Articles

Following are the summaries for this past week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

This week’s key decision was Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. The Act was found to be constitutional. The Court determined the main thrust of the Act was to establish minimal national standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Act falls within Parliament’s power to legislate on matters of national concern for the peace, order, and good government of Canada, and the charges it imposes are not unconstitutional.

Canada’s subsidies of fossil fuels (particularly diesel) support over-fishing by industrial fleets, and undermine the progress of recent amendments to the Fisheries Act to rebuild devastated marine fish and shark populations. More attention and concrete action through World Trade Organization law reform is needed to transition Canada out of fuel subsidies and ultimately enhance fish and shark stocks.

The OBA hosted another Privacy Summit in 2019. This article provides an overview of the developments in privacy jurisprudence, as discussed during a 3-member panel presentation at the Summit.

An insightful reminder of the need for family law lawyers to consider their clients' domestic situations in terms of how and when to move a file forward. Steve Benmor shares his experience, including how he has faced these challenges in his own practice, including details gleaned form his training in mediation and domestic violence screening.

Elder abuse can take many forms, including financial, physical, psychological (mental or emotional) and sexual abuse to name a few. Neglect can also be a form of abuse.

Coming out of law school, it’s not uncommon to have clients who are a generation or two older than oneself. Alexandra Manthorpe offers tips for working with older clients that she has learned in her few years of being a lawyer.

Following are the summaries for this week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.