Law in Quebec

News about Quebec legal developments

  • Right to data portability in effect in Quebec

    Organizations doing business in Quebec face new compliance obligations as the right to data portability came into force at the tail end of September, spelling the end of a one-year leniency period following the entry into force of Quebec’s sweeping overhaul of its privacy regime.

    This right, part of an international trend to give individuals more control over their own data, compels business and public bodies to provide individuals computerized personal data they hold on the person in a structured and commonly used technological format. Individuals may also request that their computerized personal information be disclosed to any person or body authorized by law to collect such information.

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  • Supreme Court will hear Quebec’s challenge to daycare access for asylum seekers

    Eight months ago, asylum seekers in Quebec won a hard, long legal battle that gave them access to subsidized daycare.

    Now that’s all up in the air.

    The nation’s highest court agreed to hear a challenge from the Quebec government that granted asylum seekers access to subsidized daycare spaces.

    The Quebec Court of Appeal concluded this past February that a provincial government’s regulation that excludes asylum seekers from gaining access to subsidized daycare, at $9.10 per day, amounts to a discriminatory measure against women and is a violation of the right to equality protected by section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

    The Quebec Appeal Court found that by excluding persons seeking asylum, it has a disproportionately negative impact on women seeking asylum, and is therefore discriminatory as a result of its prejudicial effect.

    “Women are historically disadvantaged in the workplace because they disproportionately take on childcare responsibilities,” held Justice Julie Dutil in Procureur général du Québec c. Kanyinda, 2024 QCCA 144. “The fact that asylum seekers alone are ineligible for the reduced contribution for subsidized childcare places clearly has a disproportionate effect on women in this group.”

    Here’s an in-depth examination of the legal issues at play:

    “Controversy erupts after Quebec Appeal Court grants asylum seekers access to subsidized daycare”

     

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  • Provincial court judge rules ‘immediate and simultaneous’ filing of English rulings into French as invalid

    Barely weeks after the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the right to a trial in one’s official language of choice, a Court of Quebec judge ruled that a provision of the French language charter that calls for the “immediate and simultaneous” filing of English rulings into French cannot apply to criminal proceedings in the province.

    The decision, decried by some constitutional law experts and the Quebec government as judicial interventionism, will likely serve as a blueprint for criminal lawyers as it outlines a host of “unfair and highly problematic” issues that prevent a criminal court judge from rendering his verdict in a timely manner and fails to ensure the equal treatment of French and English accused because English-speaking accused could face delays because of translation delays, according to legal pundits.

    “I hope the decision serves as a wake-up call,” said Dylan Jones, a Montreal criminal lawyer with Boro Frigon Gordon Jones. “Many of my clients will be affected by this new provision, but it’s good to see that the judiciary is addressing some of these issues. There’s a lot in our justice system that could be improved upon, but instead, we’re creating bureaucratic hurdles that are just going to make it more complicated for people to get their decisions heard. I’m happy he took the initiative.”

    There is no motive for delaying the rendering of a judgment, particularly in criminal cases, asserts Montreal human rights lawyer Julius Grey. “Given the distress and consequences of criminal law, the accused should be given priority, not language politics,” said Grey.

    But constitutional law expert Stéphane Beaulac believes the ruling “reeks” of judicial interventionism. It is an “obvious example of where a judge has taken it upon himself to proclaim himself, no more and no less, the great defender of the language rights of Quebec’s English-speaking minority,” remarked Beaulac, a law professor at the Université de Montréal and counsel at Dentons. “There is an absolute right to have your trial conducted in the language of your choice, but nowhere does it say there is an absolute right to receive your judgment in English at the same time. There’s something of a reasoning gap.”

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  • Universal life insurance policy is not income from property, rules Appeal Court

    In a decision expected by tax pundits to set a precedent, the Quebec taxman partially lost a legal battle after the Court of Appeal held that coverage provided by a universal life insurance policy does not constitute income from property even though it is a benefit for the insured taxpayer.

