Constitutional
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May 29, 2025
Ontario MPP base salary to increase to over $157K
The Ontario government is introducing new legislation that will adjust compensation for members of provincial parliament (MPPs), which includes a reintroduction of pension benefits. This change was said to come with the support of all parties in the legislature.
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May 29, 2025
Canada updates accessibility standards, mandates support systems in federally regulated workplaces
Accessibility Standards Canada has published a revised employment standard applicable to federally regulated organizations that includes a requirement that these organizations develop and maintain an accessibility support system.
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May 27, 2025
Throne speech states Carney government’s ‘core mission is to build the strongest economy in the G7’
Delivering Canada’s speech from the throne for the first time, King Charles III outlined the Carney Liberal government’s plans to make Canada’s economy the most robust in the G7, including by driving the country’s emergence as an energy superpower and by removing internal trade barriers and other roadblocks to creating big national projects and large-scale affordable housing.
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May 26, 2025
Federal Court rejects constitutional challenge to $20K damages cap in federal human rights cases
The Federal Court has dismissed a constitutional challenge to the $20,000 cap on pain and suffering damages in federal human rights cases, finding the cap does not violate the Charter’s s. 15(1) equality rights.
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May 23, 2025
B.C. judge rejects proposed class action over alleged mall privacy breaches by Cadillac Fairview
A proposed class action against Canadian mall owner Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd., alleging the covert collection of biometric data from visitors to its shopping centres, has been denied certification by the British Columbia Supreme Court.
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May 22, 2025
SCC won’t weigh in, for now, on how chronic judge shortages may impact Charter speedy trial right
The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to rule on whether chronic judicial vacancies can contribute to criminal charges being thrown out for unconstitutional trial delay; however the top court appears to be open to grappling with that persistent problem in a future Charter s. 11(b) case, according to counsel for an accused whose Toronto jury trial was postponed for 10 months due to the lack of a judge to preside at the first scheduled trial date.
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May 21, 2025
B.C. Court of Appeal dismisses constitutional challenge to provincial spill regulations
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal launched by three major railways challenging the constitutionality of provincial spill regulations applied to interprovincial railways transporting crude oil and diluted bitumen.
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May 15, 2025
Ontario court affirms right to counsel in cannabis searches
Ontario’s top court has confirmed that people subject to a search under Canada’s cannabis control legislation have the right to counsel, but a legal observer is saying the question of the scope of police’s search powers under the law still remain unanswered. The accused in the case, Johvon Jermaine McGowan-Morris, was a passenger in a Jeep that police pulled over to investigate a possible violation of the Cannabis Control Act (CCA). Under that legislation, a police officer who has reasonable grounds to believe the Act is being contravened can conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle and any person found in it.
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May 14, 2025
Alberta court upholds privacy commissioner’s order effectively banning Clearview AI
U.S.-based facial recognition technology giant Clearview AI has been dealt another legal setback in Canada with an Alberta court decision upholding an effective ban on the company’s activities in the province.
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May 14, 2025
Quebec Superior Court orders amendments to Civil Code to recognize multi-parent families
In a landmark decision that redefines the legal framework for parenthood in Quebec, Superior Court has given the provincial government 12 months to amend the Civil Code to introduce a new system of filiation that would make it possible to legally recognize more than two parents for the same child.