Constitutional
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April 29, 2025
Toronto company launches legal challenge against federal cannabis advertising regulations
In what one lawyer is describing as a Canadian first, a Toronto-based cannabis products producer has launched a Charter challenge against federal cannabis advertising regulations that it says limit its “freedom of expression and [its] ability to engage in meaningful, competitive commerce.”
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April 28, 2025
Quebec appeal court confirms ruling finding provisions abolishing school boards unconstitutional
The Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed that certain provisions of a provincial law that abolished school boards unjustifiably infringe the rights guaranteed to Quebec’s minority language groups by the Canadian Charter, a ruling deemed by the English community as a sweeping win.
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April 28, 2025
U of T law professor John Borrows awarded Mundell Medal for excellence in legal writing
The Ontario government has announced that the 2024 David Walter Mundell Medal for excellence in legal writing has been awarded to professor John Borrows.
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April 25, 2025
B.C. Court of Appeal upholds $15,000 damages for privacy breach, without proof of further harm
The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld $15,000 in non-pecuniary damages for each person whose privacy was breached when a rogue ICBC employee accessed the private data of 78 policyholders and sold some of it to criminals, leading to arson and shooting attacks against 13 people.
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April 25, 2025
Saskatchewan passes new trespass laws to tackle fentanyl, meth use
If you are in Saskatchewan and caught drunk or doing drugs in a public space, you can now be charged with trespassing. According to an April 24 news release, Saskatchewan’s government has passed new regulations that allow police to enforce trespass laws in public spaces — such as parks and libraries — if someone is found to be intoxicated or using illicit drugs.
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April 25, 2025
‘Uphill battle’ likely for Alberta to justify addictions legislation under Charter: law prof
Alberta has unveiled the next steps in its approach to treating substance use and addiction in the province, which will for the first time in Canada include involuntary treatment for people who have been deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. But civil rights groups and legal observers are raising alarm bells about the law, calling it overbroad and a violation of individuals’ constitutional rights.
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April 17, 2025
Federal Court of Appeal upholds Ottawa's ban on more than 1,500 firearms, dismisses appeals
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed four appeals that related to six applications of judicial review on the banning of over 1,500 types of firearms in regulations brought by governor-in-council in 2020. The firearms were banned due to not being reasonable for hunting or sport, with the Federal Court finding that the regulations were not ultra vires.
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April 17, 2025
Environmental law group warns Ontario law would slash species protections to reduce red tape
The Ontario government has introduced legislation it says will cut regulatory red tape as part of its multipronged effort to bolster a provincial economy burdened by U.S. tariffs.
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April 17, 2025
Top jurists urge ‘vigilance, courage’ to defend rule of law amid rising political attacks abroad
Top judges from Canada and around the world recently gathered with other jurists in Ottawa for the Supreme Court of Canada’s 150th anniversary symposium, where a prominent Canadian legal expert remarked that the new U.S. administration’s stance towards courts and the rule of law reflects expansive conceptions of executive power and impunity espoused by Germany’s Nazi regime in the 1930s.
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April 15, 2025
Court of Appeal rules government ban on peaceful assembly is unconstitutional
The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision Hillier v. Ontario, 2025 ONCA 259 has wide-reaching implications on whether the government can implement an absolute ban on peaceful assembly in times of emergency such as during a pandemic.