Provincial Statutes Now Available in HeinOnline

I am far too overly excited to see that historical Provincial Statutes are now available in HeinOnline!

It seems coverage varies between the provinces, but it is fairly extensive thus far and the quality of the pdf scans in HeinOnline are always top notch. Ontario in particular looks to have everything back to 1867. For those needing to do historical legislative research from the comfort of their own office desks, this is excellent news!

inside-provincial

Ontario lawyers have free remote access to HeinOnline through the Law Society. Email us for your password!

 

Ottawa Blog Roll: October 2016

Below are links to blog posts or articles authored by the Ottawa legal community in October.

Civil Litigation

Pay When Paid Clauses
– Owen Bourns, Ottawa Litigation

Auto Insurance Coverage: You Don’t Know What You Got ‘Till It’s Gone
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Having trouble locating and serving a defendant? You may want to consider substituted service upon their liability insurer.
– Nicholas Krakana, Girones Lawyers

The Steps in a Civil Litigation Action
– Alexandra Ormond, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Corporate Commercial Law

Canada’s New Eligible Capital Property Tax Regime and What It Means for Canadian Controlled Private Corporations
– Kentt Coburn, Startup.Buildup.Sellup.

Integrity and Good Governance is more than Paperwork
– Michael A. Chambers, Maclaren Corlett

Criminal Law

Are the Ottawa Police Racist?
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Criminal Defence Lawyers Oil the Machinery of Justice, and We Pay For That Privilege
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Joint positions and the administration of justice
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

The legality of sexting
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

September Criminal Law Round-up
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

New penalties for drug-impaired driving take effect Oct. 2, 2016, in Ontario
– Brett McGarry, McGarry Law

Parliament considering tough new impaired driving laws
– Brett McGarry, McGarry Law

Legalized Marijuana: Lessons From the U.S. Experience
– Tim McCunn and Alicia Czarnowski, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Employment & Labour Law

Active Employment and Employee Bonus Entitlements
– Paul Willetts, Vey Willetts LLP

Wrongful resignation: Revisiting the employee obligation to provide reasonable notice
– Andrew Vey, Vey Willetts LLP

Duty to Provide an Employer with Reasonable Notice of Termination
– Jill Lewis, The Workplace Matters

Deletion of Browser History in Failed Attempt to Protect Privacy Not Spoliation of Evidence
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Mitigation – It Doesn’t Happen In A Vacuum
– Christopher Rootham, The Workplace Matters

Changing Workplaces Review: Update The Definition of “Employee”?
– Janice Payne, The Workplace Matters

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Today in Legal History: Persons Day

Today, October 18, we celebrate Persons Day: the day on which in 1929 the historical decision was made to include women in the legal definition of “persons” under the B.N.A. Act, 1867. The decision itself, officially cited as Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General), was handed down by our highest court of appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain.

personsday

Agnes Macphail was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons in 1921, but the Senate still remained off limits due to the narrow interpretation of “persons” found in s. 24 of the British North America Act. The text of that section read at the time:

The governor general shall from time to time, in the Queen’s name, by instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon qualified persons to the Senate; and, subject to the provisions of this Act, every person so summoned shall become and be a member of the Senate and a senator.

In their decision, Lord Sankey wrote for the committee that “The British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits. […]  Their Lordships do not conceive it to be the duty of this Board — it is certainly not their desire — to cut down the provisions of the Act by a narrow and technical construction but rather to give it a large and liberal interpretation” ([1930] 1 DLR 98 at 106-107). This new concept of constitutional interpretation would come to be known as the living tree doctrine.

On October 18, 1999, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson unveiled a Women Are Persons! monument at the Olympic Plaza in Calgary, Alberta, which commemorated this historic legal decision. A similar monument honoring the Famous Five was erected in Ottawa and can be seen near the East Block on Parliament Hill.

We also have a book on this topic here at the library: The Persons Case by Robert J.Sharpe and Patricia I. McMahon.

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Sites Unseen: Jurisource

Far and away the most reference questions we get are asking for precedents or forms of some kind. We don’t have many french precedents in our collection, but thankfully Jurisource.ca is here to help with that!

A project by the AJEFO, Jurisource provides free access to french legal materials, including forms, precedents, and helpful checklists. The site is easy to navigate, allowing either a site-wide search or a browse through one of eight category choices on the homescreen. You can then search for what you are looking for, and narrow down your search results using the filters on the left-hand side of the screen.

jurisource

Their library of resources is quite extensive, including acts, court decisions, studies, precedents, checklists, and reports. We offer Jurisource training in the library periodically, so if you’d like to learn more about everything they have available, keep an eye out for when the next session will be!

