Insurance

  • October 30, 2025

    Black magic and black letter: Legal tales of witchcraft, ghosts and haunted houses

    It was not a dark and stormy night. It was actually a pleasant fall morning, and I probably should have been entering my dockets. But the Halloween spirit was in the air, and it moved me to see what Canadian law has to say about the occult. Read on if you dare. I promise there won’t be anything as frightening as the Income Tax Act.

  • October 29, 2025

    William Abourjaili-Bilodeau joins RSS’s insurance team

    Robinson Sheppard Shapiro LLP (RSS) has welcomed William Abourjaili-Bilodeau to its insurance practice group.

  • October 29, 2025

    Commons committee invites public input on improving peace bonds, recognizance orders

    A House of Commons committee is soliciting submissions by Nov. 28 to inform its new study of how the safety of women and children is affected by Canada’s bail and sentencing regimes, and how Criminal Code s. 810 (recognizance orders or peace bonds) can be improved to help keep women and children safe.

  • October 29, 2025

    Guardianship applications: Navigating the thoroughfares of the SDA

    The Substitute Decisions Act outlines the steps needed to appoint a guardian in a variety of circumstances. The appointment of a guardian under the Act may become necessary if a person becomes incapable without having already executed a power of attorney appointing someone to make decisions on their behalf during their incapacity. In other cases, an incapable person may have already executed a POA, but the attorney, for whatever reason, is no longer suitable.

  • October 28, 2025

    CJ Crampton says Federal Court ‘won’t hesitate’ to impose costs on lawyers for undisclosed GenAI use

    Counsel who “thumb their noses” at the Federal Court’s requirement to disclose any and all generative AI they used to create court filings will find that the national trial court “won’t hesitate” to ding them with personal costs or initiate contempt proceedings, warns Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton.

  • October 28, 2025

    B.C. court rules Insurance Act and not PPSA governs priority dispute over unearned premiums

    The B.C. Supreme Court has held that an insurance finance company’s security interest in unearned insurance premiums has priority over a lender’s general security interest registered under the B.C. Personal Property Security Act (PPSA).

  • October 23, 2025

    Ottawa introduces criminal legislation to create more bail reverse onuses, consecutive sentences

    The minority Liberal government has unveiled contentious legislation detailing the stiffer sentences — including consecutive sentencing — and expanded bail restrictions and reverse onuses that Prime Minister Mark Carney recently pledged to introduce this week.

  • October 23, 2025

    The case for in-person appearances

    I am no fan of in-person discoveries or mediation, purely from a selfish perspective of my time. Virtual discovery and mediation allow us to be more efficient with our time and our clients’ money. While I am not advocating for a return to all discoveries and mediations being in person, there is no doubt that something is missing.

  • October 22, 2025

    Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan to host Access to Justice Week 2025

    Three provinces are holding the 10th annual National Access to Justice Week later this month. Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan are listed as hosing the event, which runs this year from Oct. 27 to 31 and is being quarterbacked by the Action Group on Access to Justice (TAG).

  • October 21, 2025

    CRA call centres often fail to deliver accurate, timely help, says auditor general

    The Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) call centres, which are supposed to help individuals and businesses with their tax queries, frequently dispense inaccurate and/or incomplete information and make Canadians wait unacceptably long times to get it, according to the latest review by the auditor general of Canada.