A charity and a businessman who sued a Montreal law firm caught in a tangled web of lawsuits after a former partner allegedly orchestrated a multi-million Ponzi scheme lost their case after Quebec Superior Court held that the lawsuits were groundless in a case that draws some light into a murky financial world.
Rulings
-
Quebec judge may be a step closer to being removed from the bench
A Quebec judge who refused to hear a quarrel between neighbours and emphatically insisted that they negotiate a settlement may be a step closer to being removed from the bench after the Quebec Court of Appeal announced it will launch an inquiry on his conduct following a request by the Quebec Minister of Justice Stephanie Vallée. (more…) -
Hydro-Québec wins back-to-back legal skirmishes in longstanding energy dispute over Churchill Falls
Newfoundland and Labrador suffered back-to-back legal setbacks in its long-running energy feud with Hydro-Québec after Quebec courts held that the provincially-owned utility was under no obligation to renegotiate a controversial 1969 agreement and that it was entitled to purchase all but a fraction of the power generated by Churchill Falls power plant. (more…) -
Crown blamed after judge stays murder case
The last time it happened a Superior Court Justice apologized.
“I am very sorry that the system has let you down,” said Ontario Superior Court Justice Julianne Parfett last November to the mother of the deceased after she threw out a first-degree murder case against former Canadian Forces soldier Adam Picard because of excessive delays. Picard was charged for the June 2012 killing of Fouad Nayel, a 28-year old construction worker who had been missing for five months. Picard was arrested less than a month after Nayel’s badly decomposed body was found in the woods.
In a bleak and withering assessment of the criminal justice system, Justice Parfett said that the justice system also failed “this accused and the public,” and placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of Crown prosecutors for the unreasonable delays that hampered the case.
-
Transports Quebec ordered to pay $1.6 million to subcontractor
The Quebec Ministry of Transport was ordered to pay a subcontractor $1.6 million for roadwork even though it had shown signs of premature wear and tear after the Quebec Court of Appeal held that the subcontractor did not face a warranty of durability.In a ruling that provides guidance over contractual notions such as obligation of result, performance of work and warranty of durability, the Quebec appeal court reaffirms a contractor’s positive obligation to provide information to third parties, according to experts in contract and construction law.
-
Montreal blue collar union fined $100,000 for contempt of court
Montreal’s blue collar union and its controversial president and executives were sentenced to pay $103,000, the maximum fine allowable, for contempt of court after organizing an illegal one-day strike in spite of an injunction issued by a labour tribunal the previous day.The stern ruling, one of only a handful over the past decade that have found Quebec unions guilty of contempt of court, is intended to send a harsh warning to the labour movement that the courts will not tolerate willful blindness, according to labour lawyers.
-
Quebec government discriminated against jurists on maternity leave, rules appeal court
Quebec government lawyers and notaries, forced back to work after Canada’s longest public sector strike, won a legal battle against the provincial government after the Quebec Court of Appeal held that the government discriminated against jurists on maternity leave.In a nuanced decision that will provide comfort to both employers and labour organizations, the appeal court found that it is not discriminatory if employers under certain circumstances “distinguish” for purposes of compensation between employees who provide services to employers and those who do not such as those in maternity or sick leave. But the appeal court added that it is discriminatory if employers provide different compensation to different groups of employees who do not provide services to employers, if the distinction was based on prohibited grounds.
-
Montreal’s efforts to shut down religious ceremonies hosted by cultural centre violates Charter
The City of Montreal, one of a growing number of municipalities in Quebec that has attempted to use zoning restrictions to restrict places of worship, acted in bad faith and breached the Charter’s guarantee to freedom of religion when it tried to shut down an Islamic cultural centre that hosted religious ceremonies, ruled Quebec Superior Court.In a closely-watched decision by municipal and human rights lawyers, Quebec Superior Court Judge Jean-Yves Lalonde castigated the city for implementing a zoning by-law that “would promote a phenomenon of ghettoization, access problems and appears to be discriminatory compared to the Catholic churches in the borough that are generally found in the residential sector in the City of Montreal.”