 

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Miller v Miller (2016 ONSC 6101)
recommendations of the realtor — costs — home — follow the recommendations — failed to comply
Justice A. Doyle

Barkan v Ovodov (2016 ONSC 6105)
child support — jurisdiction — forum — juridical advantage — conveniens
Justice A. Doyle

Dina Lorraine Belanger v John Kenneth Normoyle (2016 ONSC 6215)
support — spousal — child — income
Justice M. Charbonneau

Civil Matters

Scaffidi-Argentina v Tega Homes Developments Inc. (2016 ONSC 6056)
costs — reserved to be determined — sheard — determined at the time — advises
Justice L. Sheard

Accreditation Canada International v Guerra (2016 ONSC 6184)
costs — interlocutory injunction — aka — motion — preferable
Justice P. Smith

Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company v Lloyd’s Underwriters (2016 ONSC 6196)
excess — policy — insurance — coverage — contribution
Justice M. James

Owen v The Estate of Barbara Owen (2016 ONSC 6241)
costs — full indemnity basis — argues — condominium parking space — draft
Justice S. Kershman

Bearsfield Developments Inc. v McNabb (2016 ONSC 6294)
conveyance — creditors — fraud — genuine issue requiring — intent
Justice R. Maranger

Dhawan v Arnold (2016 ONSC 6304)
discovery — unexpected change in circumstances — liability — test — interrogatory
Justice R. Maranger

Criminal Matters

R. v. Madeley (2016 ONCJ 579)
victim surcharge — pressing — offenders — undue hardship — universality
Justice D. Paciocco

R. v. D.A.H. (2016 ONCJ 585)
cannabis — impaired — marijuana — probable grounds — drug
Justice P. K. Doody

R. v McCann (2016 ONSC 6057)
detention — vehicle — detained — police — snowbank
Justice. R. Beaudoin

Divisional Court Decisions from Ottawa Judges

Bart v McMaster University (2016 ONSC 5747)
faculty — complaints — harassment — business school — three-year suspensions
Justices H. Sachs, C. Hackland, and J. Thorburn

Court of Appeal Decisions of Local Interest

R. v. Manasseri (2016 ONCA 703)
death — evidence — murder — assault — joinder
Justices D. Watt, P. Lauwers and G. Huscroft

R. v. Sarrazin (2016 ONCA 714)
jury — in-dock identification — jurors — impugned comments — gang
Justices E. Gillese, P. Rouleau, and D. Brown

P.M. Snelgrove General Contractors & Engineers Ltd. v. Jensen Building Limited (2016 ONCA 728)
project — profit — expert — failure — evidence
Justices K. Feldman, G. Epstein, and B. Miller

Nadeau v. Caparelli (2016 ONCA 730)
nunc pro tunc — motion — joinder — assignor — equitable assignment
Justices D. Brown, A. Hoy, and G.Huscroft

#ThrowbackThursday: Information Highway

I think technology-related throwbacks have to be my favourite simply due to how fast everything changes. Perhaps one of the earliest buzzwords for the internet: remember the “Information Superhighway”?

A while ago I found this Magazine holder in the back of the library – the associated publication long since weeded, unfortunately – but the holder was still here:

informationhighway

It now resides on my desk and makes me happy every time I see it.

Ottawa Blog Roll: September 2016

Below are links to blog posts or articles authored by the Ottawa legal community in September.

Civil Litigation

Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefits – A Primer
– Najma Rashid, OTLA Blog

Ottawa’s Cyclist Safety Crisis
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

What is a “Rule 49” Offer to Settle?
– Alexandra Ormond, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Corporate Commercial Law

Agreements of Purchase and Sale Must be Completed in Good Faith
– Noah Potechin, Merovitz Potechin LLP

Video Blog – Management Buyout as Succession Plan Option
– Robert P. Kinghan, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Criminal Law

A Picture May Be Worth a Thousand Words, But the Fairness When It Comes to the Justice System is Priceless
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Can’t Sneak That Third Party In The Back Door
– Dallas Mack, Mack’s Criminal Law

Objective Validity: Is That Sufficient?
– Dallas Mack, Mack’s Criminal Law

Invitation To Knock? Depends If You Are Investigating Or Searching…
– Dallas Mack, Mack’s Criminal Law

The Basics of Bail
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

August Criminal Law Round-up
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

Employment & Labour Law

“Age is an impediment”: Fair severance for older employees in Ontario
– Paul Willetts, Vey Willetts LLP

Surviving Your Performance Improvement Plan
– Andrew Vey, Vey Willetts LLP

For Your Eyes Only – Privacy and Digital Technology
– Paul Taylor-Sussex, Labour of Law

Being “Reckless With the Truth” Not Just Cause for Termination
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Will Wood Finally Answer the Question of Benefits? There’s Hope.
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Emotional Upset Not Enough for Award of General Damages: ONCA
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

