Access to Justice
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September 29, 2025
Manitoba Justice receiving support for bilingual access to victims’ programs
Manitoba Justice is increasing access to bilingual support for victims of crime and domestic violence through a funding program aimed at bolstering French services in the province.
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September 29, 2025
Ontario to raise small claims court monetary limit to $50,000
As a litigation associate, I have come to appreciate that big challenges do not always involve large sums. My experience in handling a broad range of commercial, insurance and collections disputes in Ontario’s small claims court has taught me that claims with smaller monetary amounts can present legal and factual complexities comparable to those in the regular stream of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
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September 29, 2025
Historical child sex offences demand no less accountability than those committed today: SCC
Paul Sheppard is a former teacher and headmaster of the now closed Saint John’s School of Alberta, an elite all-male boarding school along the North Saskatchewan River in Stony Plain, near Edmonton.
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September 26, 2025
SCC clarifies that Friesen sentencing principles apply to historic sexual crimes against children
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 9-0 that the contemporary sentencing principles the court laid down for sexual crimes against children, in its 2020 landmark ruling in R. v. Friesen, must also be applied in sentencing historical sexual offences against children. On Sept. 26, 2025, the top court handed down reserved reasons for its unanimous oral judgment last April, which restored the six-year prison term that a trial judge imposed on ex-teacher Paul Sheppard for his repeated sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boarding school student in 1993 and 1994: R.v. Sheppard, 2025 SCC 29.
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September 26, 2025
Ottawa introduces bill to remove CAF jurisdiction over sexual offences, enhance military justice
National Defence Minister David McGuinty has introduced legislation that would remove the Canadian Armed Forces’ jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of Criminal Code sexual offences committed in Canada, according to a release.
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September 26, 2025
Ontario opening of the courts ceremony highlights digitization, reform of Rules of Civil Procedure
On Sept. 25, judges, attorneys general, leaders of law associations and others met for Ontario’s opening of the courts ceremony, discussing various strategies that have been and will be undertaken to improve access to justice. This included digitization and reformation of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
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September 25, 2025
B.C. court narrows herbicide class action, strikes battery and general damages claims
The B.C. Court of Appeal has narrowed a class action alleging that exposure to paraquat in herbicides increased the risk of Parkinson’s, ruling exposure cannot ground a battery claim and that a common issue on general damages could not be addressed on a class-wide basis.
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September 25, 2025
Attention politicians: Bail reform must be constitutionally sound
A Cobourg, Ont., police constable was hospitalized after coming into contact with fentanyl during an attempt to arrest a 33-year-old woman in a municipal park. The officer was released from the hospital the following day, but Cobourg Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf used the incident to call for tougher laws.
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September 24, 2025
New labour deal brings N.B. Crown counsel up from the bottom: union rep
A union leader representing Crown counsel in New Brunswick is praising the province’s agreement to a new labour deal with his members — who he says were “the worst paid government lawyers” in Canada.
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September 24, 2025
Lawyer Amber Chisholm named chair of N.B. Human Rights Commission
Amber Chisholm has been appointed chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission for a three-year term that began on Aug. 19.