The Complete Brief
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May 14, 2024
Divergent opinions in legal profession about impact of proposed B.C. regulatory law
The B.C. government has been faced with stiff opposition since introducing its plan to overhaul the legal profession, with the provincial law society and bar society both arguing it represents an attack on the independence of lawyers. But this opinion is not a unanimous one, with other legal observers saying it has the potential to make access to justice more accessible in British Columbia.
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May 14, 2024
Top court’s refusal to hear bid to fire Ottawa JP ends clash involving executive, judicial branches
The recent end of a high-profile Ontario case highlights the risks posed to public confidence by “inflammatory” — yet well-motivated, “accurate” and “valid” — public criticisms of the justice system from a member of the judiciary and by pushback from the executive branch of government that might be seen as the Crown weaponizing the judicial discipline process against an outspoken judicial officer.
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May 14, 2024
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada releases business plan for 2024-25
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has released its business plan for 2024-2025, building on a number of strategic goals and paving the way for the federal government's vision for an open banking system.
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May 14, 2024
Huge increase in immigration access to information requests: The problem and solutions
Recent news reports have revealed that access-to-information requests for immigration matters now account for 80 per cent of all of the requests made for government files. The number of access applications has mushroomed and so too has the backlog. The situation has reached a crisis and is only getting worse. In order to understand what can be done, we must first ask why there are so many requests directed at immigration officials.
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May 14, 2024
High-conflict divorce: Tips from the trenches
Some spouses who are separating seek out the most aggressive lawyer for their divorce. This is because in the field of family law, where clients’ emotions run high, they are often insecure, scared and worried that their spouse will take advantage of them. In fact, some spouses even threaten to do just that. Which is why some spouses think they need an aggressive lawyer.
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May 14, 2024
2 judicial appointments to Ontario Court of Justice
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani announced two judicial appointments to the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Toronto: Ira G. Parghi and Benita Wassenaar, a news release from the Department of Justice announced.
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May 14, 2024
Labour tribunal rules method to conduct pay equity audit is invalid
A method used to estimate wage differentials during pay equity evaluations cannot be validly used as it contravenes the Quebec Pay Equity Act, ruled the Administrative Labour Tribunal in a decision widely expected by labour lawyers to have a significant impact on estimating and assessing public sector pay equity.
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May 14, 2024
What B.C. single-regulator recommendation means to legal independence | Michael D. Lucas
In December 2013, the Law Society of British Columbia made a recommendation that it should regulate not only lawyers but also notaries and other groups of limited-scope legal service providers who had met qualifications standards. The underlying policy rationale for the recommendation was that a single regulator could reconcile qualification processes, ethical standards and disciplinary systems to best assure that different groups of providers providing similar services would be properly qualified and similarly regulated. It was also possible that access to legal services could be improved by regulating new groups of providers under a single regulator, although the recommendations considered this to be speculative.
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May 14, 2024
Wellness: Civility and empathy | Darryl Singer
I was saddened to read of the recent passing of former federal cabinet minister Jim Peterson, who died at the age of 82.
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May 14, 2024
EVIDENCE — Methods of proof — Inferences — From conduct
Appeal by O'Hanley from her convictions for second degree murder, indecently interfering with human remains and accessory after the fact to murder. O'Hanley was charged along with Hall, Narvey and Sinkovits with murdering Reimer-Wiebe.