Constitutional
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June 13, 2025
Former Supreme Court Justice La Forest dies
Former Supreme Court Justice Gérard Vincent La Forest has died. Justice La Forest, whose long legal career also encompassed government work, private sector lawyering, teaching and sitting on an East Coast appeal court, died June 12, according to a news release. He was 99.
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June 12, 2025
Energy board commissioners lose key legal and political battles
Quebec energy board commissioners have suffered major back-to-back legal and political losses after the Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision that held they performed quasi-judicial functions and the provincial government passed a sweeping and controversial reform that fundamentally weakens the regulatory powers of the Régie de l’énergie.
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June 12, 2025
Federal Court: CHRC complaint dismissal based on settlement offer unreasonable
The Federal Court has set aside the dismissal of a human rights complaint, noting that the decision of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) not to proceed with the complaint in light of a settlement offer was inadequately explained and therefore unreasonable.
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June 11, 2025
Ombudsman to probe Ontario’s response to incident where jail inmates were stripped
Ontario’s ombudsman has launched an investigation into the province’s response to a controversial incident at a correctional facility, where inmates were stripped to their boxer shorts, zip-tied and made to sit on the floor as officers in tactical gear stood guard.
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June 10, 2025
Canada’s top judge declares ‘in this country, the rule of law is non-negotiable’
Lawyers, as officers of the court, have a professional “responsibility and obligation” to defend the rule of law and the independence of the bar and judiciary against attacks, Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner said at his annual news conference in Ottawa.
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June 10, 2025
Quebec ordered to pay $164 million for Charter breach in class action suit
The Quebec government has been ordered by Superior Court to pay a staggering $164 million in compensatory damages, plus interest, for knowingly violating the rights of thousands of individuals who were arrested and illegally detained for a longer period of time than permitted by the Criminal Code prior to appearing before a justice of the peace.
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June 10, 2025
Ontario’s Bill 5: Undermining Indigenous rights, species at risk protections in name of growth
On June 4, 2025, Ontario’s Ford government enacted Bill 5: Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, despite widespread opposition from Indigenous communities, environmental advocates and the broader public. This sweeping omnibus bill amends or enacts 10 different laws, including:
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June 09, 2025
Ontario court confirms Niagara Police liable for wrongful border arrests on unverified data
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a $20,000 damages award against Niagara Police for wrongfully arresting two elderly people at the border, after officers relied solely on outdated police database information and failed to verify its accuracy despite the individuals’ protests that charges had been dropped.
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June 06, 2025
As trade tensions rise, feds table legislation to accelerate national projects, internal trade
With an escalating trade war already reflected in worsening employment data, the federal government has introduced promised legislation aimed at removing federal barriers to interprovincial trade, improving labour mobility in Canada and fast-tracking large infrastructure projects “of national importance.”
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June 06, 2025
Breaches at CRA, other government institutions impacted over 309,000 people: privacy commissioner
More than 309,000 individuals were affected by government institution privacy breaches reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) in 2024–25 — over twice as many as in the previous year according the OPC’s annual report.