Telus became the third Canadian telecommunication giant ordered to pay clients who paid excessive cancellation fees after the Quebec Court of Appeal partially overturned a lower court decision that dismissed the class action.
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Quebec Appeal Court provides more guidance over Mr. Big operations
The Quebec Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for a Quebec man convicted of second degree murder after it held that an out-of-court statement he made was involuntary, evidence yielded by a Mr. Big kind of operation was inadmissible and the trial judge should have given more detailed instructions to the jury.The decision, exceptionally published in French and English, appears to have slightly broadened the kind of cases that may fall into the Mr. Big category and provides a timely reminder that the confessions rule is not subject to a negative inquiry, according to criminal lawyers.
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Workplace investigations: Elephant in the room
Kenneth Jull has done them. So has Paul Klasios and Philippe Dufort-Langlois. All are or were at one time in-house counsel who have conducted internal investigations, an unpleasant exercise described by a lawyer as being a bit of a dark art that presents unique challenges. Nearly every general counsel too will sooner or later face the need to conduct an internal investigation into events at an organization. At a time of greater scrutiny by regulators, stakeholders and the general public, organizations of all sizes and across all sectors are dealing with growing calls demanding greater disclosure and transparency.Tags: workplace investigations -
Correctional officers do not have right to negotiate pension plans, rules Quebec appeal court
In a setback for the labour movement, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower court ruling that granted the union representing correctional officers the right to negotiate pension plans and staffing. -
Quebec appeal court broadens reach of fundamental rights for legal persons
A numbered company that was ordered by a lower court to pay the minimum fine for acting as a building contractor without holding a license won a significant legal battle appeal after the Quebec Court of Appeal held that legal persons are entitled to protection against cruel or unusual treatment or punishment within the meaning of s. 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.The majority decision, bound to raise eyebrows, appears to broaden the array of fundamental rights available to legal persons, dismisses the notion that s.12 of the Charter cannot apply to legal persons, and suggests that proportionality may have more sway under the Charter than under the Ontario Provincial Offences Act in providing relief from mandatory minimum fines, according to legal experts.
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Quebec Court of Appeal overturns labour tribunal’s interpretation of litigation privilege
A ruling by the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal that held that litigation privilege applies only in civil matters and in adversarial proceedings but not in an administrative law context before a quasi-judicial tribunal with powers of inquiry was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal. -
Quebec Consumer Protection Act does not apply to sale of prescription drugs, rules appeal court
In a resounding victory for the pharmaceutical industry, the Quebec Court of Appeal held that the province’s consumer protection law does not apply to the sale of prescription drugs, jettisoning a legal avenue a growing number of class action plaintiffs were using to sue the industry.
In what has been described as a landmark ruling by experts, the Quebec appeal court examined for the first time the merits of a class action regarding a drug manufacturer’s duty to warn. In dismissing a class action that alleged that Abbott Laboratories Inc. failed to provide sufficient information over the risks of a prescription drug, the appeal court provided critical guidance on the liability regime in Quebec for drug manufacturers facing product liability claims, confirmed for the first time the applicability of the learned intermediary doctrine in the province, and held that compliance with regulatory standards tends to indicate that drug manufacturers fulfilled its obligation to provide adequate information.
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Arctic freeze
The Arctic Ocean, the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five oceans, is melting. Cursed by hostile weather and rough seas, the forbidding, remote and one of the least understood environments in the world is now beginning to open up under the weight of climate change. Navigation, not long ago unthinkable, is increasingly feasible. Large ships are beginning to explore the area in ways that Viking settlers and European merchants could only dream of. Shrinking Arctic sea ice allowed last year a tanker carrying a cargo of liquefied natural gas to travel through the northern sea route for the first time without an icebreaker escort.
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Quebec government and Quebec law societies reach out-of-court settlement over English text versions of laws
A lawsuit by the Quebec and Montreal Bars to compel the Quebec government to implement measures to ensure the legal equivalence of the French and English-language versions of Quebec statutes was quietly settled out of court. -
Litigation funding gaining traction
Litigation funding is taking off. Endowment and hedge funds, private equity and other savvy investors are pouring billions of dollars to funds that invest in litigation, enticed by ostensibly attractive returns. It’s also an area that is evolving quickly, and the market is experimenting with a variety of different types of funding arrangements. Litigation funding is no longer solely intended for funding class actions or personal injury suits. Corporate and insolvency litigation, international arbitration, and whistleblower suits are growing areas for litigation funding. -
Quebec appeal court rules woman wearing hijab was entitled to be heard in court
A day after Quebec premier-elect François Legault suggested he would be ready to invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ban religious symbols for civil servants, the Quebec Court of Appeal court ruled that a provincial court judge erred when she denied a hearing to a woman wearing a hijab.
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Quebec lawyers and notaries lose battle against title insurers
American-based title insurers do not practise law or provide legal opinions when drawing up, registering and discharging refinanced mortgages, the Quebec Court of Appeal held in a legal battle that pitted the insurers against the governing bodies of the Quebec legal and notary professions.Tags: title insurance -
Murder clauses
The list of private and public sector organizations that are trying to rewrite the rules and pass on risks to architects seems to be literally growing by the day. The City of Burlington in Ontario tried to do it, with its Request for Proposal (RFP) for the design of a new pavilion building. So too did the City of Kingston when it issued an RFP for a community centre. Educational institutions such as Ryerson University and the Colliers Project Leaders in Fort Frances had a go at it as did the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. And that’s apart from the biggest culprit, Infrastructure Ontario, a Crown Agency that has been the subject of untold spirited discussions among the architectural community. All told, the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) issued half a dozen warnings over the past year to its 4,000 strong members about RFPs that were plagued with inappropriate, unfair and unreasonable conditions and expectations that unnecessarily subjected architects to unacceptable and uninsurable contract conditions. -
Canada tax agency ordered to pay almost $5 million in damages
Canada Revenue Agency has been ordered to pay nearly $5 million in damages to two well-known Montreal businessmen after conducting a tax investigation into an offshore investment vehicle they held. -
Quebec must compensate worker who became handicapped even though he worked under the table
The Quebec government has been ordered to provide lifetime benefits based on the salary a 25-year old man was earning while working under the table before he was struck by a bullet and became invalid.
