Family
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April 07, 2025
B.C. court certifies class action over public guardian’s failure to secure benefits for children in care
The B.C. Supreme Court has certified a class action against the province's Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT), alleging that it was negligent and breached its fiduciary duty to children in care by failing to obtain no-cost federal and provincial education benefits for them.
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April 07, 2025
More on mental health and the practice of law | Gary S. Joseph
I want to get onboard with the movement to bring more attention to the problem of mental health issues in the profession. In my view, it is undeniable that the practice of law has become more stressful in my almost half century of practice.
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April 04, 2025
Ontario court injunction bars solicitation of claimants in $32.5 billion tobacco class action
In a rare move, the Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court has granted an injunction preventing lawyers, law firms or other entities from soliciting potential claimants in the mediated $32.5 billion class action settlement involving three tobacco companies, Canadian provinces and territories, and victims of tobacco use.
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April 04, 2025
New report finds businesses not succession ready as many owners retire
Canada is facing a wave of small business closures amid “economic uncertainty and tariff wars,” partly driven by the number of retiring baby boomer entrepreneurs, according to a new report by consulting firm MNP, which found that nearly two-thirds (64.1 per cent) of Canadian businesses have no succession plan.
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April 04, 2025
New Brunswick investing in start of courts’ digital upgrade
New Brunswick is spending $5 million to kick-start the digital transformation of its courts. In what is being called an investment in greater access to justice, New Brunswick’s government will spend more than $32 million over six years for the technological revamp of the province’s court system, which will include various digital upgrades to the courts, as detailed in an April 3 news release.
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April 03, 2025
Sexual assault and IPV survivors sue Ottawa, argue Jordan fallout violates their s. 7 Charter rights
Fourteen sexual assault and intimate partner violence survivors have sued Ottawa for $15 million in Charter damages and systemic remedies for the federal government’s alleged unjustified breach of their Charter s. 7 right to fundamental justice by not responding effectively to R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 and its fallout.
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April 03, 2025
Canada’s immigration reset: Why cutting numbers isn’t the answer
In the latest chapter of Canada’s evolving immigration story, political debate is heating up. With the next federal election looming, all eyes are on how each party plans to shape immigration in the face of economic uncertainty, housing crises and shifting demographics. One thing is clear: reducing immigration isn’t as straightforward — or as wise — as it may seem.
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April 03, 2025
Some thoughts on mental health and civility in practice | Gary Joseph
Some of you (or maybe more of you than I think) must be tiring of my writings on the issue of civility. I understand, but the longer I practise, the more I see the importance of civility in our family law practice. Today I wish to reach a little further into this aspect of practice, go somewhat granular, and link civility with the issue of mental health.
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April 02, 2025
Federal Court: Residential schools settlement bars class action by survivors’ children
A proposed class action against the Crown brought by an Indigenous person who was abused by his father, a residential school survivor, has been struck on the basis that it is barred by the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
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April 02, 2025
Canadian Judicial Council weighs in on what not to say from the bench
A trial judge who vented his frustrations in court during “a particularly bad day” has been rebuked by the federal judicial council for disrespectful and hurtful comments he made from the bench that publicly belittled and humiliated a litigant.