Articles

The following articles are published by OBA Sections, including the Student Section. Members are encouraged to submit articles.

Editor: Victoria Shariati

Today
Today

Supreme Court of Canada Holds Designated Projects Scheme Under the Impact Assessment Act is Unconstitutional

  • October 27, 2023
  • Joanna Rosengarten, Matthew Lakatos-Hayward, Cristin Hunt

On October 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its advisory decision regarding the constitutionality of the federal government’s environmental assessment (EA) regime in Reference re Impact Assessment Act. A majority of the SCC found that much of the federal government’s Impact Assessment Act (the “Act”) and the Physical Activities Regulations ( the “Regulations”) under the Act are unconstitutional.

Environmental Law, Student Forum

Beneficiary Designations: Pillar One of Potentially Perilous Estate Planning Strategies

  • October 16, 2023
  • Blair L. Botsford, O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers

Beneficiary designations can be a useful estate planning tool with the added benefit of helping to reduce exposure to Ontario’s estate administration tax; however, utilizing them is not without its pitfalls. In this article, Blair Botsford reviews key issues relating to beneficiary designations, including certain drafting challenges.

Student Forum, Trusts and Estates Law

To 65 or Back to the (Drawing) Board? To Be Determined

  • October 16, 2023
  • John Bartolomeo, lawyer/co-director, Workers' Health and Safety Legal Clinic

This article reviews the reconsideration outcome of WSIAT's Decision No. 243/21R which addressed a Tribunal order to provide loss of earnings benefits to the worker to age 65.

Student Forum, Workers' Compensation

Employer Cost Relief in the Context of a Worker's Substance Abuse

  • October 16, 2023
  • Cassandra Ma, legal counsel, Bell Canada

This article contains a review of WSIAT Decision No. 339/23 in which an employer sought cost relief (SIEF) for a worker's compensable fatal motor vehicle accident caused by the worker's impaired driving.

Student Forum, Workers' Compensation

Benefit Annual Indexing: Outcome of judicial review in Grisales v. WSIB

  • October 16, 2023
  • Nikki Banwait, Lawyer, Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP

This article provides a summary of the Divisional Court's decision in Grisales v. WSIB, in which the worker sought court review of the WSIB's method of calculating the consumer price index (CPI) for the purposes of the annual indexation of benefits.

Student Forum, Workers' Compensation

WSIAT Stakeholder Event, September 2023: Highlights and Summary

  • October 16, 2023
  • Teresa A. Gianfelice, Office of the Worker Advisor

This article provides a summary of key information provided at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal's stakeholder information event held on September 14, 2023.

Student Forum, Workers' Compensation

Oops, I Blew the Formalities: A summary of cases to date on the Court’s validating powers under s. 21.1 of the SLRA

  • October 13, 2023
  • Krystyne Rusek and Matthew Bradley, Speigel Nichols Fox LLP

Section 21.1 of the Ontario Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”) provides a validating power to judges of the Superior Court to remedy situations where testamentary documents fail to meet formalities of execution. In this article, Krystyne Rusek and Matthew Bradley canvas some of the case law to date on the Court’s validating power under s. 21.1.

Student Forum, Trusts and Estates Law