INTRODUCTION In its December 2021 decision in Ontario Teacher Candidates’ Council v. The Queen, the Divisional Court held that the standardized Mathematics Proficiency Test (“MPT”) the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) had developed and the Ontario government had implemented for prospective teachers was unconstitutional because it disadvantaged Black and Indigenous candidates. As a remedy,...Read More

The role of adjudicators in hearings with self-represented litigants (SRLs) has been discussed in many court decisions and articles. What is less explored is the role of opposing counsel. In this column I will discuss the possibly expanding role of opposing counsel in facilitating access to justice for SRLs. Although the adjudicator has the primary...Read More

Just When You Thought You Had Perfected Your Cybersecurity Training for Law Firm Employees . . . Time to think again. It’s no secret that cybercriminals have increased all kinds of phishing activity since the pandemic. More people utilizing consumer grade equipment in a less secure work-at-home environment creates a fertile ground for phishing attack...Read More

Access hesitancy is a widely acknowledged and persistent barrier to providing access to justice services. The people-centered approach that is integral to the Legal Health Check-up (LHC) can identify disadvantaged people with problems and provide them with help, in a manner that they will hopefully perceive as providing fair and just resolutions to the problems...Read More

INTRODUCTION A group of lawyers have entered the fray against Covid-19 restrictions, issuing a document with the ringing title, “Free North Declaration” (“Declaration”) (see here for the version dated November 23, 2021). A strident endorsement of individual freedom, the document picks up on the canards that have permeated the debate over these many months. By...Read More

The “two Michaels,” Kovrig and Spavor, are not the only Canadians who have been unjustly imprisoned in China. Another Canadian, Huseyin Celil, has been jailed in China since 2006 on specious “terrorism” charges for peacefully advocating the rights of Uyghur people. These cases provide windows into the morass of everyday violations against Chinese human rights...Read More

From November 17-19, 2021, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ) will hold a national conference which focuses on “Indigenous Peoples and the Law.” This event will take place in person in Vancouver and online (though in-person registration has sold out). The conference will be welcoming some thirty speakers, among which many representatives...Read More

Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc. Generally, a contract in restraint of trade is where one party agrees to restrict their liberty in the future to freely carry on trade with others who are not parties to the contract. Restrictive covenants can take different forms, depending on their purpose. For example, non-competition...Read More

We know that change is hard, especially when (as it usually does) it involves changing the behaviour of human beings. Can we argue or persuade our way through this kind of change? According to transformation expert Greg Satell, the answer is a resounding NO! First, some background. Legal professionals are taught that success depends on...Read More

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyer’s of British Columbia (FACL BC) would like to invite all members of the legal community, whether you are a law student, senior member of the bar or a member of the judiciary, to attend the premiere of our documentary, But I Look Like a Lawyer, on November 5th, 2021...Read More