Access to Justice
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August 15, 2025
Murder trial jury instructions inadequate, new trial ordered
It was meant to be a coworkers’ celebration of life for a Boston Pizza employee who had died in 2018. That celebration turned tragic when three people were stabbed, one of whom died.
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August 14, 2025
Yukon looking at public, professional feedback on amending Health Professions Act
Yukon will use feedback from the public and other stakeholders to guide “policy and regulatory development” in revamping legislation governing health care professionals.
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August 14, 2025
The ‘best interests test’ and cultural significance in Indigenous communities
As I entered the courtroom in Iqaluit, I was immersed in a world of child welfare, where the glaring significance of rich culture and heritage formed part of the backdrop and undertone in cases where it should be front and centre.
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August 14, 2025
Jury instruction missteps lead to retrial in Ontario murder case
John Wayne Pierre and Lesley Watterworth had a volatile, drug-fuelled relationship, made worse by Pierre’s jealousy over her former boyfriend. After leaving a rehab program early in 2016, Pierre resumed drug use with her.
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August 14, 2025
Bar ramps up campaign to end ‘Zoom-only’ policy & get intervener counsel back into SCC’s courtroom
Prominent intervener groups are telling the Supreme Court of Canada that its 2022 practice direction confining their counsel to Zoom and barring intervener lawyers from making submissions in person before the judges is hurting their advocacy and restricting access to justice for public interest groups. However, the top court says it’s sticking with its current policy since “virtual appearances have proven to be an effective means of supporting equal access.”
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August 13, 2025
Cowichan Nation descendants successful in land claims in ‘longest trial’ in Canada
In an Indigenous land claim case that spanned 513 trial dates, the B.C. Supreme Court has found that descendants of the historic Cowichan Nation have a claim to land and right to fish in an area of Richmond, B.C., and on the southern arm of the Fraser River. The province has noted it plans to appeal the decision.
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August 13, 2025
What to make of the Wapekeka courtroom shooting, part two
Systemic issues run deep. The longstanding failure of Canadian policing systems to address the needs of Indigenous communities has been documented in numerous reports and legal inquiries. For instance, Canada’s Supreme Court affirmed in Quebec (Attorney General) v. Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan, [2024] S.C.J. No. 39 that Quebec’s refusal to adequately fund First Nations policing violated its duty to negotiate in good faith and breached the honour of the Crown.
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August 12, 2025
Ontario Court of Appeal upholds unlimited liability in 2020 Ukraine International Airlines disaster
In what one lawyer describes as a “turning point” for global aviation safety,” the Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a trial judge’s finding that Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) was negligent in allowing Flight PS752 to depart Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020, confirming the airline faces unlimited liability under the 1999 Montreal Convention for the deaths of all 176 people on board when the aircraft was shot down by Iranian missiles.
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August 12, 2025
Yukon brings changes to help residents create ‘enduring’ powers of attorney
Yukon has brought into force legislative changes allowing residents to officially designate a power of attorney without having to hire a lawyer.
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August 12, 2025
Admissibility of fresh evidence in question in murder appeal
On June 30, 2019, rival groups, which included two men, Moadd Maadani and Ryan Kabuya-Ntumba, clashed outside the PPL bar in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.