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Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of November 10
November 14, 2025
Ontario Fall Economic Statement: The Ontario government tabled their Fall Economic Statement on Thursday providing updates on their plan to "Protect Ontario". The projected deficit is down by $1.1 billion compared to the projections in the 2025 budget, while the unemployment rate is expected to rise by 1%, to 7.8%. The government still plans to balance the books by 2027-28.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of November 3
November 07, 2025
Ontario Fall Economic Statement: The Ontario government tabled their Fall Economic Statement on Thursday providing updates on their plan to "Protect Ontario". The projected deficit is down by $1.1 billion compared to the projections in the 2025 budget, while the unemployment rate is expected to rise by 1%, to 7.8%. The government still plans to balance the books by 2027-28.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of October 20
October 28, 2025
Ford v Trump: President Trump announced plans to halt trade negotiations with Canada over Premier Ford’s anti-tariff ad campaign in the U.S. Earlier this month, Ontario launched a $75 million ad campaign in the U.S. using former President Reagan’s own words discussing the negative impacts of tariffs.
Learn moreRecent Child Rights Research and Advocacy PLUS National Child Day 2025
Jean-Frédéric Hübsch, Newsletter Editor | October 24, 2025
This is your occasional dip into what child rights researchers and advocates have been up to of late. You’ll also want to read on for some helpful links as you get ready for National Child Day on November 20.
Learn moreDon't Miss These Upcoming Child and Youth Law Programs!
Jean-Frédéric Hübsch, Newsletter Editor | October 24, 2025
Your Child and Youth Law Section executive committee has put together three(!) upcoming events for anyone whose practice intersects with the rights and interests of children.
Learn moreRecognizing Excellence in Advocacy for Children and their Rights
Jean-Frédéric Hübsch | October 24, 2025
Each year, many of the Ontario Bar Association’s sections recognize those members who have made exceptional contributions to their areas of practice. This year, two longtime contributors to the Child and Youth Law Section are being recognized by their colleagues for their various accomplishments.
Learn moreHow do we, as lawyers, guide our clients through CAS involvement? Arguably, the answer lies in striking a careful balance: cooperating with the Society while maintaining strategic advocacy in our client’s best interests. It means helping the client engage meaningfully with CAS, without exposing themselves to unnecessary risk, self-incrimination, or the erosion of their legal rights.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of October 6
October 14, 2025
Premier Ford Car Alarm: U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Canadian officials and business leaders that America is committed to consolidating vehicle assembly within its borders and that Canada would come “second”. Premier Ford warned that Canada faces a massive threat to domestic manufacturing, and threatened cutting off critical mineral exports to the U.S.
Learn moreQueen's Park Day and Pre-Budget Consultation
September 12, 2025
The OBA will be holding a Queen's Park Day in Spring 2026 and will likely provide a submission on the annual pre-budget consultations, which typically occurs in early January. Sections are invited to provide section executive approved policy proposals for consideration by no later than December 8, 2025.
Learn moreYCJA Record Access in Child Protection Proceedings
Jonathan (Yoni) Glasenberg, Counsel, Office of the Ontario Ombudsman | June 06, 2025
On May 6th, the Ontario Bar Association’s Child and Youth Law and Young Lawyers Division hosted a professional development webinar featuring updates on pressing issues in child protection law. As part of a panel on “Privacy Records in Child Welfare”, Sam Wisnicki of the Office of the Children’s Lawyer presented an overview of the rules governing access to youth criminal justice records and information and their application to child protection proceedings.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of May 12
May 16, 2025
Province Tables Tariff-Era Budget: The Ford government plans to run a substantial deficit of almost $15 billion and spend more than $230 billion this year. On Thursday, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy presented the government’s 2025 budget, a document dominated by the tariff response and how it will impact the economy.
Learn moreBalancing Child Protection Considerations Against Parents’ Religious Freedoms under the Charter
When assessing the emotional harm to children caused by parents sharing the details of their conflict with children, particularly when parents claim their religious beliefs mandate full transparency, Children’s Aid Societies (CAS) must balance child protection considerations against parents’ Charter rights.