It’s All In Your Head! When Should You Report A Head Injury?
– Peggy King, Labour of Law

Terminations during the Probationary Period: Three Common Assumptions
– Colleen Hoey, Mann Lawyers

Fiduciary Employees Held to a Higher Standard
– Jill Lewis, The Workplace Matters

Restrictive Covenants: What Are My Rights Post-Employment?
– Stephanie Lewis, The Workplace Matters

Family Law

Attending Kids’ Events: Whose Turn is It?
– Dana Du Perron, The Family Connection

Donor Sperm: Buyer Beware?
– Erin Lepine and Paul Taylor-Sussex, The Family Connection

Cost Recovery in Family Law Litigation
– Tess Brown, LMR Family Law

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Tools We Love: Doodle

Often it’s the seemingly-easy tasks that take up disproportionate amounts of time; for an example of this, you can look no further than trying to schedule a meeting with a multitude of people. Thankfully, there’s Doodle to change all the hassle of that; an easy-to-use and time-saving tool that makes us wonder how we ever got by without it. Best of all, it’s free (and you don’t even need to make an account)!

doodle1

To get started, simply click on the blue button “Schedule an event” on the homepage, as seen above.

From there, it’s a short step-by-step process as you enter information about your meeting and location. You select possible dates and times, and then can either enter in the attendees’ emails directly, or just copy and paste and send them the link to your poll. Your attendees can then go to the poll and select the times they are available.

Once everyone has responded, the result will look something like this:

doodle

As you can see, the results make it easy to tell when everyone is available, and Doodle will go as far as to identify the best time(s) for everyone to be in attendance.

Simple – easy – and no more back-and-forth! Give it a try if you haven’t already.

Sites Unseen: Lipad

Of course as soon as I posted about how to find Federal Hansard Debates, we discover another source that perhaps surpasses all the ones I listed previously!

I tweeted very excitedly (and not ironically!) last week when Jen casually linked me to LiPad – The Linked Parliamentary Data Project:

lipad1

LiPad allows users to search through the Hansard debates with a Google-like search bar, while linking the debates with information about the parliamentarians. Though I have not used it much thus far, after a couple test searches from what I can tell it is easier to search than the other services I have used thus far.

The advanced search screen allows you to search by keyword, politician, party or date:

lipad2

The results page from any search gives you a summary of where your terms can be found, and you can click through to the full Hansard entry from that day to get the contextual discussion. You can also view individual parliamentarians’ history or be linked through to their profile on PARLINFO.

As an added bonus, you can also find some pretty rad pictures of the old MPs, such as the one below; this mo/beard is one for the ages!

lipad3

 

Ottawa Blog Roll: August 2016

Below are links to blog posts or articles authored by the Ottawa legal community in August.

Civil Litigation

“Lo and behold, it turned out that the driver was playing Pokemon Go”
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Is Ontario’s New One-Meter Passing Rule Actually Protecting Cyclists?
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Corporate Commercial Law

Ontario Adopts New Forfeited Corporate Property Act
– Paul Franco, Mann Lawyers

Equity Crowdfunding – How Is It Working
– Paul Franco, Mann Lawyers

New Bills Introduced to the Craft Beverage Industry
– Conor Cronin, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Criminal Law

On feminism and criminal defence
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

July Criminal Law Round-up
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

Drunk on power: proposed changes to impaired driving law in Canada
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

Recognizing Statutory Experts
– Dallas Mack, Mack’s Criminal Law

Looked Like A Gun, Walked Like A Gun, Quacked Like A Gun
– Sarah Sullivan, Mack’s Criminal Law

Liberals May Change Minimum Sentence… For the Worse
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

It’s Time to Record the Police
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Employment & Labour Law

How Could Phoenix Payroll Land the Feds in Hot Water? Let Us Count the Ways
– Sarah Clowater, Labour of Law

Employers Responsible for Protecting Employees from Harassment on Twitter
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Wilson v Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd: The victory for workers that almost wasn’t
– Amanda Montague Reinholdt, Raven Law

NS to Junior Hockey Players: Labour Protection? Who Needs It!
– Andrew Reinholdt, Labour of Law

The Strudwick Decision – When Employers Get What They Deserve
– Andrew Reinholdt, The Workplace Matters

Fixed-term Contracts: 10 Things You Should Know
– Jill Lewis, The Workplace Matters

Earned Bonuses: Payable upon Termination?
– Dana Du Perron, The Workplace Matters

Filing A Ministry of Labour Complaint
– Alison McEwen, The Workplace Matters

Arbitrations vs. Trials: What’s the Difference?
– Karine Dion, Labour of Law

Bore out: Workplace boredom and employer liability
– Paul Willetts, Vey Willetts LLP

Validity of Termination Clauses in Employment Contracts
– Kelli-Anne Day, Merovitz Potechin LLP

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