R v. Cole and an employee’s reasonable expectation of privacy

November 29th, 2012 by Shelina Ali

Technology has become central to the workplace, with employers regularly providing employees with access to computers and other devices for use in the course of work and employment activities. Personal use of these devices often becomes incidental, especially as the boundaries between the workplace and home blur. As a result, questions arise over who really owns the personal information generated on these workplace devices and the extent of an employee’s privacy rights over any personal information stored on these devices.

The recent Supreme Court of Canada decision of R. v. Cole indicates that an employee’s personal information, even if stored on computers owned by an employer, may attract a reasonable expectation of privacy.

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Mega Quarry win shows it’s time for major agricultural policy reform in Ontario

November 27th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

Last week Highland Companies announced plans to withdraw its application to build a quarry in Melancthon Ontario.  The “Mega Quarry” has been a rallying cry for local food and agriculture reform, as well as aggregates reform in Ontario.

Now is not a time for farmers, environmentalists and foodies to rest on their laurels.  Ontario’s agricultural policy needs big-time reform.  For far too long Ontario has badly neglected the agricultural sector on all fronts, financial, marketing, trade policy, land use protection, water policies, and from a food security perspective.  The Mega Quarry dispute highlighted many of these problems.

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Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Draft Policies and the Review Cycle for the Provincial Policy Statement

November 27th, 2012 by Paula Boutis

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has embarked on its five year review of the Provincial Policy Statement, a document which underpins land use planning decisions in the province of Ontario.

The Canadian Environmental Law Association and EcoJustice have submitted their comments to the proposed revisions.

You can find a copy of their full submissions here (pdf).

Superior Court of Justice renders good news decision for the worker co‑op sector

November 16th, 2012 by Paula Boutis

In early October, the Superior Court released a decision which looked at how the law governing fundamental changes to an employment contract applied in the context of worker co‑operatives. It also considered whether “sweat equity credits” amounted to “member shares” under the Co‑operative Corporations Act (CCA).

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Go Dal! We’re sponsoring WCEL’s Twitter Moot

November 15th, 2012 by Iler Campbell LLP

Iler Campbell LLP is pleased to be a Silver Sponsor to the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, in the second annual “Twitter Moot”, hosted by the West Coast Environmental Law Association (WCEL), on November 20, 2012, at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST).  This is Iler Campbell’s second year sponsoring the Dalhousie team, the alma matter of Iler Campbell lawyer Paula Boutis, where Paula obtained her law degree, with a specialization in environmental law.

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How will CEAA review panels interpret “directly affected” and “interested party”? Alberta provides some clues

November 12th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

The new federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012) has adopted new criteria for standing at review panel hearings that includes the words “directly affected”.  The Kelly series of cases from Alberta help shed some light on the meaning of that requirement and how it might develop at the federal level.  Under CEAA 2012 review panels will decide what it means, but will be subject to supervision by the courts.

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