Real Estate
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July 31, 2024
AMPs for securities fraud can be debts released by bankruptcy discharge: SCC
Settling conflicting appellate case law over whether the exemption in s. 178(1)(e) of the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act enables administrative money penalties (AMPs) and disgorgement orders imposed by a provincial securities regulator to survive a bankruptcy discharge, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 5-2 that $13.5 million in AMPs imposed by the BC Securities Commission on two undischarged bankrupts for fraudulent securities activity is a debt that can be released by a future discharge in bankruptcy. But it ruled unanimously in addition that approximately $5.6 million in related disgorgement orders would survive any discharge from bankruptcy the pair might obtain in future.
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July 30, 2024
Counsel contend Ottawa’s spate of judicial appointments might make novel constitutional appeal moot
Lawyers who won a groundbreaking Federal Court declaration that recognized a “constitutional convention that judicial vacancies on the provincial superior courts and federal courts must be filled within a reasonable time” contend Ottawa’s appeal should be dismissed as moot if the Trudeau government gets federal judicial vacancies down to the reasonable level set by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown last February.
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July 29, 2024
‘One would think’ people should be very concerned about impact of Ontario Place ruling, lawyer says
People may soon be seeing activity at Ontario Place after a judge rejected a constitutional challenge of legislation to fast-track construction of the controversial redevelopment project.
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July 29, 2024
5 Ontario judicial appointments announced
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani announced in a July 24 news release the appointment of five judicial appointees in Ontario: Renee M. Pomerance, E. Ria Tzimas, Michelle Flaherty, Brian DeLorenzi and Jacqueline A. Horvat.
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July 26, 2024
SCC’s 9-0 judgment on interpreting historic treaties a big win for First Nations, their counsel say
Live up to the honour of the Crown and its “sacred” treaty promises — or the courts will step in. That might sum up the message from the Supreme Court of Canada to the defendant governments of Ontario and Canada in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit by Anishinaabe First Nations, who ceded by treaty 174 years ago a huge swath of their traditional Northern Ontario territories only to have successive federal and provincial governments “dishonourably” flout that treaty by barely compensating the cash-strapped Indigenous communities while the Crown and big business reaped billions over the decades from the mineral, timber and other resources of the ceded lands.
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July 26, 2024
Federal Court of Appeal deals another blow to cities’ efforts to derail huge CN container facility
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal challenging the approval of the location for railway lines related to a contentious Canadian National Railway Company (CN) logistics hub proposed to be set up in Milton, Ont.
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July 26, 2024
Upcoming federal election: What does it mean for private clients?
Our last federal election was Sept. 20, 2021, and constitutional and statutory provisions require that the next federal election must be held no more than five years after a preceding election and by the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the date of the previous election, which means on or before October 20, 2025. That of course means that, while election fervour and fever continue to escalate south of the border, Canada will soon follow.
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July 26, 2024
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES — Landlord’s obligations — Common areas
Appeal by Marguerite Crete and her son Daniel Crete (Cretes) from motion judge’s finding that Snow Removal Provision required them to clear areas used exclusively by them, which included the area where Daniel fell. The Cretes leased a townhouse from Ottawa Community Housing (Ottawa).
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July 25, 2024
Court of Appeal upholds insurer liability for fire damage, rejecting coverage exclusion amendments
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a finding that an insurer was liable to pay for losses caused by a fire in a vacant building as it was estopped from relying on a vacancy exclusion or policy amendments that excluded losses due to malicious acts.
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July 24, 2024
New managing partner for Aird & Berlis
Jill P. Fraser, a senior partner in Aird & Berlis’s financial services group and a long-standing member of the executive committee, the firm’s new managing partner.