The Complete Brief

  • August 06, 2026

    Court upholds dismissal of CUPW defamation action over comments that it supports Hamas

    The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld the dismissal of a defamation action brought by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) over comments suggesting it supported terrorism and Hamas, finding that the defence of fair comment applied even though the statements were defamatory and substantially untrue.

  • August 06, 2026

    Federal Court declines to order transgender ‘dangerous offender’ moved to women’s prison

    Most transgender women in federal correctional institutions are incarcerated in prisons for men, the Federal Court heard in a recent review of the penitentiary system’s refusal to move a transgender inmate to a women’s prison. The inmate fears for her safety in the maximum-security men’s prison where she is incarcerated.

  • August 06, 2026

    Amendments to B.C.’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act are now in effect

    Changes to B.C.’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act are now in effect, modernizing consumer protection laws that “regulate consumer contracts to better reflect the marketplace, promote fairness and transparency, strengthen consumer rights and help people make informed financial decisions.”

  • August 06, 2026

    Ontario proposes streamlining 13 natural resource permits, impacting wildlife, forestry

    The Ontario government is proposing changes to “modernize and streamline 13 natural resource permits,” which would allow mining and infrastructure projects to “move forward faster and with greater certainty.”

  • August 06, 2026

    Rabeea Khalid named partner at Mandelbaum

    Rabeea Khalid is a new partner at Mandelbaum Immigration Lawyers.

  • August 06, 2026

    Liberal Party names lawyer Jessica Cardill national director

    The Liberal Party of Canada has named Jessica Cardill as its new national director.

  • August 06, 2026

    Justice David Paciocco wins 2026 G. Arthur Martin award

    Justice David M. Paciocco has been named winner of the 2026 G. Arthur Martin Criminal Justice Medal by the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA). The award will be presented Nov. 21 at a special luncheon ceremony.

  • August 06, 2026

    Prediction markets and tax law: How prediction-market trading triggers crypto tax rules

    Part one of this series established that the source-of-income analysis under Stewart v. Canada, 2002 SCC 46 is the threshold inquiry for prediction-market participants, and that Leblanc v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 680 — which held that systematic sports lottery wagering did not constitute a business — is the most directly applicable Canadian authority, albeit one whose reasoning does not map cleanly onto the structural features of prediction-market trading. Part two addresses the next analytical layer: assuming a source of income exists, how should the underlying prediction-market contracts be characterized, and what additional tax consequences arise from the cryptocurrency infrastructure through which most major platforms operate?

  • August 06, 2026

    Ontario decision determines transfer by corporate property owner not a fraudulent instrument

    The Ontario land titles registry was designed to promote certainty and reliability in real estate transactions. A potential buyer is generally entitled to rely on what is reflected in the registered title (known as the “mirror principle”) and, unless they have notice of competing claims, they should be able to acquire title without investigating past dealings or private disputes that may exist behind the registered ownership (known as the “curtain principle”).

  • August 06, 2026

    When is a gift not a gift: Estate freezes and family law considerations

    A complex and challenging area of law is the intersection of trust law and family law. Ontario law, in contrast to many other common law jurisdictions, has given liberal treatment of a discretionary interest in a trust as property, which can be subject to equalization under our family law legislation. See our prior articles on this subject: Property division and discretionary trusts: Half of nothing is still nothing; and Heads Up: Grappling with Family Law’s Treatment of Discretionary Trust Interests.

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