “cruel” move of amending income assistance regulations to make homeless people living in tents and cars ineligible for an enhanced welfare benefit.
August 27, 2026
Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench has made some tweaks to its rules on digital orders while offering a new guide for litigants in family law cases.
August 27, 2026
The inability to afford a lawyer remains the biggest barrier to legal services in Manitoba, but obstacles also arise when various bodies operate in silos rather than coming together to serve the “whole person,” an official says following the release of a survey on access to justice in the province. Earlier this month, the Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) released its “What We Heard from Community Report” as part of its ongoing Access to Justice (A2J) Initiative.
August 26, 2026
The guilty plea entered Aug. 25 by a Toronto jail inmate who viciously attacked his elderly cellmate should prompt more than horror at the brutality of the assault. It should also prompt a difficult legal question: what, if anything, can an extraordinary act of violence reveal about the offender’s mental state?
August 26, 2026
Family court is not built to resolve ordinary disputes. It is built to hold families at the moment they are most unstable. It is where private collapse becomes public process, where fear, grief, control and loss are forced into legal form.