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  • In about-turn, Quebec introduces bill that imposes moratorium on certain types of evictions

    A week ago, a Montreal landlord was ordered by the Quebec rental board to pay $50,000 in damages to an artist who found herself homeless for several months after being evicted “in bad faith,” the latest effort by the tribunal to deter investors from taking advantage of the housing crisis to evict tenants and jack up rents.

    “Sending a notice of eviction and then changing one’s mind is too easy for the landlord, who in so doing disturbs the social order of an exemplary regime,” said adjudicator Sophie Alain in Ainsworth c. IF Realties, 2024 QCTAL 14947. “They must be dissuaded from doing so again.”

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  • Insurance suicide exclusion null and void, rules Quebec Appeal Court

    A year ago, Quebec Superior Court admonished the “seemingly impenetrable world of insurers to open their eyes” after it ruled that an insurance company must pay beneficiaries $1.5 million because it failed to properly reveal exclusions in an insurance policy.

    Justice Jean-Yves Lalonde warned insurers that they must clearly indicate exclusions or clauses, particularly clauses dealing with suicide, that reduce coverage under an appropriate heading or risk having the exclusion clause declared null and void.

    “It’s a ruling that changes the state of law on this issue as it is the first judgment that has annulled a suicide clause,” noted insurance law expert Jacqueline Bissonnette.

    “What’s new is that the ruling stipulates that the suicide clause should be included in the same way as the other exclusions. That’s what’s new, and that if it’s not included, the policy will be cancelled and the exclusion will be considered to be unwritten,” added Bisonnette, a Montreal lawyer with Poudrier Bradet Avocats and Chair of the executive of the insurance and civil litigation section of the Canadian Bar Association, Quebec branch.

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  • Quebec law society disbars 84 lawyers

    A staggering 84 lawyers have been disbarred by the Board of Directors of the Barreau du Québec for failing to pay their annual fees or failing to provide the legal society with their annual registration form for the year 2024.

    In a notice, the Quebec Bar points out that the culpable lawyers infringed paragraph 4 of section of the Professional Code. Twenty-two of the lawyers who were stricken off the roll are retired. Here’s the list of lawyers.

    An additional 10 lawyers have so far been disbarred this year by the Quebec Bar.

    The Quebec law society also sanctioned a Quebecer who posed on social media as a lawyer. Megan Lalonde, who used pseudonyms and false profile photos, claiming she was a lawyer, was issued a statement of offence for illegal practice of the legal profession and fined $7,500.

     

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  • Class actions over COVID-19 certified against Google and Facebook

    Two separate but related class actions were recently certified by Quebec Superior Court against tech behemoths Google and Meta for allegedly breaching Quebecers’ freedom of expression by censoring or making content directly or indirectly related to COVID-19 unaccessible.

    In the suit against Google, class action representative plaintiff Éloïse Boies, who operates a YouTube channel “Élo veut savoir,” alleges that several of her videos that claimed that governments and large companies were censoring information about COVID-19 were deleted.  The videos apparently violated the platform’s policies for propagating “incorrect medical information contradicting that of local health authorities or the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding COVID-19.” Boies is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for anyone who, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, suffered censorship of their videos by YouTube, as well as to anyone who was unable to view these same videos.

    A similar claim was made against Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, by Christian Leray, an administrator of the Facebook group Réinfo Québec, an organization of professionals, mainly from the healthcare sector, dedicated to informing the public about the Covid-19 pandemic. Postings by Leray and the group that called into question COVID-19 public health measures were deleted by Facebook, a decision Facebook maintains was justified because it has a policy that prohibits misinformation that could cause physical harm, relays false information about COVID-19 or because information is at odds with its “community standards.” Leray, like Boies, too is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

    Quebec Superior Court Justice Lukasz Granosik dismissed arguments by the tech giants. Both Google and Facebook maintained that the class actions should not be certified because the class action representatives do not present a defensible case and therefore cannot adequately represent the group. Google added that there are no common issues, but a bundle of eminently individual cases, which makes a class action inadmissible in this case.

