Family
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December 05, 2025
SCC okays jury charge; whether suicide aiders may face murder charges had ‘no bearing’ on case
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the guilt of a nurse who was convicted in Ontario of attempting to murder both her mother and child via insulin overdoses; however, the top court’s majority declined to decide if and when murder charges can be laid in respect of actions that aid the suicide of others.
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December 05, 2025
Supreme Court rules in R. v. B.F. attempted murder case
When someone has provided a person with the means to take their own life, and that person makes an independent and autonomous choice to do so, the question arises: how are we to distinguish between the offences of culpable homicide and aiding suicide?
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December 05, 2025
Don’t become the next Deepak Paradkar
In family law, we see the best and the worst of human behaviour. Spouses in crisis often come to their lawyers angry, grieving, fearful or determined to “win” — sometimes at any cost. In that emotional hurricane, even the most seasoned family law practitioners encounter clients who are prepared to lie, cheat, conceal assets, manipulate evidence or even rope their own lawyers into conduct that edges dangerously close to perjury or obstruction.
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December 05, 2025
Feds announce steps to strengthen Canada’s firearms regime
The federal government has announced three additional steps to strengthen the nation’s firearms regime, highlighting ongoing consultation with victims, “firearms experts, Indigenous Peoples, industry, firearms owners and hunters.”
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December 04, 2025
What to do when counsel is never available for urgent court applications?
One of the recurring frustrations in family law practice is the increasingly common tactic where opposing counsel is mysteriously “unavailable” for any proposed hearing date.
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December 04, 2025
A manually actuated excavation device and other excuses for legal bafflegab
Let’s call a spade a manually actuated excavation device. Why? Well, I can think of at least four reasons.
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December 03, 2025
Federal judges ‘reluctantly’ take Carney gov’t to court in dispute over pay, judicial independence
In a pay dispute with Ottawa that raises questions about the requirements for judicial independence, the Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association (CSCJA) and the associate judges of the Federal Court separately filed Federal Court applications seeking judicial review of the Carney government’s recent refusal to implement the recommendations of an independent judicial pay commission, including its advice that a $28,000 salary boost (on top of mandatory annual indexing) is necessary to keep attracting outstanding lawyers to the federal benches.
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December 03, 2025
Success rate for injured applicants at Licence Appeal Tribunal continues to plummet
As a new associate chair with significant political connections is poised to take over, the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is facing criticism over the plummeting success rate for people injured in auto accidents who are appealing decisions by insurance companies — a success rate that has dropped precipitously to only eight per cent.
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December 02, 2025
P.E.I. appoints Krista J. MacKay as new chief provincial court judge
Krista J. MacKay has been appointed chief judge of the Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island.
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December 02, 2025
Suicidal ideation not ‘a carte blanche or free pass’ to remain in Canada indefinitely without status
A Federal Court judge has granted a temporary stay of removal to a failed refugee claimant who is currently at “a very high risk” of committing suicide if imminently expelled to South Korea, finding that the balance of convenience favours the applicant as it would be “most inconvenient to be dead,” while also remarking that a “long-term mental health condition cannot be a ground for an indefinite stay of his removal.”