Criminal
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April 17, 2026
POWERS OF SEARCH AND SEIZURE - Seizure - Forfeiture of items seized
Appeal by the Crown from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal which declared that the Court of Québec did not have jurisdiction to hear a motion for forfeiture brought by the Crown. The respondents and others were charged with offences under the Criminal Code (Code) and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). Some of their property was seized by the police.
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April 17, 2026
ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENCE - Mens rea
Appeals by Saboon and Morrison (appellants) from convictions for first-degree murder. Four individuals, including the appellants and two youths, met at Morrison’s home to plan the robbery in Yorke’s home. The judge found that Saboon carried a handgun, Morrison carried a sawed‑off rifle, and that S.S., who lived at the Yorke residence, unlocked the door for them after being threatened at gunpoint.
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April 16, 2026
Murder appeal raises relevance of whether accused sits with lawyers or in prisoner box
An elderly, vulnerable woman was beaten, stabbed and killed in the confines of her own home. A Feb. 16, 2023, Toronto Sun report describes the attack in graphic detail:
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April 15, 2026
Manitoba giving more money for child and family services
Manitoba’s government is providing millions in additional funding to child and family welfare services in the province.
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April 15, 2026
Firearms buyback program to reopen for businesses
Public Safety Canada has announced that the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program (ASFCP) will reopen for businesses on April 23 for its second phase.
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April 15, 2026
Interpreting Bill C-16 to recognize coercive control of women across the lifespan
Coercive control against women does not disappear in later life. For some, patterns of abuse that have persisted for years or decades continue into old age. For others, coercive control begins for the first time through adult children and other relatives.
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April 15, 2026
Canada’s polygamy law is creating a legal grey zone for polyamorous families
A couple of times a year, someone comes to our practice with a version of the same situation: three people in a committed, consensual relationship who want to formalize their rights, divide their property fairly and protect themselves if things ever go sideways. They have done the emotional work and had the hard conversations. They just want a legal agreement.
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April 14, 2026
Manitoba top judge talks 2024-25 Appeal Court report
Since taking the judicial helm, Manitoba’s chief justice has taken pains to lower the number of active cases in front of the province’s Court of Appeal — as is demonstrated in its latest annual report. And as the court continues its digital transformation, Chief Justice Marianne Rivoalen also hopes to one day be able to include statistics on the court’s use of remote hearings.
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April 14, 2026
Appeal Court changes home-invasion murder conviction to manslaughter, reduces sentence
Shawn Yorke, 45, was shot to death at 1 a.m. on July 8, 2018, during a botched home-invasion robbery at his townhouse in Kitchener, Ont. Mowafag Saboon, then 24, and Kenneth Morrison, then 27, both of Kitchener, were convicted three years later of first-degree murder.
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April 14, 2026
Law society: How time flies — and how accountability slips
It feels like yesterday. In reality, more than a year has passed since I filed a Bencher Code of Conduct complaint with Treasurer Peter Wardle against Sid Troister and Megan Shortreed arising from the Law Society of Ontario’s million-dollar CEO compensation scandal. In that time, the clock has kept moving. Accountability, however, appears not to have kept pace.