    “If Facebook…controls the content that finds its way onto its platform, it cannot deny all responsibility,” held Justice Granosik in Leray c. Meta Platforms inc., 2024 QCCS 1513. “If it carries out censorship, prevents certain people from posting certain information, punishes them by restricting access to their account and thus hinders the free circulation of ideas, it exposes itself to having to defend its ways. Its decision may be well-founded, and it may not incur any liability, but the question arises and it is clear that the plaintiff has a simple possibility of success on the merits.”

    Justice Granosik came to an identical conclusion in Boies c. Google, 2024 QCCS 1512.

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  • Law schools falls short of preparing students for practice, survey says

    The McGill Law cohort earned top place at the École du Barreau’s exams for 2022-2023, with an astonishing 97.3 per cent of McGill Law graduates passing the assessments without preparatory courses, and 100 cent of the graduates who took preparatory courses.

    At least at first glance those are impressive figures.

    But a recent survey calls into question whether law schools sufficiently prepare students for practice.

    Nearly half, or 45 per cent, of 546 junior associates said law schools did not sufficiently prepare them for their current roles, according to a survey conducted by legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa and legal data intelligence provider Leopard Solutions. What’s more, nearly a third, or 31 per cent, stated that their law firm experience didn’t meet their expectations coming out of law school.

    There was a near consensus that law school was too heavily focused on theoretical concepts and doctrinal analysis while failing to impart practical skills necessary to facilitate a transactional business, said the survey.

    The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with remote law school and remote work impacted the development of associates, affirms Laura Leopard, CEO of Leopard Solutions. “We know that younger attorneys place a premium on work-life balance,” said Leopard. “At the same time, though, there’s no denying that many have missed out on vital in-person training that’s necessary for growth in their legal careers.”

    The survey found that most junior associates are satisfied with their career path, with the majority, 83 per cent, stating they would select to work for their current firm, and 79 per cent reporting they are satisfied with their assigned work. The majority, or 67 per cent, also said they plan to stay at their firms for three or more years. Less than 10 per cent said they plan to leave within the next year.

    The survey also revealed that more than a third, 36 per cent, cited partnership as their top career goal, followed by working as in-house counsel (24 per cent) or a government/NGO role (12 per cent).

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  • Quebec bill grants protections and establishes new obligations to de facto unions

    A new proposed Quebec legal framework for common-law couples who become parents after June 2025 will be entrusted with new rights and obligations, and provide some protections granted to married couples, a development viewed by family law experts as a step in the right direction.

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  • McGill law professors on strike

    Barely a month ago, McGill’s Faculty of Law boasted that it ranked among the world’s top universities, placing 28th worldwide, up one spot from 2023, according to the 2024 QS World University Rankings.

    That seems long ago.

    McGill law professors, asserting that the university is negotiating in bad faith, began an unlimited strike, demanding better pay and working conditions, a halt towards the growing inclination towards centralization at the university, and the safeguarding of collegial governance at the faculty level.

    Negotiations have been crawling ever since the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) was certified in November 2022 by the Quebec Labour Tribunal as the bargaining unit representing the McGill’s Faculty of Law tenured and tenure-track professors, a first for professors in the university’s history.

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  • Quebec looking at electronic surveillance of offenders serving conditional sentences

    Nearly two years after the Quebec became the first jurisdiction in the country to introduce an electronic tracking system to thwart intimate partner violence, the provincial government is now considering the possibility of remotely following offenders serving sentences in the community.

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  • Soccer club did not discriminate by refusing to integrate girls into a boys’ team

    A Montreal soccer club did not discriminate by refusing to integrate two girls into a boys’ team, ruled the Quebec Court of Appeal.

    Karine Bellemare, unhappy that her two girls could not play on the same soccer team as their friends (boys), refused to register them in the summer recreational soccer league run by a Montreal soccer league and filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

    The Commission, following an investigation, adopted a resolution that stated the two girls had been discriminated against on the basis of their sex.

