Law in Quebec

News about Quebec legal developments

  • Quebec’s law that blocks unauthorized gaming sites ruled unconstitutional

    A Quebec legislative provision that compelled Internet service providers to block unauthorized gaming websites has been found unconstitutional by the Quebec Court of Appeal as it infringes on areas of exclusive federal jurisdiction.

    Following in the footsteps of several European nations, including Cyprus, Denmark and Romania, the Quebec government amended the Consumer Protection Act (Act) in 2016 via an omnibus budget bill to introduce a provision that obliged Internet service providers (ISPs) to implement blocking measures to prohibit Quebec residents from accessing unauthorized gambling websites. The blacklist would be drawn up by Loto-Québec, the government agency that operates and develops lotteries in the province. Internet service providers that failed to comply faced steep fines — up to $100,000 and twice that amount for subsequent offences.

    “From a commercial perspective it has had mixed results,” remarked gaming lawyer Michael Lipton of Dickinson Wright LLP. “Some jurisdictions have tried it; others have backed away from it.”

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  • Informed bet

    Odds are that the federal government is going to legalize single-event sports wagering. The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act (Bill C-218) was unanimously passed by the House of Commons, and is currently before the Senate.

    Similar private member’s bills have previously made it this far, but this time it’s different. The bill has all-party support, and has the backing of the sports industry and police, both of which opposed legislation in the Senate in 2015. A 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a federal law prohibiting single-event sports betting outside of Nevada, giving each state the power to decide whether to allow it within their borders, has changed the North American gaming landscape, adding pressure on Ottawa to follow suit as 30 states and counting have either launched legal sports betting or passed legislation. “The U.S. Supreme Court decision was probably a trigger point because once it becomes regulated in the U.S. then you ask what is fundamentally different about that form of entertainment in Canada from the U.S,” notes Don Bourgeois, former General Counsel for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and now counsel with Fogler, Rubinoff LLP.

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  • Quebec Superior Court upholds secularism bill exempts English-language schools

    Quebec’s controversial secularism law that bans religious symbols from being worn by government employees was largely upheld by Quebec Superior Court thanks to the provincial government’s use of the notwithstanding clause even though it disproportionately harms women, and particularly Muslim women.

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  • Quebec river granted legal personhood, a first in Canada

    An internationally renowned whiteriver in Quebec was granted legal personhood, a first in Canada, in an effort to protect its ecosystems from future development following the adoption of two parallel resolutions by a local indigenous community and municipality, setting the stage for a similar effort for the St. Lawrence River.

    The initiative, part of a growing global movement that has taken root particularly in Ecuador and New Zealand, may beckon a paradigm shift in environmental law, may bolster the integration of Indigenous law into the Canadian legal system, and has the potential of transforming the legal concept of property, according to legal experts.

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  • Sexual harassment prevalent in Quebec legal profession, reports study

    Sexual harassment and violence is rife in Quebec legal workplaces, the overwhelming majority of which goes unreported for fear of repercussions, claims a report that calls on the province’s legal actors to work together to take concrete steps to raise awareness and address the pervasive culture of silence and impunity that permits harassment.

    Sexual harassment, unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion takes place in all workplace contexts, formal or informal, is often perpetrated by a colleague or a partner with a higher hierarchical status, and has far-reaching personal and professional consequences, with up to nearly 20 per cent of women changing career paths following the sexual misconduct, according to the study conducted by researchers at the Université Laval who were given the mandate by the Quebec Bar.

    “The study denounces the culture of silence and impunity that endures in the legal profession,” remarked Julie Lassonde, a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Barreau du Québec who has developed a consultancy business focused on the areas of gender, sexuality and social justice. “That is what will shock the most.”

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  • Landmark ruling for trans rights

    Quebec, once on the forefront of trans rights, is now joining the ranks of most Canadian jurisdictions after Quebec Superior Court declared unconstitutional several articles of the Civil Code of Quebec that discriminated against trans and non-binary people.

