Ontario rollbacks to sex-ed curriculum prompt legal challenges

December 20th, 2018 by Safia Lakhani

This article was first published on rabble.ca

Though the election was only six months ago, the array of changes (or “rollbacks”) ushered in by the Ford regime is dizzying: from backtracking on the cap-and-trade program to cancelling the basic income pilot project, the government has wasted little time in cracking down on the initiatives undertaken by its predecessor. The government’s announcement in July 2018 that the province would be scrapping the modernized sexual education curriculum developed by the Liberal government in 2015 and returning to the 1998 curriculum pending further consultations falls squarely in line with this trend.

The government’s decision to revert back to the 1998 curriculum has prompted considerable backlash from educators, parents, and students, and has also prompted four separate legal challenges.

Continue reading “Ontario rollbacks to sex-ed curriculum prompt legal challenges”

Do efforts to protect Canada’s electoral system from foreign interference go far enough?

November 29th, 2018 by Shelina Ali

This article was first published on rabble.ca

The federal government’s efforts to address foreign interference in next year’s federal election came into the spotlight recently after it was reported that the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould, told the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee that it would be “virtually impossible” to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming election.

In response to the threat of foreign interference in the Canadian democratic process, the government has proposed a variety of amendments to the Canada Elections Act, through Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act. Bill C‑76 undoes many of the amendments passed by the Harper government through the Fair Elections Act (which were widely criticized as undemocratic at the time), and attempts to address foreign interference by prohibiting the use of funds from foreign entities for political advertising or election surveys and by amending the prohibition in the Canada Elections Act against making false statements about political candidates. Despite these efforts, the amendments, particularly around making false statements, do not go far enough in addressing the problem of “fake news” and the use of social media to spread it. Continue reading “Do efforts to protect Canada’s electoral system from foreign interference go far enough?”

Reminder: Ontario corporations must keep track of the land in Ontario in which they have an “Ownership Interest”

November 27th, 2018 by Ted Hyland

Deadline – December 10, 2018

In 2015, the Ontario Legislature enacted the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015, which deals with what happens to property, including land and interests in land, which corporations own at the moment that they cease to exist.

Ordinarily, if a corporation owns land (or any property) when it is dissolved, the land “escheats” (is forfeited) to the Crown.  Sometimes – often – the corporation is dissolved because of its failure to make its annual filings, and the dissolution occurs unbeknownst to the owners / directors of the corporation.

As part of imposing some rationalization on keeping track of the land in Ontario that Ontario corporations own, the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015 amended the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) and the Corporations Act (Ontario) to require corporations governed by those statutes to complete and maintain a register of all of their “ownership interests” in land located in Ontario.  (When it comes into effect, the Not‑for‑Profit Corporations Act will also impose this rule on the corporations that it governs; co‑operative corporations, on the other hand, have been spared the obligation to have such a register.) We previously wrote about this in March of 2017.

If your organization has been in existence since before December 10, 2016 and is either a business corporation incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) or a non‑profit corporation incorporated under the Corporations Act (Ontario), then it has until this coming December 10th to put such a register in place.
Continue reading “Reminder: Ontario corporations must keep track of the land in Ontario in which they have an “Ownership Interest””

Thanks from Celia

November 26th, 2018 by Celia Chandler

As you know from the Iler Campbell LLP blog last week,  my husband, Jack Sikorski, died last Monday, November 19, 2018.  Originally diagnosed with lung cancer in early 2016, Jack’s cancer spread this year and I spent the last 10 weeks at home. I’m grateful for the time I was able to spend with Jack, including being with him and his children at his medically assisted death. As Canadians, we are so fortunate to have this choice now. 

Thank you for your expressions of concern over these months and particularly in the last few days. How comforting to receive support from such a large circle of friends, many with your own cancer stories.   Thanks to clients who agreed to work with my colleagues in my absence and of course, to those colleagues for so ably picking up my work. I am indeed privileged.  

I am devastated and exhausted but also back at work, not knowing quite what else to do with myself and knowing that I’d feel better back in my comfort zone. Please feel free to direct your legal inquiries to me again and I will do my very best to serve you.  

Thank you again, Celia

A sad day at Iler Campbell

November 20th, 2018 by Iler Campbell

Celia’s husband, Jack, passed away on Monday November 19th. All of us at Iler Campbell knew and loved Jack. We, along with many others, will miss him very much.

Our office will be closed Thursday, November 22 beginning at noon so that we may gather to remember him.

Jack’s full obituary is below.

Continue reading “A sad day at Iler Campbell”

Bill 47 and Impacts to Employment Standards in Ontario

November 12th, 2018 by Brynn Leger

On October 23, 2018, the Ontario government announced changes to employment standards in the province in the form of Bill 47, dubbed the “Making Ontario Open for Business Act.” The proposed changes will largely undo the amendments made to employment and labour legislation last year with the Liberal government’s Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.

Here, we will provide an overview of some of the major changes coming to employment standards in the province. Continue reading “Bill 47 and Impacts to Employment Standards in Ontario”