Family
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April 23, 2024
N.S. gets new justice minister amid comments controversy
Nova Scotia has a new justice minister following the sudden resignation of Brad Johns, who stepped down after making controversial comments about domestic violence.
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April 23, 2024
Quebec bill grants protections and establishes new obligations to de facto unions
A new proposed Quebec legal framework for common-law couples who become parents after June 2025 will be entrusted with new rights and obligations and benefit from some protections granted to married couples, a development viewed by family law experts as a step in the right direction.
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April 22, 2024
SCC’s spring session features weighty constitutional & admin law appeals but case volume is light
Constitutional and administrative law cases dominate at the Supreme Court of Canada this spring, with the handful of appeals to be heard involving class actions, standard of review, the honour of the Crown and the right to vote.
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April 22, 2024
Nova Scotia judicial appointment announced
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani announced the appointment of Shannon B. Mason as Judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.
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April 22, 2024
B.C. bills aimed at strengthening Indigenous jurisdiction in family services, tackling racism
The B.C. government has introduced legislation aimed at strengthening Indigenous jurisdiction in child and family services and tackling systemic racism in provincial institutions, and observers are calling the changes positive but are saying there are still things that need to be done.
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April 22, 2024
Alabama IVF ruling: Bad facts make bad law | Abby Hafer
On Feb. 16 of this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos that are created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) are to be considered children. Since Canadian conservatives have a bad habit of sounding like their southern counterparts, this should worry Canadians.
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April 19, 2024
Family court judges must balance fairness in assisting the self-represented: lawyer
Given the growing number of self-represented litigants in family court, judges must ensure fairness to both sides when assisting those who appear without counsel, says a lawyer following a Saskatchewan case where a trial judge failed to give adequate help to a father acting for himself in a parenting dispute.
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April 19, 2024
Appeal allowed due to trial judge’s incorrect evidentiary rulings, failure to help self-represented litigant
A high-conflict parenting situation led to a 10-day trial where, despite the father’s primary care of their young daughter for over three years, custody was reversed and the father, who lived in Regina, was granted parenting time in Saskatoon three weekends a month and extended vacation parenting time.
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April 19, 2024
Mystery of bail in Canada | Norman Douglas
Case 1: Alcoholic steals liquor from local LCBO.
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April 18, 2024
Gap in the legal field diversity pipeline | Fatima Ahmed
Diversity in the legal field is an ongoing discussion that has been occurring repeatedly within our profession’s ranks for many years. The problem was identified years ago and continues to plague the industry as a mainstream area of concern. Despite many law firms recognizing the necessity for diversity in the workplace, many of them continue to be predominantly white and male. Anecdotal and qualitative data have demonstrated repeatedly that the legal profession, while getting incrementally better, is not moving the needle enough on the diversity scale. Law firms and law schools alike often place the blame on one another. Meanwhile, the diversity pipeline is running dry, and we have yet to identify the root cause.