Labour & Employment
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March 19, 2024
Equifax: business insolvencies, delinquencies rise as businesses face loan repayments, high costs
Canadian businesses face increasing financial pressure with interest payments on outstanding Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans, high interest rates and a slowdown in consumer spending contributing to a surge in business insolvencies, according to a release by Equifax Canada.
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March 19, 2024
AI: A time to embrace | Connie L. Braun
Recently, I rediscovered Pete Seeger’s song, Turn, Turn, Turn which features the lyrics, “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Viewing various performances via YouTube (this one is my favourite), I have found myself considering how a time and place for everything applies in this day and age with so many questions about and distrust of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Of particular note in the lyrics, especially as it relates to the effect AI is having and will continue to have on our lives is,“ A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing.” I am thinking that it is a time to embrace.
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March 19, 2024
Ottawa appeals declaration of constitutional requirement for timely federal judicial appointments
“Stay in your lane” — those words might encapsulate the thrust of the federal government’s message to the Federal Court in Ottawa's appeal of a recent groundbreaking judgment, which declared that the prime minister and federal justice minister are constitutionally obliged to fix the lengthy federal judicial appointment delays that have for years bedeviled litigants, lawyers and judges.
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March 19, 2024
Ontario Superior Court approves $30M settlement in major junior hockey class action
The Ontario Superior Court has approved a $30-million settlement of class actions brought by major junior hockey players against hockey leagues and teams claiming that players were employees and entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay. The settlement is still subject to the approval of courts in Alberta and Quebec.
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March 18, 2024
Economic Equity Alliance calls for EI, tax reform to support self-employed individuals
The Economic Equity Alliance (EEA) has called on the federal government to expand universal pharmacare and dental care and to reform the Employment Insurance (EI) program and the Income Tax Act to support self-employed individuals, according to a report.
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March 18, 2024
Appeal and judicial review of a tribunal decision | Sara Blake
The Supreme Court of Canada has breathed life into an Ontario statutory provision that has been mostly ignored since it came into effect in 1972. Section 2(1) of the Judicial Review Procedure Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. J.1 (JRPA), authorizes the Divisional Court to grant relief on judicial review “despite any right of appeal.” For 40 years, Ontario courts consistently overlooked this provision, instead preferring to exercise their discretion to deny a remedy on judicial review because it regards a right of appeal to the court as an adequate alternative remedy.
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March 18, 2024
Prairie court looks to no-fault auto regulations in worker’s ‘room and board’ case
Saskatchewan’s top court has “empowered” regulations governing the province’s no-fault auto insurance program in deciding the unique case of an injured fishing camp employee fighting to have the value of his room and board included with his income replacement benefits, says a lawyer.
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March 15, 2024
Supreme Court rules limited statutory rights of appeal do not preclude access to judicial review
In a 9-0 judgment supportive of litigants’ access to judicial review, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a limited statutory right of appeal in a case does not preclude judicial review for matters not the subject of appeal, i.e. where there is an appeal right limited to questions of law, judicial review is available for questions of fact or mixed fact and law.
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March 15, 2024
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day responsibly: Navigating employee absences
Originally an Irish holiday, St. Patrick's Day is now a worldwide celebration. This Sunday, March 17, 2024, millions of people (including workers) will spend the day celebrating. Parades and festivities will pay homage to the patron saint of Ireland, who is also famous for his fondness for a drink.
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March 15, 2024
Defamation: Employment letter not subject to six-week notice deadline
It may come as a surprise to some that a letter sent to another person for their private viewing may still be subject to a defamation claim. The law of defamation does not require that the letter be sent to more than one person to attract potential liability. If the letter is obtained by the person discussed there during the course of a lawsuit or otherwise, the author may be required to defend any defamatory statements on the grounds of justification or other available defences.