Articles 2021

With production across North America grinding to a halt, what are the key legal issues emerging from the coronavirus pandemic?

Child rights advocates, including two members of the OBA Child and Youth Law Section, express concern for the safety of children deprived of their liberty in Canada during #COVID19. Read their open Letter to federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Justice.

Minutes from the May 5th meeting of the Commercial List Users’ Committee (CLUC).

As of April 29th, 2020, 79 per cent of all deaths in Canada from COVID-19 occurred in seniors’ and long-term care homes. This article takes a critical look at why long-term care facilities were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and what the future hold for the residents and staff of Ontario’s 600 long-term care facilities.

On March 25, 2020, the Ontario Bar Association hosted a timely and informative webinar on “Emergency Powers and their limitations and protections against their arbitrary use” in the context of COVID-19. Program speakers Leah West and Michael Bryant provided an overview of the statutory tools available to governments to protect the public during the pandemic and explored some of the civil rights impacts of statutory measures.

Recent decision signals a plaintiff-friendly reading of Ontario's new Crown liability statute

This was an appeal of Jose Schoelly (“Mr. Schoelly” or the “Member”), a registered massage therapist, with respect to the outcome of discipline proceeding before a panel of the Discipline Committee of the College of Massage Therapists (“Discipline Committee” or the “Panel”).

In this case, the Applicant, Sunrise North Senior Living, was seeking an order in the nature of mandamus compelling the Sheriff of the Regional Municipality (Sheriff) to comply with an order requiring the eviction of the respondent Rohan Salmon (Salmon) from a unit in Sunrise North. This case provides a clear analysis of requirements to obtain an order in the nature of mandamus, in particular, discusses the issue of the balance of convenience which was a key factor in this case.

Mattar v. The National Dental Examining Board of Canada, 2020 ONSC 403 (Div Ct) is a decision of the Divisional Court, released only a couple of months after the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65. As one of the early decisions to consider the new doctrine of responsive justification, Mattar is one example of how Vavilov may motivate reviewing courts to require better quality administrative tribunal reasons.