The Complete Brief
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November 17, 2025
The irrelevance of disability or death: Wrongful dismissal damages when employee can’t work
At two recent mediations, an issue arose that does not come up often, and as a result is not front of mind for most counsel: how to calculate wrongful dismissal damages when the employee could not have worked during the notice period. In both cases, defence counsel sought to discount damages to reflect what the employee would have earned had they actually been working, while plaintiff counsel insisted on full compensation for the entire notice period.
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November 17, 2025
PROCEEDINGS - Appeals and judicial review - Deference to expertise of decision maker
Appeal by Canadian Natural Resources Limited of trial judge’s decision on liability and costs award; cross-appeal by Signalta Resources Limited on damages award.
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November 17, 2025
ATV accident decision illustrative of ‘so much grey in criminal law’
A Toronto criminal lawyer, Michelle Psutka, posted this comment online: “There is so much grey in criminal law. Accused and convicted people are not inherently bad, and the state is not inherently good.”
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November 14, 2025
SCC settles appellate courts’ clash over evidentiary requirements for impaired driving convictions
Ruling 8-1 on the Criminal Code’s evidentiary requirements for impaired driving convictions, the Supreme Court of Canada has clarified that (1) the Crown does not have to prove at trial (but must disclose to the defence) the target value used in a breath test for alcohol and (2) the Crown can rely on a certificate from a qualified technician who administered the breath test to prove the breath machine was properly calibrated.
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November 14, 2025
B.C. commits $241M to double trades training in largest expansion in nearly 20 years
British Columbia has announced plans to invest $241 million to double trades-training in the province over the next three years, according to a release issued on Nov. 14.
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November 14, 2025
CFIA completes operations on B.C. farm to cull ostriches
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has announced that it has completed its active operations at the Edgewood, B.C. farm whose ostriches were ordered to be depopulated due to avian flu.
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November 14, 2025
Federal Court upholds CRA denial of tax relief request based on director’s mental health
The Federal Court has upheld a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) decision to deny a company’s request for waiver of tax penalties and interest, finding that the agency reasonably rejected claims that the sole director’s mental health and financial difficulties impaired his tax compliance during the relevant period.
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November 14, 2025
B.C. boosts resources for extortion task force targeting threats in South Asian community
The B.C. RCMP has announced an increase of resources to support ongoing investigations, suppression and enforcement relating to extortion cases and threats largely affecting the South Asian community.
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November 14, 2025
Associate joins Thomson Rogers
Thomson Rogers LLP welcomes Melanie White as an associate.
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November 14, 2025
Ontario’s plan to change climate rules spark legal uncertainty: scholar
The Ontario government is planning to scrap requirements to set greenhouse gas reduction targets and a legal scholar is saying that would bring a court challenge of those rules into a “legal grey area.”