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November 06, 2026
A criminal accused can fail to establish that a mental disorder rendered him not criminally responsible for an offence and still rely on evidence of that disorder to challenge whether he possessed the specific intent required for murder. That important distinction lies at the heart of a recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision overturning the second-degree murder conviction of Yasin Jemal Rashid and ordering a new trial (R. v. Rashid, 2026 BCCA 364).
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November 06, 2026
The U.K. Intellectual Property Enterprise Court concluded that the trademark FLOWERBX did not designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value of the goods or services it was registered for use with. This result seems to be similar to that a Canadian court would reach (Flowerbx Ltd. v. Flowers Box London Ltd., [2026] EWHC 2233 (IPEC)).
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November 06, 2026
Appeal by the Minister of National Revenue from a judgment of the Tax Court concerning the Independent Order of Foresters. The Income Tax Act exempted the Order from paying tax on its income, but the exemption did not apply to its taxable income from its life insurance business.
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November 05, 2026
Capping bank customers’ liability for unauthorized transactions, extending the ban on foreign ownership of residential real estate and an enhanced capital gains exemption — along with new and stiffer penalties for environmental and fisheries violations — are among the myriad legislative changes the Carney government has proposed in its second budget.
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November 05, 2026
The Federal Court has ruled that the retrospective abolition of accelerated parole review (APR) was clearly unconstitutional when enacted, finding the Crown was not immune from Charter damages claims by affected class members who spent additional time in prison as a result.
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November 05, 2026
The federal government has announced that it is conducting consultations on 12 Atlantic salmon populations for potential listing under the Species at Risk Act. The populations range across Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
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November 05, 2026
The Carney government’s latest federal budget says Ottawa will implement a 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan that sets targets of 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals and 380,000 permanent resident admissions in each of 2027, 2028 and 2029.
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November 05, 2026
Mathews Dinsdale has welcomed Anne Gallop and Jennifer Hodgins as partners and Julia Bassett as counsel in its Toronto office.
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November 05, 2026
Mirzaei began with a line in a computer log. In March 2026, in a case challenging the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) refusal to give her a second review, our client received the CRA’s certified record of her file. One entry, dated Nov. 11, 2024, read: “This case has been automatically completed as a no-reply.” It was attributed to “BOT067G” (Applicant’s motion record, written representations, paras. 8, 10).
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November 05, 2026
Jean-François De Rico has returned to Fasken as a partner in its business law group in Quebec City.
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November 05, 2026
Aleksandra Finelli has joined Aird & Berlis as a partner with the firm’s real estate team.
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November 05, 2026
The news feeds of lawyers and CEOs in North America have recently blown up due to Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s billion-dollar U.S. law firm dissolving seemingly overnight leaving hundreds looking for new work. It seems only yesterday that this happened with Minden Gross and Heenan Blaikie in Canada. When this happens, the speed with which it seems to happen always leaves those reading about it scratching their heads: how is it possible that this could happen to such large firms? Is the legal industry secure? Is it AI, poor culture or something nefarious causing this? If you are an employee or partner at a law firm or a law firm owner, how can you mitigate these risks?
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November 05, 2026
Imagine you have just been in a serious car crash. Your car is a write-off, you are in pain, and you have never made an insurance claim before. The next day, you call your insurer to report the damage to your vehicle. You assume that if you are entitled to anything else, your insurer will tell you. Months later, after paying for treatment out of your own pocket, you learn from a paralegal that you were entitled to accident benefits all along.
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November 05, 2026
Can a road be a public highway even if nobody has ever driven on it, the municipality has never maintained it, and a private company is its registered owner? A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision suggests the answer may be yes.
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November 05, 2026
I recently read two articles published by Law360 Canada by my esteemed friend John Hill. His articles concerned the actions taken by the McGill University faculty of law restricting or prohibiting Jeffrey G. Ewert from attending classes. Ewert is a person serving a life sentence for murder and attempted murder and has been on day parole for more than a year. (Hill’s articles are here and here.)
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November 05, 2026
A Canadian Judicial Council hearing panel will determine whether removal from the bench is warranted for a Quebec superior court judge arrested for soliciting paid sex, who attributes his actions to the stress and “moral disengagement” he experienced due to overwork, exhaustion and burnout on the bench.
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November 05, 2026
Appeal by appellant from the order granting the respondent summary judgment on her debt claim, and applications by both parties to adduce fresh evidence. During the appellant’s former relationship with the respondent’s son, the couple used advances from the respondent to finance residential property projects.
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November 04, 2026
The federal government has unveiled anti-financial-crimes legislation that would, among other things, make it a criminal offence to operate an unlicensed cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) and enable “law enforcement” to search and seize mail.
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November 04, 2026
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has introduced civil forfeiture legislation aimed at allowing the seizure of proceeds and assets connected to criminal activity, according to a Nov. 4 release.
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November 04, 2026
The Federal Court has upheld penalties totalling $250,000 imposed on a cannabis marketing company for unlawful cannabis promotion and event sponsorship, rejecting arguments that Health Canada failed to adequately consider the Charter value of freedom of expression.
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November 04, 2026
As voting for the upcoming bencher election approaches, lawyers in Alberta are being encouraged to consult the Law Society of Alberta’s (LSA) website for information about the candidates.
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November 04, 2026
On the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2026, our client in Watton v. Canada (Attorney General) (Federal Court file 26-T-352, Oct. 6, 2026) called the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) four times. The calls lasted seven, eight, 16 and 48 minutes. In the last one, an agent told her something no one at the CRA had told her before: she should have gone to the Federal Court within 30 days.
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November 04, 2026
When you venture out as a sole practitioner, you know there will be a lot of non-legal work that you will have to take on. Getting clients can often feel like one of the most daunting parts of the job. Paid advertising is one thing, but the work involved in meeting people, whether online or in real life, can strike fear in the hearts of many.
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November 04, 2026
Colin Carruthers has joined KMB Law as a partner and head of its intellectual property practice in Toronto.
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November 04, 2026
Dana Kiefer has joined Mathews Dinsdale as an associate in its Calgary office.