May 21, 2026
From undergrad to law school, we were sold the idea that merit would matter more than face time. In university, you are graded on how you perform, not how often you are in the classroom. Whether you studied in the library or at your kitchen table, where the work happened did not matter, only whether you did it. Seven years of training built around that principle. Then you enter the working world and all of that disappears overnight.
May 20, 2026
The Federal Court has dismissed an application for judicial review, finding that the Military Police Complaints Commission cannot compel the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal to produce records tied to conduct-complaint investigations.
May 20, 2026
Fifty-seven years ago, Hydro-Québec signed an advantageous contract with the Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp. (CF(L)Co) for a large block of power at $2 per megawatt hour for 75 years. In December 2014, the premiers of Quebec and Labrador announced a proposed transaction for the existing dam plus 3,900-megawatt expansion products. Simultaneously, they released the Churchill Falls Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The document was not really a memorandum of understanding; it was a pastiche of draft contract sections plus schedules that reflected modelled quantities and prices.
May 19, 2026
The Federal Court has set aside a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) finding that an individual was ineligible for benefits under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act, ruling that the decision-maker’s reasons were “hardly” intelligible.
May 19, 2026
On May 19, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the chair and members of the Independent Advisory Board for the Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments.
May 19, 2026
The release of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal’s latest annual report sets the stage for an increase in webcasts and a push to educate people on the importance of judicial independence, says the province’s top judge.
May 19, 2026
The Federal Court has allowed a judicial review application in a case where a foreign worker’s permanent residence application was rejected, despite his Canadian work experience potentially falling within an eligible category.
May 19, 2026
In my handy Wilderness Survival Guide, there is a step-by-step guide to building the perfect bonfire. I was reminded of it as I read last week’s Supreme Court of Canada decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16, which has created a new tort — the tort of family violence for coercive and controlling behaviour.
May 19, 2026
For employment lawyers, failure to mitigate is almost always pleaded by employers, yet rarely succeeds. It remains a frustrating part of wrongful dismissal litigation. Employees are often upset to learn that if they find new work, their income will usually be deducted from what their former employer owes them. Employers, meanwhile, are dismayed by the heavy evidentiary burden they face when alleging failure to mitigate.
May 15, 2026
“Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus sargent,” thus (perhaps) said Seneca: “If you lie down with dogs, you’ll arise with fleas.”