-
Photo radar under the gun in Quebec
Photo radar tickets are under the gun in Quebec, following a series of decisions that have put thousands of tickets in jeopardy after the courts called into question the rules around the province’s use of the automated speed and red-light enforcement technology.The fallout from the precedent-setting decision that held that evidence from the current photo system is “inadmissible” and “illegal” is already beginning to be felt at a time when Quebec is increasing the number of photo radar sites. Shortly after the landmark ruling issued in late November by Judge Serge Cimon of the Court of Quebec, another Court of Quebec judge heeded his guidance and tossed out 422 photo radar tickets. More recently still, two Montreal lawyers have filed two separate motions seeking authorization for class action lawsuits against the Quebec government to have hundreds of thousands of speeding and red-light tickets issued with photo radar evidence thrown out or refunded.
-
Quebec appeal court sets high bar for leave to appeal in class action certification cases
The Quebec Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that certified a class-action lawsuit following an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Quebec City in 2012 that is believed to have contributed to 14 deaths and lead 181 others to become ill from bacteria found to be in a cooling tower of a downtown office building.Tags: class actions -
Federal Court of Appeal allows use of mark-to-market tax accounting
Taxpayers are entitled to use the mark-to-market method to compute income for federal tax purposes if it provides a more accurate picture of a taxpayer’s income, ruled the Federal Court of Appeal.The federal appeal court decision bolsters the possibility for taxpayers to use methods to compute income that are not forbidden by the Income Tax Act (Act), affirms Canada Revenue Agency’s administrative position that allows regulated financial institutions to tax derivatives on a mark-to-market basis, and may open the door to allow financial accounting to become more influential in determining what constitutes an acceptable method of computing income from business, according to tax experts.
“The case confirms that taxpayers are to determine profit for tax purposes on the basis that reflects an accurate picture of the taxpayer’s income,” said James Morand, a Toronto tax lawyer with Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. “If mark-to-market presents a truer picture of a taxpayer’s income than realization or some other method of computation, it is preferable.”
-
Quebec Human Rights Tribunal awards damages to employee fired because of her health condition
A retirement home has been ordered by the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal to pay more than $11,000 in material, moral and punitive damages to an employee who was fired because of her health condition.The “important” decision reaffirms the wide reach of article 18.1 of the Quebec Charter of human rights and freedoms, which circumscribes information-gathering at the pre-hiring stage, highlights the importance for employers to have thorough pre-employment medical questionnaires that do not breach the Charter, and underscores the need for employers to take immediate action when employees demonstrate bad faith, according to employment and human rights lawyers.
-
Supreme Court divided over standard of review for arbitrators
A teacher’s union can call witnesses from an in camera school board meeting to testify about a dismissal ruled the Supreme Court of Canada divided by the kind of judicial standard of review that should apply to an arbitrator’s decision.The ruling opens the door for employees to examine members of a decision-making authority over motives leading to a disciplinary sanction, reaffirms that deference must be shown to arbitrators in order to “preserve the expeditious, effective and specialized dispute settlement method represented by grievance arbitration,” and by the slimmest of margins held that the standard of review applicable to arbitrator’s decisions is not correctness but reasonableness.
-
Appeal court orders seized material to be sealed in Uber case
Nearly six months after 20 Revenue Quebec officials raided the Montreal offices of Uber Canada Inc. as part of a tax investigation, the popular ride-sharing service won a legal battle against the provincial taxman after the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower court ruling and held that the seized evidence must be sealed.The succinct 12-page ruling will likely pave the way for more applications for impoundment as the courts and tax authorities grapple with the challenges posed by e-commerce, disruptive business models, and technology, according to tax lawyers.
-
Quebec court rules that religious marriages do not necessarily carry any legal obligations
A controversial Quebec Superior Court decision that ruled that religious marriages do not necessarily carry any legal obligations under civil law may have alarming and sweeping consequences, according to family law experts.
The “disturbing” ruling creates a new category of civil status in Quebec, undermines long-held views of religious marriages, and will possibly expose women to vulnerable situations where they will be pressured into celebrating a religious marriage without the protection afforded by civil law, cautioned family lawyers.
