Insights

New legislation regarding sexual assault training for federal judges received royal assent on May 6, 2021. It comes in response to a series of sexual assault cases that drew public criticism, including comments which were perceived to be victim-blaming made by the presiding judge in R v Wagar, 2015 ABCA 327 (overturned on appeal in R v Wagar, 2017...

Getting behind the wheel of your golf cart after a great drive off the first tee. Hopping on your riding lawnmower to give your grass a fresh cut on a Sunday afternoon. Paddling a canoe at sunrise on a lake that is smooth as glass. All of these activities are synonymous with summer, but what else do they have in common? Engaging in these activities...

The terms “impaired driving” and “drive while over .08” are often used interchangeably to describe a situation where an individual has been stopped by the police and charged as a result of drinking and driving. They in fact are two separate and distinct offences. In most instances an accused will be charged with both impaired driving and drive...

On February 22, 2021, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management released the report: 360º Governance: Where are the Directors in a World in Crisis? The report is authored by Peter Dey and Sarah Kaplan and provides 13 guidelines “aimed at providing clarity to boards (of corporations) on how boards can effectively consider the interests...

With the jury hearing opening statements in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin this week, the issues of police powers of arrest and use of force are particularly timely. While laws in Minnesota differ to some degree from Canada, police officers in Canada are generally authorized to arrest a person they find committing a...

Earlier this year I wrote a brief piece with respect to the right of privacy we all enjoy from the intrusion of the State into our affairs, our private life and our private property/space. That article primarily considered the powers of law enforcement officials to conduct what are commonly referred to as “Covid-19 Compliance Checks” at our homes...

All Canadians enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy. A reasonable expectation of privacy means that we are free from the intrusion of the State or its agents into our affairs, our private life and our private property/space. At its essence, a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy is meant to protect our personal information which, in a...

This time of year we are reminded about the perils of driving after consuming alcohol and/or drugs. The COVID restrictions may have some impact on the frequency of that happening. Below are some frequently asked questions about drinking and driving. Question: Do the police need an excuse to stop you? Answer: No. In Saskatchewan the police can...

If you walk through Victoria Park in downtown Regina, you will find a statute of Sir John A. Macdonald. For some, the statue is a reminder of colonialism and the pain and suffering caused to Indigenous people as a result of policies enacted by our government. People cite Macdonald’s involvement in displacing Indigenous people from the land, the...

From time to time an accused will advise us that while they are not guilty of the particular charge or allegation they are facing, they nonetheless want to enter a guilty plea or apologize in order to “just get it over with”. There are a number of legal and practical problems with doing this. Concerning the legal implications, before the Court can...

Crown Prosecutors Directed Not to Prosecute Simple Possession of Illicit Drug Offences in New Federal Guideline On July 9th, 2020, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) announced they were calling on the Federal Government to decriminalize simple possession of illegal drugs. Adam Palmer, head of the CACP, stated that this...

Some years ago the Criminal Code was amended to provide for conditional sentences. These are sentences which allow a person who has been convicted of an offence to serve what would otherwise be a jail sentence, in the community. So for example if the Court would normally have intended to sentence a person to twelve months incarceration, rather than...