May 06, 2026
For many family businesses, especially those built across generations, the business is more than an asset. It represents decades of effort, risk-taking, and personal investment, which forms part of the family’s identity and legacy. Many family businesses are passed down among generations, with the ownership and management of such businesses often governed by family shareholder agreements. Yet, other family businesses may lack a clear succession plan when the next generation is not willing or capable of stepping into an owner-manager role.
May 06, 2026
By now, it should be abundantly clear that modern estate planning — particularly for clients with intellectual property — is less “tidy will and testament” and more “multidimensional chess played against the future.” The good news? There are strategies. The less-good news? They require actual planning.
May 05, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour will become Canada’s next governor general. Arbour will become the first former judge of the top court to take on the vice-regal role.
May 05, 2026
The British Columbia Supreme Court has found that a company was in default and required to repay two promissory notes after a financing that met the notes' $5 million gross-proceeds threshold. The court allowed the plaintiff's application for a summary trial on the matter, noting that it “will provide a just outcome.”
May 05, 2026
In a decision on April 22, the Superior Court of Quebec (SCQ) annulled a 2025 award issued by an arbitrator in a domestic arbitration between the Osman Medical Clinic (Osman) in Quebec and the provincial health authority, Santé Québec-CCSMTL.
May 05, 2026
In Blake v. Ahmed, 2025 BCCA 384, the British Columbia Court of Appeal reaffirmed that litigants advancing organized pseudolegal commercial arguments (OPCA), cannot expect their claims to proceed to trial. The decision underscores the judiciary’s continued willingness to summarily dismiss legally untenable claims, particularly where they seek to challenge established tax enforcement mechanisms and waste the court’s time.
May 05, 2026
Ontario courts continue to refine the boundaries of the province’s anti‑SLAPP regime, particularly at the threshold stage where a defendant must show that a proceeding arises from an expression relating to a matter of public interest. While the test is designed to be a modest one, recent decisions demonstrate that its application can still present difficulties where the line between “public” and “private” expression is blurred.
May 05, 2026
Appeal by Minister of Education and Child Care (Minister) and the Lieutenant Governor in Council (collectively, Province) from two interlocutory orders. The orders were issued in a judicial review proceeding brought by the former trustees of Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Former Trustees).
May 04, 2026
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has rejected a leave to appeal application for non-party subpoenas in a class action relating to prepaid purchase cards.
May 04, 2026
Let’s start with the burdens of proof in the 2021 amendments which I discussed in my October 2025 article (“Bill C-223: Bad ideas on child relocation”). The burdens of proof are intended to give structure to the analysis of the best interests of the child, based upon what we do and don’t know about the impact of relocation upon children.