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  • December 11, 2020
  • Image: "Bee keeper" by Oregon Department of Agriculture is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Few people wish for their case to make ground breaking law. Few desire fame through a court decision.  I was reminded recently of a tragic example of a famous Canadian case. Up to the late 1970s, women who claimed a beneficial share of...

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  • December 4, 2020
 “One-quarter of Kelowna elementary students 'below expectations',” a headline recently read. As a parent, and as a lawyer, I confess that I am puzzled by the prominence given in the media to these “rankings”, year after year. Would the Fraser Institute’s ranking...

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  • November 27, 2020
  • Image: "Study" by Tim Swinson | http://timswinson.com is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Clearly, some members of society are being left behind amid responses to  corona virus. Women, the disabled and the impoverished are particularly affected. Between March and June, schools in B.C. and Alberta abruptly closed. Alberta’s government is closing middle and high schools again...

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  • November 20, 2020
  • Image: German government launches Covid-19 warning app for anonymous contact tracing of infected persons by verchmarco
In the wake of 9-11, after the twin towers fell in New York city, there was a strong sense that Americans – and North Americans – were under threat. The prevailing feeling was that drastic times called for drastic measures. In...

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  • November 13, 2020
  • Image: "Mr Sub Pepperoni Salami Sandwich" by Like_the_Grand_Canyon is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision last week in 1688782 Ontario Inc. v. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. The Court was divided on whether Maple Leaf Foods ought to owe a duty of care to Mr. Sub franchisees. In 2008,...

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  • November 6, 2020
  • Image: Banana peeled by richard_north. This image was marked with a CC BY 2.0 license.
My son recently came home with a joke, “What did the banana say to the judge?” First, let’s look at a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada constructive dismissal decision. In Potter v. New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission, the Supreme Court...

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  • October 30, 2020
  • Image: "File:A skeletal doctor testifies at court. Lithograph by L. Crusi Wellcome V0042242ER.jpg" is licensed under CC BY 4.0
In Cambie Surgeries Corporation v British Columbia (Attorney General), the court expressed concerns about the impartiality and independence of certain experts. The plaintiffs sought to have certain provisions of the Medicare Protection Act declared unconstitutional. Patients, they said, should not be...

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  • October 23, 2020
  • Image: "Pension Plan - retired couple on a stack of coins" by verchmarco is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In Fraser v. Canada (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada recently held that the RCMP violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter) for women who job shared. This case involved indirect, or adverse effect, discrimination. This occurs...

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  • October 16, 2020
  • Image: "The Bait" by nist6dh is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a recent unanimous decision in Matthews v. Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited, restored an award exceeding $1 million to a constructively dismissed employee. In so doing, the Court affirmed that it remains: … resolute in asserting that...

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  • October 9, 2020
  • Image: "Job search" by slightly everything is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Recently, in Dubois v. Milne, the B.C. Court of Appeal considered a claim for an oppression remedy in the wrongful dismissal context. The oppression remedy is a powerful way of addressing misconduct that has harmed a “shareholder.” Section 227(2) of the Business...

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