Criminal
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March 17, 2026
SCC heard more cases in 2025 but still fewer than pre-pandemic; number expected to rise in 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada heard more appeals last year than in 2024 and delivered its reserved judgments more quickly, but its hearings and output in 2025 were not yet up to pre-pandemic levels, according to the top court, which states it “expects to hear even more cases in 2026.”
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March 17, 2026
B.C.’s extortion task force update: Why files move slowly, even when public anxiety moves fast
A recent public update from British Columbia’s extortion task force arrived at a time when many communities in the Lower Mainland are not asking whether extortion is occurring, but whether the system is moving quickly enough to prevent violence.
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March 16, 2026
Court of Appeal upholds sentence for dangerous driving despite Charter arguments
Jason Georgopoulos was a successful 43-year-old mortgage broker from Toronto. No one would suspect that after a drive along Toronto’s Queen Street, he would end up as a federal inmate.
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March 16, 2026
Supreme Court of Canada’s surreal reasoning in Case and Loyer
When a person tells you, “I had a dream last night,” most people understand exactly what that means. The speaker is about to recount the swirl of mental imagery, sounds and emotions experienced during sleep. The story of missing a train, falling from the sky or walking into a classroom naked is not understood as a report of reality but as an account of imagination. Dreams are, almost by definition, the mind untethered from the ordinary constraints of perception and memory. The Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí described dreams as “hand-painted dream photographs.”
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March 13, 2026
Human Rights Tribunal orders sweeping deaf inmate accommodation reforms in federal prisons
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) has ordered sweeping reforms to how federal prisons accommodate deaf inmates, ruling that Correctional Service Canada (CSC) must provide ASL interpretation for key meetings and meaningful daily communication.
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March 13, 2026
Feds reboot new police powers, obligations to give police & CSIS ‘lawful access’ to digital data
Following public outcry and stiff political opposition to its sweeping “strong borders” omnibus bill (Bill C-2), the minority Liberal government has migrated the expanded “lawful access” powers and new obligations for electronic service providers to assist police and CSIS investigators from C-2 into standalone legislation (Bill C-22).
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March 13, 2026
Saskatchewan eyeing way to have owners keep banned guns until compensated by feds
Saskatchewan is ramping up its push against the federal government’s gun buyback program — this time by proposing legislative changes that would allow owners of banned firearms to keep them on behalf of the province.
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March 13, 2026
Eight grounds for appeal dismissed in Ontario murder of appellant’s partner, child
After a four-month trial, Glenn Bauman was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his common law partner, Linda Daniel, and her young daughter, Cheyenne. The trial took place five years after their disappearance.
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March 12, 2026
Nova Scotia man convicted of making 3D firearms, CBSA announces
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced that a Nova Scotia man has been sentenced to six years in prison for manufacturing 3D firearms, according to a March 12 statement.
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March 12, 2026
Health Canada adds five fentanyl precursors to list of permanent controlled substances
Health Canada’s addition next month of five chemicals to the list of permanent controlled substances that are precursors to the manufacture of fentanyl prompted a question to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, asking why Canada, unlike the U.K. and the U.S., does not also list under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) the animal tranquillizers that frequently contaminate fentanyl.