May 13, 2026
Case planning conferences and judicial management conferences in civil and family proceedings in British Columbia will now, by default, be held by videoconference, according to a May 13 release.
May 13, 2026
Practising in rural Ontario and the North gives me a perspective on the access-to-justice crisis we are currently facing. Many vulnerable people face child protection proceedings while also dealing with addiction, poverty, mental health challenges and isolation. These are real, human stories, families at risk of being separated, children caught in uncertainty and communities trying to help with fewer resources.
May 13, 2026
The vast majority of mediations in Ontario continue to take place virtually. Convenient and often cost-effective, virtual mediation is clearly here to stay — even if I personally would welcome a greater return to in-person mediations (more on that in an upcoming article). It is therefore worth thinking carefully about how virtual mediations can be structured to maximize effectiveness.
May 13, 2026
Appeal by Kelly from the dismissal of his motion for summary judgment. The motion sought to strike the petitioner Polowy’s claim for an accounting and equalization of family assets, including pensions, on the basis that the petition was filed outside the three‑year limitation period.
May 12, 2026
Family court cases are quite varied. Some involve straight couples. Some same-sex. Some married. Some common law. Some no children. Some blended families. Some complex or foreign assets. More recently, the asset being debated in court is the family pet, such as a cat or dog.
May 11, 2026
Canada has announced sanctions against 23 individuals and five entities over the alleged deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children from territories occupied by Russia.
May 11, 2026
Appeal by Glioza from judgment addressing property division, child support, and spousal support. The judge ordered that the parties be divorced, that equal division of family property required Glioza to pay an equalization amount of $478,642 while retaining the former family home, that Ardalani pay $1,000 per month in child support, and that Glioza was not entitled to spousal support.
May 08, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada has explained the contours and application of the cause-of-action estoppel branch of the common law doctrine of res judicata, dividing 6-3 in a Newfoundland and Labrador power-of-sale case to hold that the appellant mortgagee’s $4-million claim under a collateral mortgage is res judicata as it had already been determined in an earlier court proceeding.
May 08, 2026
Lorne J. Fine’s critique of Bill C-223 is a careful piece of legal writing. Unfortunately, it’s built on a foundational error that undermines many of his own arguments. In doing so, Fine provides a striking example of exactly the linguistic sleight of hand I warned about in my first piece on Bill C-223 in this publication (“When the language of protection becomes a weapon: Bill C-223 and parental alienation”).
May 08, 2026
B.C. is making regulatory changes and expanding the role of midwives to include abortion and continuous pregnancy care, allowing them to provide additional reproductive health services.