July 16, 2026
In a recent decision out of the Ontario Court of Justice, R. v. MacDonald, 2026 ONCJ 332, Justice Seth Weinstein confronted a case that, on its surface, involved a single ugly outburst on a downtown Toronto street — but in its reasoning, became a broader meditation on how the justice system should respond to the normalization of racism in Canadian public life.
July 16, 2026
When jails are already breaking, why are we sending more people there? The public deserves to be protected from dangerous offenders. That is beyond dispute. But public safety is not served by passing laws that funnel more accused people into provincial jails that are already struggling with overcrowding, staff shortages, corruption risks and deteriorating security.
July 15, 2026
As the Supreme Court of Canada moves to accept more cases in 2026, it has announced an especially packed fall session, with 31 appeals slated for argument from October through December. There are only 13 criminal law cases on the fall schedule that was unveiled by the top court this week: eight are as-of right appeals and just five are by-leave criminal appeals (one is both by leave and as of right).
July 15, 2026
The Competition Bureau is seeking comments on proposed cartel enforcement guidelines that address illegal business agreements, such as bid-rigging, price-fixing, wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements.
July 15, 2026
The date July 14, 2026, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most consequential human rights decisions in Canadian history: Parliament’s 131-124 vote to abolish the death penalty from the Criminal Code in 1976. In a striking historical contrast, less than two weeks earlier, on July 2, 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way for executions to resume (Gregg v. Georgia | 428 U.S. 153 (1976) | Justia U.S. Supreme Court), ending a four-year period where the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS (Furman v. Ga., 1972 U.S. LEXIS 169).
July 13, 2026
Lawyers for a Somalian refugee with schizophrenia may turn to Canada’s highest court in a bid to keep their client from being deported due to a sex assault conviction — citing potential dangers awaiting him in his native land because of his mental illness.
July 13, 2026
Quebec’s Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette has appointed Magali Bernier as a judge of the Court of Quebec.
July 13, 2026
Canada rightly prides itself on having one of the world’s fairest criminal justice systems. Yet one of its greatest shortcomings is revealed not when an innocent person is convicted, but when the government refuses to make that person whole after admitting the conviction cannot stand.
July 10, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed 7-2 the constitutional validity of the mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) of six months’ incarceration for those who pay to obtain — or communicate to buy — sex with persons under age 18. On July 10, Justices Suzanne Côté and Michelle O’Bonsawin, in joint reasons for the majority, allowed the appeal of the Attorney General of Quebec and set aside the Quebec Court of Appeal’s 2024 decision that struck down s. 286.1(2)(a) of the Criminal Code as a violation of the Charter’s s. 12 prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment: Quebec (Attorney General) v. Denis, 2026 SCC 25.
July 10, 2026
British Columbia’s Racist Incident Helpline is expanding support to those experiencing hate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.