Here at CPLEA, we have been getting more questions lately about shared accommodation problems. There are two living arrangements that typically fall under the term shared accommodation: roommates living together in a rental property and a landlord and tenant(s) sharing living space (for example, a … [Read more...]
Reinstatement
Introduction Many Canadians will remember the case of Lynden Dorval, the Edmonton public school teacher, who was fired by his school board for dispensing marks of zero to students who did not do their assignments. Recently the case reached the Alberta Court of Appeal on the question of whether Mr. … [Read more...]
Dealing with Pets after Separation, Part 1: Understanding the Law on Personal Property
Family law is about how serious cohabiting relationships start and end, how children are cared for after separation, how the bills are paid after separation, and how the property and debts that accumulated during a relationship are split when it ends. Despite the folks who’d very much like to apply … [Read more...]
Whatever Happened to … Scandalous Criminal Allegations: the Miazga Case
Introduction Miazga v. Kvello Estate is a tragic, yet fascinating, case which reminds us of the devastating power of criminal prosecution to ruin innocent lives and the near impossibility to hold Crown prosecutors legally accountable when that happens [(2009) 3 SCR 339, 2009 SCC 51 … [Read more...]
Court of Appeal says Police Can’t Climb Through Windows and Spy on You
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently held in its decision in R. v. White [2015] O.J. No. 3563 that police officers do not have unrestricted access to enter common areas in residential buildings to gather evidence against an individual.The police had suspected that Mr. White was dealing drugs … [Read more...]
The Peterloo Massacre and Shelley’s Great Poem The Mask of Anarchy
I note that The Guardian newspaper features an interview with Mike Leigh, director of a number of superb films like High Hopes, Vera Drake, and Mr Turner, indicating that his next project will be a dramatization of the infamous 1819 Manchester massacre, a traumatic event in British history. The … [Read more...]
The “no gifts to non-qualified donees” rule
The registered charities provisions of the Income Tax Act (ITA) feature a number of obscure terms. That makes registered charities vulnerable to inadvertent non-compliance. It means prudent organizations need to keep a keen eye on regulatory trends and emerging issues. Looming regulatory concerns … [Read more...]
Human Rights Protection Added for Transgender Identity
A trans-identified, transgender or transsexual person is someone who feels they were born in the wrong body (for example, someone born either with female anatomy who feels male, or with male anatomy who feels female, on a deep, psychological and emotional level) and therefore has a gender identity … [Read more...]
The Law of Leafleting and Picketing
Introduction Distributing leaflets to people and picketing are longstanding forms of employee expression, commonly to protest or draw attention to employment disputes. Primary picketing is attending at a place of business or employment with an object of persuasion, usually to dissuade others from … [Read more...]
Superintendent of Bankruptcy Changes Designation to Licensed Insolvency Trustee
Individuals able to provide debt relief services under the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (BIA) in Canada are licensed by the federal government through the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB). In December of 2015, the OSB announced a significant change in the designation of these … [Read more...]
