In Ontario (Attorney General) v. Working Families Coalition (Canada) Inc., 2025 SCC 5, [Working Families], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) held that the spending limits imposed by the Ontario government on third parties for political advertising infringed section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform v Attorney General, 2023 ONSC 5197 (“CASWLR”), Goldstein J of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (“OSCJ”) dismissed a Charter application challenging the constitutional validity of various sex work laws arising out of Bill C-36, also known as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (the […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) has recognized that expression promoting equality by countering harmful speech is worthy of heightened protection because of its relation to Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter] s. 15(1) values, which bring it closer to the core values animating s. 2(b).
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has granted leave [40223] for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (“CBC”) et al to appeal R v Coban, 2022 BCSC 880 [Coban].
The open court principle has long been a protected right under s. 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. In 1989, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) confirmed that “the courts must be open to public scrutiny and to public criticism of their operation by the public” (Edmonton Journal […]
No person has the right not to be offended. Every person, however, has the right to the safeguard of their dignity—at least in Quebec. How this right balances against another’s right to free expression was at issue in Ward v. Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse), 2021 SCC […]
Three months into the 2018 Toronto City Council election, a newly elected provincial government passed the Better Local Government Act, 2018, SO 2018, c 11 [Act], slashing the number of municipal wards from 47 to 25. “For the remaining campaign period,” writes Justice Abella, dissenting in Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 SCC 34 […]
In 2017, the bodies of billionaires Bernard Sherman and Honey Sherman were discovered in their home in Toronto, Ontario. Not only was the couple highly acclaimed for their philanthropism, but Barry was known for his pharmaceutical pursuits as the founder and CEO of Canadian generic drug company Apotex. Police deemed the deaths of Barry and […]
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v Her Majesty the Queen, et al. 38992 [CBC v the Queen] considers whether evidence not admitted as part of the record prima facie can be subject to a publication ban.This challenge resulted from the Manitoba Court of Appeal’s (“MBCA”) decision to implement a publication ban over a set of fresh evidence that […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the country in its revelation of the systemic frailties plaguing Canada’s long-term care (“LTC”) system. Individuals over the age of 70 have made up almost 90% of the country’s deaths from COVID-19, and in the first wave of the pandemic, deaths in Canadian LTC facilities accounted for 80% of the […]