Learn moreComparative Children’s Rights: Developments in Quebec since the Laurent Commission
Jean-Frédéric Hübsch, Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa | April 25, 2025
A very brief history of children’s rights law in Quebec since the May 2021 final report of the province’s Special Commission on the Rights of the Child and Youth Protection ("Laurent Commission").
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of March 24
March 31, 2025
OBA Seeks "Urgency, Transparency and Accountability" from LSO: In an op-ed published on Thursday, the OBA urged the Law Society of Ontario to deal quickly with the current crisis and then shift its focus from the insular considerations of how to govern itself to the vital work of governing. “These are hard times for the rule of law, access to justice and our economic stability. Lawyers have a critical role to play," OBA President Kathryn Manning wrote. “We must get past this issue and turn our efforts to these fundamental matters. The only way past this issue is to chart a straightforward course through; there is no getting around it. We look forward to working with the many benchers who recognize that.”
Learn moreChildren, Youth, and Climate Change: The Latest Decision in Mathur v. Ontario
Laura Pettigrew, member-at-large, OBA Child & Youth Law Section | November 04, 2024
In October 2024, the Ontario Court of Appeal allowed an appeal in Mathur v Ontario, an ongoing youth-led climate case. The Court found that the Province voluntarily assumed a positive statutory obligation to combat climate change, meaning its target and plan need to be Charter compliant. Although the Court allowed the appeal, it declined to decide the application and instead remitted the matter for a new hearing before the same or another justice of the Superior Court.
Learn moreWhat Are You Doing for National Child Day?
Jean-Frédéric Hübsch, newsletter editor, Child & Youth Law Section | October 25, 2024
A quick tour of ways to celebrate National Child Day and World Children's Day on November 20. Child Day is an opportunity to learn more about children's rights and, in 2024, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Learn moreCase Commentary: ASP v. Health Professions Appeal and Review Board 2024 ONSC 438
Dania Bajwa | October 25, 2024
On August 7th, 2024, the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released an important decision affirming the rights of children with capacity to make decisions about their own health care under Ontario’s Health Care Consent Act, 1996. This decision marks a pivotal moment in the province’s recognition of capable children’s indisputable right to consent to medical treatments.
Learn moreOntario’s Non-Existent Duty of Care to Children Injured Preconception
This essay by a former summer student at Justice for Children and Youth argues that children should be able to recover damages from doctors for the negative lifelong consequences of medical decisions made preconception. The author looks to past and recent Ontario cases, including a strong dissent in<em> Florence v Benzaquen</em>, 2021 ONCA 523, to argue that the law is not settled in this area. The views expressed in this essay are those of the author only.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of May 6
May 10, 2024
Safeguarding Students: The Ontario government plans to introduce regulatory changes through legislation that would create protections to better safeguard students’ information from being stolen or used inappropriately while on school devices. In a news release, the province said future regulations could include age-appropriate standards for software programs on devices, like laptops, used by students at school, as well as stronger standards for software procurement to avoid the use or selling of student data for predatory marketing by third parties.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of April 29
May 06, 2024
PCs Win Two Byelections: Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative candidates won both Ontario byelections by convincing margins on Thursday. PC candidate Zee Hamid won by more than 2,400 votes, or nine percentage points, while fellow PC Steve Pinsonneault drew 57 per cent of the votes in the Tory stronghold of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of April 22
April 26, 2024
Need for Speed: The Ontario government is raising the speed limit from 100 km/h to 110km/h on 10 additional sections of provincial highways. The changes will apply to certain sections of Highways 401, 403, 406, 416 and 69.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of April 15
April 19, 2024
Pain at the Pumps: Premier Doug Ford lashed out about the sharp rise in gas prices this week. But what is causing it? Well, prices at Ontario gas stations are tied to what happens in the New York Harbour, which switched to the summer blend on April 16.
Learn moreYour OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of April 8
April 12, 2024
Homing In at Queen’s Park: The Ford government has unveiled a new omnibus bill focused on streamlining home building and approvals in the province. The Cutting Red Tape to Build More Housing Act includes a reduction in the amount of parking developers need to build, special rules to fast-track the construction of student accommodation and a “use-it-or-lose-it” policy. The province wants to get 1.5 million new homes built by 2031.
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