The law is settled on sexual assault. When will the legal system catch up?

March 30th, 2017 by Shelina Ali

This article was first published on rabble.ca

Over the past year, the treatment of sexual assault complainants in the justice system has received a great deal of mainstream media attention. Much of the coverage has focused on how unfairly sexual assault complainants are treated. Examples include:

  • The cross-examination of complainants in the Jian Gomeshi case and the judge’s findings that inconsistencies in the complainants’ testimony made them not credible.
  • Comments made by Justice Robin Camp during a sexual assault trial in Alberta — asking why the victim didn’t keep her knees together — that ultimately led to his resignation.
  • A comment by a Nova Scotia judge that a drunk person can consent — in a trial where the complainant was found by police unconscious and undressed in the back of a cab.

And then, just this past week, the Supreme Court of Canada released a one-sentence decision that sums up the exasperation at the failings of the justice system when it comes to sexual assault.

Continue reading “The law is settled on sexual assault. When will the legal system catch up?”

Iler Campbell featured in CBC news article on housing co-ownership

March 22nd, 2017 by Iler Campbell

Lauren Blumas is featured in a CBC news article highlighting “creative solutions to unattainable house prices.” The article highlights: the trend of co-buying homes; a couple who’ve elected to stay renters in the city while buying income property outside of the city; and non-profit condo developer (and Iler Campbell client) Options for Homes.

Lauren is quoted on the need for “co-purchasers sign a legally binding document called a co-ownership or co-tenancy agreement prior to buying the home.”

Read the article here.

Federal Non Profit Corporations: Deadline of July 31, 2017 to transition from Canada Corporations Act to Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act

March 21st, 2017 by Ted Hyland

If you’re involved in a non‑profit organization that was incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act and your organization has not completed the transition to the Canada Not‑for‑profit Corporations Act, then you have until July 31, 2017 to do so. Corporations Canada has issued a notice that if the transition is not completed by July 31st, the corporation will be dissolved. In other words, the corporation will cease to exist, legally, and if it’s a registered charity, it could lose its charitable registration.

To obtain more details about what’s involved in completing the transition, you can check out the “Transition Guide” on Corporations Canada’s website.

If you have any questions about the transition process, you can also contact one of our lawyers.

Corporations that Own an Interest in Land: New Record Keeping Requirements

March 9th, 2017 by Ted Hyland

In 2015, the Ontario legislature passed legislation called the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015 (the FCPA). The FCPA came into effect on December 10, 2016.

One of the things that the FCPA does is to amend the Corporations Act (Ontario), the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), and the Not‑for‑Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (Ontario) to require corporations that are subject to these statutes to keep a register at their registered office of their ownership interests in land located in Ontario.

Given that the amendments were enacted in the FCPA, it seems that the provincial government intends for this to be a convenient mechanism to enable it to locate land that reverts to the Crown if a corporation is dissolved while still owning land.

What’s the new requirement?

Continue reading “Corporations that Own an Interest in Land: New Record Keeping Requirements”

Eight days and counting… Join us at our Human Rights for Co-ops event March 4th

February 24th, 2017 by Iler Campbell

On Saturday, March 4, 2017, we will host our first IC Education event in Durham Region.   And we’d love to see you there!    Our housing provider clients regularly inquire about human rights issues – how to distinguish a human right from a personal preference and how far the housing provider’s duty to accommodate extends.   If you’d like to join us for our Human Rights Refresher at Otter Creek Co‑op in Whitby on Saturday, March 4, 2017, please register.  We have a few spaces left.

How inclusionary zoning stands to grow affordable housing in Ontario

February 23rd, 2017 by Claudia Pedrero

This article was first published on rabble.ca

On December 6, 2016, the Ontario legislature passed the Promoting Affordable Housing Act, 2016, expanding the powers of Ontario municipalities to implement “inclusionary zoning,” a requirement for developers to build affordable units when constructing new market‑rate housing. The Act changes the provincial Planning Act, RSO 1990, c.P.13, by obliging some municipalities, while making it optional for others, to adopt inclusionary zoning policies. A discussion on the adoption of the Act and debates surrounding its inclusionary zoning provisions can be found on our firm’s blog.

These legislative changes come years after rising housing prices, lagging income levels and dwindling federal and provincial funding have created an increasing need for new affordable housing in Ontario. Significantly, according to the 2017 Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, over the past 13 years Toronto’s house prices have nearly doubled compared to household incomes, thus making market-rate housing unaffordable for an increasingly larger portion of the population. The same study also notes that nearby areas such as Hamilton and Oshawa are becoming unaffordable for middle‑income residents.

What inclusionary zoning will look like on the ground remains unanswered. By extension, it is difficult to predict whether the changes will have a significant impact on the need for affordable housing in Ontario. For example, it is unclear what an “affordable unit” means under the new changes and how affordable units will have to be priced. However, the province is slated to release regulations in early 2017 that will hopefully give some meat to its approach and allow municipalities to develop their policies and bylaws. Continue reading “How inclusionary zoning stands to grow affordable housing in Ontario”