Resources, Articles, & Advocacy
Legislative Update | April 07, 2025
Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of April 7
Province Wants More Strong Mayors: Ontario is proposing to expand strong mayor powers to the heads of council in 169 additional municipalities starting in May. The province said on Wednesday that the expansion would help ensure municipalities have the tools they need to reduce obstacles to new housing and infrastructure developments. The additional municipalities would include the City of Orillia, the Township of Uxbridge, the Town of Wasaga Beach, the Township of King, and the Town of Collingwood. The government first granted the powers to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa in 2022, and since then has expanded them a few times. Public comments on the proposal may be submitted via email until April 16, 2025.
Legislative Update | April 04, 2025
Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of March 31
Ford Calls Tariffs “Unacceptable”: Canada got "the best of a bad deal" when the country was spared yet another volley of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says. But that deal is still "totally unacceptable," Ford was quick to add when speaking with reporters at Queen's Park Thursday, noting the threat to the nation's auto sector especially is still "very high." Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced Canada is retaliating against Trump's trade policy with a 25 per cent tariff on vehicles imported from the U.S. that are not compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Legislative Update | March 31, 2025
Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of March 24
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.”
Article | March 24, 2025
Taking the Fun out of Funding: Developments in U.K. Litigation Funding and their Impact on Access to Justice
Class actions became part of the U.K. landscape with their introduction in competition law in October 2015. Since then, third-party litigation funding in that area has surged. However, this trend was halted by two recent decisions: one on the permissibility of certain kinds of funding agreements, and the other on funder control over settlements. This article will describe those developments and their implications for the litigation funding industry in class actions.
Article | March 16, 2025
Don’t Delay: Ontario Court of Appeal Updates Dismissal for Delay Test and Finds It Applies to Class Actions
This article reviews Barbiero v Pollack, 2024 ONCA 904, where the Court of Appeal for Ontario updated the Langenecker test for dismissal for delay, deciding that delay alone constitutes prejudice. The Court also emphasized that when it comes to dismissal for delay, class actions do not benefit from special treatment or exemptions from the consequences of inordinate delay – certified class actions can be dismissed for delay in the same manner as an individual action.
Article | March 15, 2025
Certification Denied in Privacy Breach Proposed Class Action: No Intent, Just Human Error
The Ontario Superior Court refused to certify a proposed class action against the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services arising from an ODSP privacy breach. The court found that the facts as pleaded could not support the requisite intent or actionable harm for the causes of action advanced.
Article | March 15, 2025
Miss Independent: The Role of Independent Counsel in Class Proceedings
This article examines the role of independent counsel in class proceedings in carriage motions and class counsel fee approval motions following settlement. This article also explores the benefits and limitations of involving independent counsel at various stages of a class proceeding.
Article | March 15, 2025
Assessment of Parallel Class Proceedings in Multiple Provinces Should Occur at Certification and Not on Preliminary Stay Motion
In InvestorCOM Inc. v. L’Anton, 2025 BCCA 40 (“InvestorCOM”), the British Columbia Court of Appeal considered whether a proposed class proceeding should be stayed, prior to the certification hearing, in favour of a similar proposed class action in Ontario. The Court concluded that the fact that there was some overlap between the two proceedings did not mean that one was necessarily an abuse of process. Barring exceptional circumstances, the proper time for determining whether a parallel class proceeding should be stayed is at the certification hearing and not before.
