Access to Justice
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September 05, 2025
P.E.I. opens applications for anti-racism grants for 2025-26
Groups such as charities and non-profits in Prince Edward Island can now apply for the next round of anti-racism grants — which will include funding for projects promoting positive relationships between youth and the criminal justice system.
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September 05, 2025
New non-profit targets bias, quick-conviction mindset that leads to wrongful convictions
Canada’s justice system has a problem it prefers not to talk about: wrongful convictions. They are not rare accidents. They are predictable failures — born of tunnel vision, systemic bias and a culture that prizes quick convictions over careful truth-seeking. Each wrongful conviction is not just a legal error; it is a moral catastrophe that destroys lives and undermines faith in the courts.
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September 04, 2025
Patricia Blair to lead CBABC as 2025-26 president
The Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch (CBABC) has announced Patricia Blair as president for the 2025-2026 membership term.
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September 04, 2025
Alberta Court of Appeal finds no reviewable error in Calgary murder decision
It was Calgary’s first murder of 2019. On Jan. 9, police charged 36-year-old Vincent Fong with the second-degree murder of his father, Shu Kwan (Ken) Fong, after a body was found in a northwest Calgary home. Fong was charged with second-degree murder.
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September 03, 2025
Crown unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt officer acted unlawfully
Off-duty Belleville police constable Paul Fyke was shopping at Lowe’s when he overheard staff discussing concerns about a group of three shoppers suspected of shoplifting. They observed a man in a white hat stealing an energy drink. Const. Fyke identified himself as a police officer and offered assistance.
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September 02, 2025
LSM annual report a ‘comprehensive’ look at fiscal year, road ahead: president
As Manitoba’s law society takes stock of its most recent fiscal year, the regulator’s new president aims to continue the work of minding lawyers’ well-being as part of a new strategic plan. Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) president Kyle Dear recently sat down with Law360 Canada to discuss the recent release of the law society’s 2025 annual report — a 31-page snapshot of the regulator’s latest fiscal year, which ran from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.
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September 02, 2025
Decision suggests root causes of offending sometimes more insidious than offence itself
Kenneth Conrad Izzard’s name first appeared in the Vancouver Sun on Jan. 10, 2015. The news report concerned the 29-year-old’s arrest for manslaughter after the body of 49-year-old Jeffery Scott Nasa-Dyke was found in East Vancouver. Nasa-Dyke had been missing since mid-November 2014. Izzard was found guilty of using a hammer to fatally beat the drug dealer on the head over $30. Izzard was sentenced to five and a half years.
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September 02, 2025
Bianca Kratt assumes CBA presidency alongside new, returning board members
Bianca Kratt has begun her year as the Canadian Bar Association (CBA)’s president with a focus on strengthening the resilience of the legal profession, according to an announcement from the association.
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August 29, 2025
The significance of assistants in parole hearings
Individuals who are serving federal sentences of over two years have the right to apply for day parole and will be scheduled for full parole consideration at the appropriate time.
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August 29, 2025
Ontario Court of Appeal denies bail in gun trafficking case
It did not make the front page of the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder on Jan. 13, 2023, when it was reported that four people, including Brandon Laffin, then 38, were facing various charges following a police search of a residence on International Road.