Criminal
-
December 23, 2025
$16.5M settlement reached in N.B. police sexual abuse case
A proposed $16.5-million settlement has been reached in a New Brunswick class action that claimed that a police officer committed sexual abuse against the class, which also led to other types of harm.
-
December 22, 2025
Appeal Court sentence reduction inveighs against normalized errors
The John Howard Society once distributed buttons bearing the words, “There is no such thing as a short prison sentence.” The Alberta Court of Appeal recently decided R. v. Lazzaro, 2025 ABCA 410, where it had to determine how long is too long.
-
December 22, 2025
Grand Valley break-in: Incarcerated deserve security, too
We sometimes read of inmates escaping from prison, but it is most unusual to hear of someone breaking into one. A CBC report dated Nov. 3 states that a 28-year-old man from Kitchener, Ont., is facing multiple charges, including two counts of assault, one count of break and enter and one count of mischief. The police said someone had broken into a women’s prison the previous day.
-
December 19, 2025
Prime minister announces Quebec Court of Appeal judge to be next deputy attorney general of Canada
In an unusual and surprising move, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that a federal puisne judge, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue of the Quebec Court of Appeal, will become deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general of Canada “early in the new year.”
-
December 19, 2025
Deferred custody provisions in youth criminal legislation constitutional: Ontario Appeal Court
Ontario’s top court has ruled that prohibitions on deferred custody in the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) do not violate the Charter, with some legal observers saying the decision limits the flexibility of sentencing judges.
-
December 19, 2025
Lawyering lessons learned at Santa’s knee
I did not know until a recent experience at my local Tim Hortons that there are striking similarities between judges and Santa Clauses. I was sipping my medium double double when I overhead a group of young children sitting at an adjacent table having a chat. They sounded a lot like lawyers at the pub sizing up judges. I listened keenly.
-
December 19, 2025
Buffone’s parole: A step toward exoneration?
In what may seem like Part II of a never-ending saga, the Parole Board of Canada granted Vito Buffone day parole to a community residential facility yet to be named.
-
December 19, 2025
A season for sharing: The legal and moral case for ensuring everyone has enough food at Christmas
Every Christmas, families across Canada gather around warm meals that symbolize dignity, community and care. Yet for many households in Alberta and across the country, rising costs and winter pressures make it difficult to afford even the most basic groceries. Food insecurity turns what should be a season of comfort into a time of anxiety.
-
December 19, 2025
CRIMINAL CODE OFFENCES - Weapons offences
Appeal by Crown from acquittal of respondent on firearms charges. A confidential informant told police that the respondent knew who was behind his fiancée’s murder and was planning to take matters into his own hands.
-
December 19, 2025
Manitoba Court of Appeal tasked with determining psychological detention
Psychological detention occurs when a person submits to a police officer’s authority or is deprived of liberty, reasonably believing the choice to do otherwise does not exist (R. v. Tessier, 2022 SCC 35). One would expect that raising psychological detention on appeal from conviction would be a simple, fact-driven analysis. Yet the Manitoba Court of Appeal took 256 paragraphs to rule out psychological detention as a basis for Charter relief. The court’s reasons are in R. v. Francois, 2025 MBCA 93.