May 04, 2026
First-year property law, 1988. Two hundred students. I could feel the energy in the room of young people excited to have made it into UBC law school. Professor Tod enters and slams the door. Walks over to the podium and scans the room while saying, “All title is vested in the Crown.” I felt like he was looking directly at me or even searching for visibly First Nation students as if to say, “We will not be tolerating any uppity Indians in this course!”
May 04, 2026
Roughly every four years, voters elect a government and grant it significant powers and responsibilities. But winning an election does not mean one has been given carte blanche to act as they see fit until the next election. Governments must exercise public power in accordance with the Constitution, and voters have the right to know how elected officials are using this power. Ontario’s rushed amendments to freedom of information and privacy laws enacted a few days ago through the government’s Bill 97, Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026 directly attack both of these fundamental democratic principles.
May 01, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected 8-1 a law professor’s constitutional challenge to s. 12 of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) Act, which eliminates all parliamentary privilege immunity claims that might otherwise have been advanced by committee members or ex-members in defending themselves against allegations that they improperly disclosed information obtained through their role on the statutory committee that oversees Canada’s national security and intelligence apparatus.
May 01, 2026
The Ontario Court of Appeal has quashed an appeal in an alleged medical malpractice case, ruling that an order allowing two doctors to be added as defendants did not finally determine their limitations defence and could only be appealed to the Divisional Court with leave.
May 01, 2026
In Canada, privilege protections are analogous but termed differently. Solicitor-client privilege safeguards confidential communications between a client and lawyer (or agents) made for obtaining or giving legal advice. Litigation privilege covers documents created predominantly for anticipated or ongoing litigation, including third-party inputs if directed toward that purpose. Both require intent to maintain confidentiality and reasonable steps to do so.
May 01, 2026
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has announced that a man has pleaded guilty in a $1.3-million investment scheme case.
May 01, 2026
For years, cybersecurity in Canada’s defence sector was largely a matter of self-declaration. That changed on April 14, 2026, when the Government of Canada officially introduced Level 1 of the Canadian Program for Cyber Security Certification (CPCSC). Mandatory requirements take effect in select defence contracts starting summer 2026. Suppliers that can’t demonstrate compliance at contract award risk losing work they’ve already won.
May 01, 2026
British Columbia will be changing the Controlled Alien Species Regulation (CASR) under its Wildlife Act to ban the “breeding, transport and future ownership of all non-native and non-domestic cats, effective Friday, May 1, 2026.”
May 01, 2026
Heralding a significant shift in the Canadian legal landscape, the British Columbia Supreme Court has rejected the legal profession’s constitutional challenge to the B.C. Legal Professions Act — legislation that would end more than 150 years of lawyer self-governance and self-regulation by benchers elected from the provincial bar.
May 01, 2026
On April 2, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks released proposed amendments to various producer responsibility regulations under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016. Comments on the proposed amendments can be submitted via the Environmental Registry of Ontario until May 2.