Insurance
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May 30, 2025
DND says it now offers independent legal advice to victims of sexual misconduct in the military
The Department of National Defence (DND) says it has expanded the services of its Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre to offer “independent” and “direct” free legal assistance to those 18 years and older, who have experienced sexual misconduct in a DND or Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) “context.”
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May 29, 2025
Carney says CIT ruling that certain Trump tariffs on Canada are illegal accords with Ottawa’s view
Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed yesterday’s now-paused U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruling that set aside the Trump administration’s recent imposition of certain hefty tariffs on goods from Canada and other countries.
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May 29, 2025
FIRE INSURANCE - Exclusions
Appeal by appellant from the dismissal of his action for damages against respondent insurance company. During its investigation of the fire, the insurer learned the appellant was growing marijuana plants, pursuant to a valid licence issued by Health Canada.
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May 28, 2025
Common pitfalls in tribunal adjudication of mental health matters, part two: Potential solutions
In part one of this series, I highlighted due process and natural justice or fairness concerns identified by reviewing courts in two mental health tribunal proceedings. In a span of less than four weeks recently, decisions of Ontario’s civil mental health adjudicator, the Consent and Capacity Board, and the Criminal Code-based forensic psychiatric administrative tribunal, the Ontario Review Board, were overturned and returned to them for re-hearing in Hastick v. Banik, 2025 ONSC 3007 and Clayton (Re), respectively.
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May 28, 2025
Ontario reintroduces Act to attract surveyors, enable carbon storage and tackle wildfires
The Ontario government has re-introduced the Resource Management and Safety Act, aimed at enabling and regulating the use of carbon storage technology, as well as attracting more land surveyors to support Ontario’s plan to build more homes and other infrastructure.
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May 28, 2025
Elie Laskin joins Harper Grey as an associate
Harper Grey has announced the addition of Elie Laskin as an associate in its health and insurance law groups.
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May 28, 2025
Pitfalls in tribunal adjudication of mental health matters: Issues identified by reviewing courts
This past month, two different reviewing courts have provided very similar guidance to two different mental health tribunals in Ontario. On April 24, 2025, the Court of Appeal for Ontario found that Ernest Clayton’s fitness review hearing before the Ontario Review Board constituted a miscarriage of justice and must be reconsidered afresh. Similarly, on May 21, 2025, the Superior Court of Justice returned a review of Arlene Hastick’s Community Treatment Order to the Consent and Capacity Board for re-hearing on the basis that she was denied procedural fairness.
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May 27, 2025
Civil court delay reduction and prejudgment interest
In fall 2023, Attorney General Doug Downey created the civil rules review (CRR) with a mandate to identify issues and develop proposals for reforming the Rules of Civil Procedure. The CRR’s Phase 1 Consultation Paper asked: What reforms might improve efficiency and reduce delays and costs?
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May 26, 2025
Burned by ambiguity: Court of Appeal reinstates coverage for fire in licensed marijuana grow op
The British Columbia Court of Appeal’s recent ruling in Busato v. Gore Mutual Insurance Co., 2025 BCCA 79 serves as a caution for insurers relying on broadly framed exclusion clauses. The court overturned the trial judge’s decision to uphold the insurer’s denial of coverage, finding that the exclusion relied upon was ambiguous, unreasonable and ultimately unenforceable.
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May 23, 2025
CSA announces proxy delivery relief if postal service suspended
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has announced that regulators will offer temporary relief from current requirements to deliver proxy-related materials for shareholder meetings if a Canada Post strike completely suspends postal service.