    In a long-awaited ruling by trans, non-binary and intersex people, the “critically important” decision affirms that having your identity acknowledged and recognized by the State is a core aspect of the right to equality and the right to dignity, assert legal experts. The judgment, lauded as the most sweeping in its scope in Canada involving the constitutional rights of trans people, found that six provisions of the Civil Code violated rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

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  • Ruling may broaden Ottawa’s reach over patents

    Seven pharmaceutical companies, along with a string of intellectual property organizations and patients’ groups acting as interveners, that challenged the constitutionality of new regulations intended to lower patented drug prices were rebuffed after Quebec Superior Court found that the price control of patented drugs falls within the scope of the federal government’s powers over patents.

    The long-awaited decision will likely have a substantial impact on the pharmaceutical industry in Canada, will compel Ottawa to overhaul its regulatory approach and guidelines over patented drug pricing, and may even broaden the federal government’s reach to regulate other intellectual property, according to legal experts.

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  • Quebec Court of Appeal expresses frustration over systemic delays in securing trial transcripts

    The Quebec Court of Appeal, exasperated by provincial government inaction, delivered a rare but stinging rebuke over recurring systemic unmitigated delays in securing trial transcripts that disproportionately affect English-speaking appellants which “regrettably” puts into question the proper administration of criminal justice in Quebec.

    Calling for a paradigm change in approach, the Quebec Court of Appeal issued clear and explicit guidance over the preparation and production of trial transcripts as litigants in criminal proceedings should “not be left without judicial remedies” when they face unreasonable appellate delays resulting from the “state’s inaction.”

    “There are many bottlenecks in the system which may eventually need to be addressed by the Court in appropriate cases,” warned Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Robert Mainville in Dhingra c. R. 2021 QCCA 22.

    “A culture of complacency, of neglect and underfunding has unfortunately characterized the preparation of appeal records, often leading to unreasonable delay in the prosecution of appeals. This is most often reflected in the inadequacies related to supplying timely trial transcripts, particularly with regard to English-language transcripts,” added Justice Mainville.

    “The Quebec Court of Appeal was absolutely within its rights and did well to highlight the problem, especially because of all the injustices that it may lead to, particularly with people who are incarcerated and who want to exercise their legitimate rights to appeal a decision,” remarked Trois-Rivières criminal lawyer Michel LeBrun of Lacoursière LeBrun LLP and head of the criminal defense lawyer’s organization, Association québécoise des avocat(e)s de la défense (AQAAD).

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  • Right to contact counsel of choice

    Right to contact counsel of choice

    The right to contact counsel of choice was at the heart of two Quebec Court of Appeal decisions. In R c. Blackburn-Laroche, 2021 QCCA 59, the appellate court held that police officers had not made the necessary effort to reach the lawyers chosen by the respondent. As a result he was deprived of a reasonable opportunity to contact them. In another case, R. c. Tremblay, 2021 QCCA 24, the appeal court held that “the police did not fulfill their well-known duty to facilitate the respondent’s exercise, at the first reasonable opportunity, of her constitutional right to retain and instruct counsel.”

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  • Parent loses child custody during COVID-19

    Non-respect of public health measures during a pandemic may be considered to be “reprehensible, even harmful, conduct to the development of a child,” held Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Villeneuve in a child custody case.

    He added: “Even if freedom of expression is a recognized right, it does not go so far as to permit an adult to denigrate and discredit, in the presence of a minor, citizens who respect rules enacted by the public health authorities in a pandemic linked to COVID-19.” Justice Villeneuve added that the parent’s message to his child is that it’s not important to respect the law nor the health and security of others, “which leads the Court to put into question the parental capacities… and as a result, the custody of the child.”  Here is the decision.

