Articles 2024

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.

In the decision of Intercounty Tennis Association v. Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2020 ONSC 1632, the Divisional Court held that applying the revised rules of judicial review established by the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 meant that patent unreasonableness in the Ontario Human Rights Code was akin to reasonableness, and dismissed an application for judicial review concluding that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s finding of discrimination was reasonable.

Those who draft complex trust instruments need to keep in mind various clauses that can modify a trustee’s duty, offering protection where liability would otherwise attach. This blog discusses a recent Hong Kong case and its upholding of an anti-Bartlett clause, used to to exclude a trustee's duty to supervise or intervene in the management of a company in which the trust holds shares.

A summary of some useful practice tips covered at the OBA Program Kissing Cousins Reunited: Focus On Family Law Issues In Estates Planning, including how to manage joint retainers - and when to avoid them - for spouses with blended families.