Justice Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in R. v. Rogers Communications Partnerships [2016] O.J. No. 151 has ruled that police cannot seek the production of cellphone records of thousands of Canadians in order to pursue investigations. This means that the personal information of … [Read more...]
Medical Assistance in Dying: From Rodriguez to Bill-C14
Medical assistance in dying (MAID) involves intentionally ending one’s life with the assistance of a medical doctor. For some individuals, especially those suffering from terminal illnesses, choosing when to die could be very important: for example, persons could choose to end life with dignity, … [Read more...]
Medical Assistance in Dying: An Enormous Change in Canadian Social Policy
Now, the focus will shift to the provinces.On June 17, 2016, Canada passed Bill C-14, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, to enable citizens to access medical assistance in dying. Canada now joins a small group of countries and U.S. states that give their citizens such an option. It came about … [Read more...]
Constructive Dismissal Still Under Construction
“constructive dismissal can [occur when]… a series of acts that, taken together, show that the employer intended to no longer be bound by the contract.” - Potter v. New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission[2015] 1 SCR 500 http://canlii.ca/t/ggkhh Introduction Constructive dismissal … [Read more...]
Rasouli: Withdrawal of Medical Treatment
“… a myriad of important interests, such as the integrity of our health care system, (is) at stake.” - Cuthbertson v. Rasouli, [2013] 3 SCR 341 Introduction In October 2010, Mr. Rasouli underwent surgery at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario to remove a benign brain tumour. … [Read more...]
Changes to Child Support Applications
Exchanging financial information is crucial to determine child support. John-Paul Boyd gave a great overview of child support in LawNow Issues 38-4 and 38-5. I covered the general duty to disclose financial information in family law cases in LawNow Issue 39-5. There have been some recent changes in … [Read more...]
40-6: Medical Assistance in Dying
Canada has joined a small group of countries and U.S. states with an assisted dying law. This issue looks at the new law and how Canada came to this enormous change in social, health and legal policy.Volume 40-6 July / Aug. 2016 Full PDF of this issueTable of … [Read more...]
BenchPress – Vol 40-6
1. CRA loses out to Solicitor-Client Privilege The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sent a lawyer a request to produce documents about his personal finances and also his current accounts receivable. The lawyer provided some material but refused to produce his current accounts, claiming that to do so … [Read more...]
Stranger Than We Can Imagine
Stranger Than We Can Imagine – John Higgs’s intriguing and unique tour of the 20th Century.I recommend to readers trying to make sense of the tumultuous twentieth century a fresh historical take – John Higgs’s Stranger Than We Can Imagine: An Alternative History of the Twentieth Century. Its … [Read more...]
Critiques of Assisted Suicide
A terminal illness is any disease that curtails life even for a day.- Jack Kevorkian, National Press Club in 1992 Introduction The Carter decision of the Supreme Court of Canada appears to have been generally well received by most Canadians. Yet the decision and new implementing legislation … [Read more...]
