Articles 2021

This article outlines the background, and the key concepts decided by Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) in the investigation by the Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada into Facebook's practices. The FCA concluded that Facebook failed to obtain meaningful consent from friends of users to disclose their data and breached its safeguarding obligations by failing to adequately monitor and enforce the privacy practices of third-party applications operating on the platform.

As defence counsel, we are always dealing with what can be deducted from any settlement and award and the recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court provides some direction on the deductibility of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) in a motor vehicle accident.

In Ontario civil litigation, actions concerning coverage disputes and uninsurable losses can dominate the legal landscape, specifically concerning the interpretation of the duties and obligations of an insurance broker. It is critical for both insureds (individuals or companies with insurance policies) and brokers to understand the specific duties and obligations that are required in a customer-broker relationship.

Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of September 23, 2024.

This article reviews the majority decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Power, 2024 SCC 26, regarding the limited availability of Charter damages for unconstitutional legislation, a subject of interest to those litigating class actions against governments.

In Jacques v. Canada, 2024 FC 851, the Federal Court refused to certify a data breach class action because class members’ claims became limitations-barred after the proceeding was issued, but before the certification hearing. This decision reminds us that limitations are substantive rights and that class action limitations regimes vary across Canada.

Recent updates in Ontario and Federal pension legislation, regulatory policy, caselaw and taxation.

Please find below our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal of Ontario for the week of September 16, 2024. There were only two civil decisions of any length.

On July 7, 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Richard v. The Attorney General of Canada, 2024 ONSC 3800 certified a class proceeding on behalf of all persons who were detained for immigration purposes in a provincial or territorial correctional facility since May 16, 2016, including a subclass of individuals with a mental health condition. The claim asserts causes of action for Charter breaches and in negligence.