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  • Reprimanded judge loses bid to overturn rebuke

    Former Court of Quebec Judge Jean-Paul Braun who was reprimanded for suggesting in a sexual assault case that a 17-year-old girl who was kissed and groped by a taxi driver was probably “a bit flattered” by the gesture lost his bid to overturn a rebuke by the Quebec judicial council following decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

    The Quebec judicial council, the Conseil de la magistrature, reprimanded Judge Braun for his stereotypical remarks. The council found that he breached his ethical duties and did not act with integrity, dignity and honour. Judge Braun, since retired, unsuccessfully sought a judicial review of the Council’s decision before Quebec Superior Court last fall. He appealed the Superior Court decision before the Quebec Court of Appeal, which rejected his request.

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  • Paying rent during COVID-19

    Paying rent during COVID-19

    The obligation to pay rent during the pandemic is an issue the courts are grappling with. Quebec Superior Court Justice Peter Kalichman acknowledged that Quebec retailer Groupe Dynamite’s  ability to use certain leased premises to operate its stores was “severely limited by the Covid Restrictions.”

    However, Justice Kalichman held that “where leased premises are occupied by a debtor and cannot be leased to anyone else, the landlord is not prevented from demanding immediate payment of rent regardless of whether or not the debtor is carrying on business.”

    Or as law firm McCarthy Tétrault points out, the debtor is not relieved of the obligation to pay post-filing rent when it is asserting a right to sole possession of the premises and has not disclaimed the lease.

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  • Hasidic community wins partial court victory

    Hasidic community wins partial court victory

    The Hasidic Jewish Council of Quebec won a partial legal battle after Quebec Superior Court decided that the provincial government’s order that a maximum of 10 people be allowed in a place of worship applies to each room within a building that has independent access to the street, and not just to the building in its entirety.

    Quebec Superior Justice Chantal Masse, who did not weigh in on the constitutionality of the public health measures, left the door for the Quebec government to adjust the rules in the future.

    Here’s a copy of the ruling, and here’s a story I wrote about the constitutional questions that have surfaced over the curfew imposed by the Quebec government.

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  • New tort for online harassment recognized by court

    A new tort of “harassment in internet communications” has been recognized after Ontario Superior Court found that traditional defamation law remedies have been thrown into disarray by the internet.

    In a case dealing with extraordinary campaigns of malicious harassment and defamation carried out unchecked, for many years, as unlawful acts of reprisal, Ontario Superior Court Justice David Corbett held that while regulation of speech carries with it the risk of over-regulation, even tyranny, doing nothing also also “carries with it the risk of anarchy and the disintegration of order.”

    [4]               Freedom of speech and the law of defamation have developed over centuries to balance the importance of preserving open public discourse, advancing the search for truth (which must allow for unpopular and even incorrect speech), protecting personal reputations, promoting free democratic debate, and enforcing personal responsibility for statements made about others.  The value of freedom of speech, and the need for some limits on that freedom, have long been recognised as central to a vibrant and healthy democracy and, frankly, any decent society.

    [5]               The internet has cast that balance into disarray.

    [6]               This case illustrates some of the inadequacies in current legal responses to internet defamation and harassment.  This court’s response is a solution tailored for these cases and addresses only the immediate problem of a lone publisher, driven by hatred and profound mental illness, immune from financial constraints and (dis)incentives, apparently ungovernable except through the sledgehammer response of incarceration…

    It is clear that the law needs better tools, greater inter-jurisdictional cooperation, and greater regulation of the electronic “marketplace” of “ideas” in a world with near universal access to the means of mass communication.

    Here is the ruling.

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  • Court specialized in sexual assault and domestic violence making headway

    Court specialized in sexual assault and domestic violence making headway

    A court specializing in sexual assault and domestic violence cases is inching forward, following the announcement by Quebec Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette of the creation of a working group that will lay the foundations of the specialized tribunal.

    The Quebec government is following up on a voluminous report by a group of experts, tabled in December, that recommended the creation of a specialized court to help victims navigate the justice system.

    Here is an abridged version of the report, and here is the complete report.

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Law in Quebec
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