The Complete Brief
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April 17, 2026
Appeal Court overturns order to remove manufactured homes from reserve lands
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has overturned an order requiring former residents of manufactured houses to physically remove their homes from the reserve lands they were ordered to vacate.
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April 17, 2026
Officers of the court: First line of defence in catching fake cases, fabricated quotations
Almost three years ago, the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108263 made sensational worldwide headlines as one of the first cases to penalize lawyers for the use of fake cases generated by ChatGPT in their legal briefs.
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April 17, 2026
Career tip: What to do when the Sunday evening blues start on Friday afternoon
On my first day of practice, I bought a leather armchair that I fully intended to use forever. Retirement was something that happened to senior partners, disgruntled lawyers or cranky old judges.
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April 17, 2026
The case for in-person court attendances
My friend Steve Benmor made some excellent arguments recently in favour of Zoom attendances on motions (The Zoom paradox: When a judge’s words and his court’s actions collide). He backs it up by quoting the extremely persuasive comments of Justice Fred Myers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. I recognize and respect their arguments but let me address a couple of matters not addressed in their submissions on this issue.
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April 17, 2026
POWERS OF SEARCH AND SEIZURE - Seizure - Forfeiture of items seized
Appeal by the Crown from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal which declared that the Court of Québec did not have jurisdiction to hear a motion for forfeiture brought by the Crown. The respondents and others were charged with offences under the Criminal Code (Code) and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). Some of their property was seized by the police.
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April 17, 2026
Analysis of B.C. Court of Appeal decision Zhang v. Strata Plan BCS
This British Columbia Court of Appeal case highlights how the enforcement powers of the strata plan for unpaid strata fees and the egregious conduct of the homeowner can lead to the dismissal of the appeal (Zhang v. Strata Plan BCS 4288, 2026 BCCA 55). The homeowner, Shimin Zhang (Zhang), is the appellant and the Strata Plan (Strata) is the respondent in the appeal.
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April 17, 2026
ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENCE - Mens rea
Appeals by Saboon and Morrison (appellants) from convictions for first-degree murder. Four individuals, including the appellants and two youths, met at Morrison’s home to plan the robbery in Yorke’s home. The judge found that Saboon carried a handgun, Morrison carried a sawed‑off rifle, and that S.S., who lived at the Yorke residence, unlocked the door for them after being threatened at gunpoint.
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April 16, 2026
Ottawa proposes rules mandating French services at certain federally regulated businesses
Ottawa has tabled sweeping new rules that would require banks, airlines, telecom companies and other federally regulated businesses to offer and provide services in French and ensure employees in many workplaces can work in French.
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April 16, 2026
Indigenous leaders object to ‘one project, one review’ agreement between Manitoba, Ottawa
First Nations leaders in Manitoba are claiming to have been wrongly left out of an agreement between the province and Ottawa designed to accelerate assessments of how development projects will impact the environment.
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April 16, 2026
Ontario to codify bilingual ombudsman requirement
The Ontario government is planning to introduce legislation that will require the provincial ombudsman to be bilingual.