Civil Litigation
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November 06, 2025
Power at the door: Bouncers and the use of force
Bars, lounges, nightclubs, et cetera are public stages for private enterprise; lively, necessary, sometimes combustible places where the safety of staff and patrons is paramount. At the door stands the bouncer: an individual whose presence reassures staff and is said to reassure customers as well. They enforce house rules and must, on occasion, confront disorder.
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November 06, 2025
Federal Court of Appeal acknowledges CRA’s ‘unconstrained discretion’ to determine fairness
In the Federal Court of Appeal decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Maloney, 2025 FCA 165, the FCA was tasked with determining the correctness of a decision of the lower Federal Court. Both involved the taxpayer relief provisions of the Income Tax Act and a self-represented taxpayer’s mission to obtain a reduction of penalties and interest.
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November 06, 2025
Avoiding contract limbo: Lessons from Caivan v. Logoteta on termination and repudiation
In commercial practice, broken deals are not always formally terminated. Under Canadian contract law, a contract in abeyance does not die on its own. Unless termination is clearly carried out, the agreement may remain in force, carrying all attendant obligations and risks.
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November 05, 2025
Decision in Alberta privacy case called ‘victory for academic freedom’
Alberta’s top court has sided with a judge who ruled an adjudicator with the province’s information and privacy commissioner had been too narrow in his interpretation of freedom of information legislation in a case involving two University of Calgary professors.
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November 05, 2025
New federal immigration levels plan cuts targets for permanent & new temporary resident admissions
Ottawa’s three-year plan to reduce immigration to “sustainable” levels includes new “one-time” initiatives to “recognize eligible Protected Persons in Canada as permanent residents over the next two years” and to “accelerate the transition of up to 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residency in 2026 and 2027.”
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November 05, 2025
Saskatchewan introduces legislation to modernize defamation laws
Saskatchewan is proposing legislative changes in a bid to modernize the province’s defamation laws, which would include eliminating the “outdated” distinction between libel and slander.
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November 05, 2025
Emotional distress: The ‘invisible injury’ in tort law
Not all injuries can be seen. Emotional distress — often called the “invisible injury” — shows up in many tort cases, especially negligence claims. But proving and valuing psychological harm has always been tricky. Over time, Canadian courts have worked to clarify what counts as compensable emotional distress and how to prove it.
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November 05, 2025
Proposed settlement of $4M reached in data breach class action
A proposed settlement of over $4 million has been reached in a class action alleging that class members, who were customers of the password management site LastPass, were affected in a data security breach reported by the company in August 2022.
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November 05, 2025
Arbitration appeals: Why ‘final’ might be the last word
The principle of finality in arbitration is not merely aspirational. The Ontario Superior Court’s decision in 2501373 Ontario Inc. v. Selfe, 2025 ONSC 5216 confirms that, in Ontario, using the phrase “final and binding” in an arbitration clause may foreclose appellate review, even on questions of law. Where appeals are available on legal questions but leave is required, the would-be appellant must identify an extricable question of law — and courts do not readily extract legal issues from arbitral findings.
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November 05, 2025
CIVIL PROCEDURE - Third party procedure - Notice - Striking out or setting aside
Appeal by Grant Thornton LLP from chambers judge’s decision striking third party notice. Two of the limited partners in a real estate development, Interior Equities Corp. and KF Capital Ltd., sued the general partner, Cadence at the Lake Management Ltd., claiming that CLM took certain steps that caused prejudice to their position.