Articles

It was a light, yet eventful week at the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

This was a light week for the Court of Appeal. Topics covered included the rescission of agreements of purchase of sale of condos arising out of material changes, and the allocation of parenting time and decision-making responsibilities. The Court also clarified that “unlawful gambling”, as defined by the Criminal Code, includes games of mixed skill and chance.

Following are this week’s summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Some of the topics covered this week include rolling limitation periods in the breach of contract context, the admissibility of video surveillance and social media evidence at trial, and the law pertaining to dependent contractors in non-employment relationships.

Topics covered this week included several family law decisions, international sale of goods and striking pleadings.

This week's summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario covered topics including custody and access, wrongful dismissal and Statutory Accident Benefits from a motor-vehicle accident.

Among the summaries for this past week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario is Dermann v. Baker, 2019 ONCA 584, in which the Court considered the qualifying of certain witnesses as experts for the purposes of r. 53.03 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the standard of review for a trial judge’s charge to the jury in a civil trial, and costs assessments in the context of payments made in advance, and offers to settle.

Following are the summaries for this past week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

This week’s key decision was Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. The Act was found to be constitutional. The Court determined the main thrust of the Act was to establish minimal national standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Act falls within Parliament’s power to legislate on matters of national concern for the peace, order, and good government of Canada, and the charges it imposes are not unconstitutional.

Following are the summaries for this week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Topics covered this week included sale of goods, wrongful dismissal, family law (access by the birth mother to an adopted child) and municipal law (interpretation of a zoning bylaw relating to lot coverage).