In-House Counsel
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July 18, 2025
Indigenous leaders express ongoing concerns after PM’s First Nations Major Projects Summit
Some Indigenous leaders remain skeptical of the federal government’s Building Canada Act following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s First Nations Major Projects Summit on July 17, saying the legislation fails to uphold the principle of free, prior and informed consent.
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July 18, 2025
Court halts union representation vote count pending outcome of incumbent union’s application
The Federal Court of Appeal has ordered a halt to the counting of ballots in a union representation vote at Air Canada, finding that the incumbent union could face irreparable harm if it lost the vote but ultimately succeeded in its challenge to the order authorizing the vote.
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July 18, 2025
Federal Court of Appeal shuts down rare, longstanding film copyright reverse class action
For the second time, the Federal Court of Appeal has refused to certify a rare reverse class action proposed by Los Angeles-based film producer Voltage Pictures, setting aside the Federal Court’s finding that a class proceeding was the preferable procedure for resolving Voltage’s allegations that its film copyright was infringed through online sharing.
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July 18, 2025
Navigating AI in legal practice: Responsibilities, risks and realities, part two
We all know that AI has many upsides, and it’s taking the legal profession by storm. We also know that it must be used with caution. In the first segment of this three-part series, we took a look at some key initial concerns that can arise in connection with lawyers’ use of AI in their legal practices. These touched on legal ethics and potential bias, and how using AI can impact a lawyer’s professional responsibility obligations.
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July 18, 2025
Relational vs. transactional: Why Canada continues to fail at implementing Indigenous rights
There is a fundamental difference in worldview that continues to undermine the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Crown in Canada — a difference that can be summarized as relational versus transactional. This tension lies at the heart of the ongoing failure to fully implement treaties, recognize Indigenous legal orders, or give meaningful effect to constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights.
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July 18, 2025
Express Entry at the crossroads: How our immigration policies are redefining selection
Canada’s Express Entry system has undergone a fundamental recalibration in the first half of 2025, shaped by the federal government’s decision to sharply reduce overall immigration levels. What was once a predictable and steadily expanding pathway has become a far more selective and strategically targeted mechanism. This shift has had measurable consequences for candidates, provinces and the legal practitioners who advise them.
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July 17, 2025
Wide-open-door policy ‘is not how we roll,’ Federal Court of Appeal judge tells would-be interveners
The Federal Court of Appeal’s senior puisne judge says those applying to intervene at the national intermediate appellate court should ask themselves whether their presence “will advance our work.”
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July 17, 2025
Court revives Clearview AI class action, finds query-based class identification not ‘opt-in scheme’
The Federal Court of Appeal has revived a proposed class action against facial recognition firm Clearview AI, ruling that a process requiring potential class members to query the company to confirm their inclusion does not undermine the “opt-out” nature of Canadian class actions.
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July 17, 2025
Psilocybin access: FCA rules government must explain policy change
Government policy — especially science-based policy — is not supposed to stand still. But when policy changes, it is not enough for an administrative decision-maker to simply reference the change when making a decision that is clearly inconsistent with prior determinations on identical issues. That was the conclusion of the Federal Court of Appeal in Toth v. Canada (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health), 2025 FCA 119 — a case that concerned a discretionary exemption for access to psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms.
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July 16, 2025
Carney announces new measures to protect steel industry including TRQs on FTA partners
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a series of new measures to protect the domestic steel industry, including the introduction of a tariff rate quota (TRQ) for steel imports from Canada’s free trade agreement (FTA) partners, excluding the United States.