Pecuniary Interest and Patios
October 19, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik What community of interest allows a municipal councillor to participate in debate and voting on an issue in which they have interest? THE ISSUE We all expect councillors or members of local boards to act in good faith for the benefit of the community, not their own interests. Most […]
Know Your Contracts
October 19, 2022 By Brian Babcock Whether you draft your own contracts, are reviewing custom contracts presented by another person, or are trying to use a standard form contract, trying to be your own lawyer is like trying to be your own brain surgeon. Law students spend an entire year on the theory and interpretation […]
The Reason For Reasons
October 14, 2022 By Nick Melchiorre …the exercise of public power must be justified, intelligible and transparent, not in the abstract, but to the individuals subject to it.” So said the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, the 2019 case which restated the approach that courts take to a […]
How Much Automobile Liability Coverage Do I Need?
October 14, 2022 By Brian Babcock No matter how often we try to explain to clients or others that insurance brokers are the best people to ask, this is probably the question we get most often about insurance. THE ISSUE If you are at fault in an accident, your personal assets and income may be […]
Make Sure You Have Financing
September 24, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik If you are signing an agreement of purchase and sale to buy real estate that does not contain a financing condition make sure that you have financing firmly in place before you sign. The same warning applies if you are asked to waive a financing condition in your agreement […]
Human Rights and the Courts
September 24, 2022 By Brian Babcock What happens when you believe that you have been wrongfully dismissed and at the same time have a human rights complaint arising from your employment? The Ontario Human Rights Code section 46.1 permits you to include a claim for breaches of the Code in your lawsuit to Superior Court […]
The Duties of a Partner
September 18, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik If you are a partner in a business venture, you not only have risks to outsiders, you have risks arising from your duties to your partners. Many business people enter into partnerships, particularly joint ventures for the holding or development of real estate, with very little if any documentation. […]
Sometimes Fairness is About The Golden Rule
September 18, 2022 By Brian Babcock “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a lesson most judges seem to retain from school days and may be an important consideration in how those judges view issues of fairness in administrative decision making. THE ISSUE When somebody requiring a registration certificate in […]
17 Things You Need to Know About Solicitor-Client Privilege
September 14, 2022 By Jonathon Clark No, this is not a Buzzfeed listicle. Less fun, more important. We have written before about solicitor-client privilege being central to our system of justice. There is more to write, because beyond the basics it gets technical and even though the basic importance may be obvious, the devil is […]
Building Permit Liability Update
September 14, 2022 By Brian Babcock In September 2021 we posted an article entitled “Building Permit Liability” which focused on hidden liability risks lurking in old building permit files. It was based upon the trial decision in Breen v. The Corporation of the Township of Lake of Bays. That decision toddled off to the Ontario […]