    But the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal dismissed the claim and concluded the Quebec Human Rights Commission, acting for the mother, failed to demonstrate the existence of a prima facie case of discrimination under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

    The Commission appealed, arguing that the Tribunal refused to acknowledge discrimination and stereotypes historically experienced by women.

    The Quebec Appeal Court dismissed the appeal in Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (Bellemare) c. Club de soccer Les Braves d’Ahuntsic, 2024 QCCA 462.

    The Appeal Court upheld the Tribunal’s conclusion that even on an objective assessment of dignity and its requirements, the evidence does not demonstrate any infringement of their rights. “In a recreational activity intended for children of this age, the fact that the groups are composed in such a way that boys play with boys and girls play with girls in no way undermines their dignity as human beings or that of their parents,” said the Tribunal, a finding upheld by the Appeal Court.

    The Appeal Court also confirmed the Tribunal’s finding that the participation of children in a summer recreational soccer league did not result in discrimination based on historical stereotypes unfavourable to women. “Even if the judge had enumerated historical stereotypes of women, there is nothing to suggest that he would have concluded that the separation of boys and girls reinforced or perpetuated them,” held the Appeal Court.

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  • Alleged Darknet Xanax Kingpin faces extradition

    The “Darknet Xanax Kingpin,” ostensibly a Quebecer who allegedly sold over 15 million counterfeit Xanax tablets that were mainly exported to the United States, failed to thwart extradition proceedings against him after Quebec Superior Court dismissed his constitutional arguments.

    U.S. authorities are seeking the extradition of the Quebecer so that he can be prosecuted in the state of Connecticut for the sale and distribution of controlled substances. It is alleged that the Quebecer, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, operated a “very large-scale” drug sales network, mainly using crypto-markets, otherwise known as Darknet markets.

    Evidence contained in the certified extradition file shows that the Quebecer engaged in clandestine activities that generated huge profits for himself and his associates, assert U.S. authorities. In conversations on chat rooms, he described himself as the “Darknet Xanax Kingpin”, claiming to have sold over 15 million counterfeit Xanax tablets, mainly exported to the United States. He also allegedly distributed fentanyl or its derivatives, “a highly harmful drug causing serious harm and death to users.”

    The Quebecer challenged the constitutionality of several provisions of the Extradition Act. He argued that an extradition to the U.S. and eventual incarceration will leave him in a precarious and “unacceptable” health situation, and increase the risk of suicide in prison, because he is afflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome, a developmental disorder that’s part of the autism spectrum disorder.

    He also argued that the role currently vested in the Minister of Justice should largely be exercised by the extradition judge, at least as far as the constitutional rights guaranteed by the Charter are concerned. He also maintained that his extradition should be refused under section 24(1) of the Charter because he suffers from Asperger’s.

    Quebec Superior Justice Mario Longpré dismissed the arguments. In a 56-page decision in Procureur général du Canada (États-Unis d’Amérique) c. Beaudry, 2024 QCCS 1368, Justice Longpré concluded that the accused failed to establish that the federal Justice Minister “would be unable to determine whether his extradition would contravene the principles of fundamental justice guaranteed by section 7 of the Charter.”

    Justice Longpré added that the accused will be able to present all his arguments to the Minister, including his diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome and the problems this condition creates in relation to possible extradition. If the Minister decides to extradite the Quebecer, he will still be able to seek judicial review before the Quebec Court of Appeal, where he will be able to argue that the Minister’s decision does not meet Charter requirements, noted Justice Longpré.

     

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  • Bill aims to curb delays but stakeholders call for more resources

    A new bill that seeks to curb delays in the justice system and rein in stays of proceedings will be conferring new powers to the justices of the peace by allowing them to oversee criminal court appearances and bail hearings, a development that has received lukewarm praise by Quebec’s main legal actors who were longing for more monies into the system.

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Law in Quebec
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