Articles

Aboriginal Law


Bill 27

Bill 27, the Working for Workers Act, 2021, S.O. 2021, c. 35, (the “Act”), received Royal Assent on December 2, 2021. The Act itself only has three (3) sections, but it contains a total of six (6) schedules which amend various pieces of Ontario legislation. Of importance employersare amendments ...

Policy on Vaccination Proof

Understanding Proof of Vaccine Requirements There has been much discussion about Ontario’s rollout of “vaccine passports” and its consequences on individual rights and freedoms and access to services. This article will shed some light on the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s ...

First Nation Elections - COVID

If you are currently a chief or councillor, and your band elections are scheduled for this fall, you may be wondering if it is possible to cancel or postpone your community’s election because of the health risks posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, you may be concerned about the spread ...

Understanding the Indian Act

Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, provides that “Indians, and Lands reserved for Indians” are the federal government’s judicial responsibility. To deal with these two subject matters, Parliament consolidated the Indian Act in 1876. Since then, the Indian Act has received ...

Child and Family Services


First Nation, Inuit or Metis..

In Canada, Indigenous children account for only 7.7% of the population for children under the age of 14; but represent 52.2% of children in foster care for the same age group. Simply put, Indigenous children are grossly over-represented in Canada’s child welfare system. To combat this overrepresentation, ...

Education


Education Matters Alert

EDUCATION MATTERS ALERT Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 (Bill 98) Let’s Look at the Trustee Governance Changes Bill 98 changes many parts of the Education Act, but this Alert focuses on the specifics of the Trustee codes of conduct and governance amendments. So why is Ontario focused ...

Electronic Snooping

Ontario school boards, Municipalities, Colleges and Universities are legally obligated to protect personal information that can be highly sensitive, including education history found in the Ontario Student Record (OSR). Where sensitive information has been compromised it is prudent to consider the effect ...

Police Services


Bill 163

Legislation passed in April 2016 creates a presumption that PTSD diagnosed in first responders is a work-related illness for police officers (including First Nations constables), firefighters, paramedics, emergency response teams, certain workers in correctional institutions and secure youth justice ...

Figueiras v Toronto

On the second day of the G20 Summit held in Toronto in June 2010, Mr. Paul Figueiras (“Mr. Figueiras”) and friends went downtown to demonstrate in support of animal rights. During the demonstration a team of five police officers stopped them and informed them that they would have to submit ...

Informer Privilege

On January 9, 2017, in Nissen v. Durham Regional Police Services Board (“Nissen”) the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) found the Durham Regional Police Services Board liable for $460,000.00 in damages for breaching informant privilege. In Nissen the ONCA examined what the required ...

R v Fearon

On December 11, 2014, in R v Fearon, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) considered the circumstances under which police officers can justifiably search a cell phone or other digital device without a warrant. In doing so, the SCC added safeguards to the law concerning search of cell phones ...