Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

In a joint statement with Meta, TikTok, Snap and X, on April 23, 2024, the BC government announced that it will put Bill 12 – 2024, Public Heath Accountability and Cost Recovery Act, on hold.  Instead, the government will strike the “BC Online Safety Action Table” in collaboration with Meta, Snap, TikTok and X, to discuss the tangible steps that can be taken to ensure safe, empowering experiences online.  Bill 12 had not been tabled for second reading since its introduction on March 14, 2024.

When you sign a will, the will is intended after your death to govern the distribution of your estate in keeping with your wishes.  A will is the direction to your executor about which people, organizations or causes you want to benefit. 

Preparing a will is serious business.  In British Columbia, if you do not have a will, your estate will be treated as an “intestacy” and its ...

Like many British Columbians, I was surprised at the end of last month to read about a Chilliwack couple undertaking a Ghandi-inspired hunger strike against the Pickleball courts in their neighbourhood.^[1] Could the racket sport really be so disruptive that residents felt the need to engage in a public protest? As it turns out, yes.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing ...

The Senate is currently reviewing Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, which if passed will be a significant step in Canada’s effort to fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action by creating Canada’s first Indigenous-led council for reconciliation.

Background

In 2015, after extensive ...

In a highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”) in Barendregt v Grebliunas, 2022 SCC 22 confirmed the appropriate test for admitting additional evidence on appeal.

This decision confirms that the long-standing test set out in R.v. Palmer, [1980] 1 SCR 759, applies both to evidence that existed at the time of trial but was not adduced at that ...

Vancouver International Arbitration Centre’s (“VanIAC”) new International Commercial Arbitration Rules of Procedure (the “New Rules”) came into effect on July 1, 2022. In this post, we summarise what you need to know about the New Rules.

The New Rules are a significant update to the previous version of the international arbitration rules, which were last ...

In ES v Shillington^[1], a decision issued last month, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench recognized the tort of Public Disclosure of Private Facts, a new cause of action that protects private information from public disclosure.^[2] Formal recognition of this tort in Alberta marks an important development in the law, giving additional legal protection to individuals’ ...

We are now several years into the “culture shift” encouraging summary dispositions rather than trials, following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Hryniak v Mauldin.^[1] Commentary from the Alberta Court of Appeal suggests that this shift has indeed resulted in an increase in the number of cases that have been decided under the summary judgment rules in ...

This post discusses the Alberta Court of Appeal's recent decision in Hannam v. Medicine Hat School District No. 76,^[1] which stands as an emphatic reminder that the Supreme Court of Canada has directed courts to grant summary judgment when a fair and just determination can be made without a trial.

Although Hannam does not change the law of summary judgment, it conveys the ...

As courts cautiously resume in-person hearings across the country, there is looming uncertainty about when—or if—civil jury trials will ever resume. For instance, B.C. and some regions in Ontario have announced that civil jury trials are suspended until at least 2021—and Ontario is considering whether to abolish them altogether. By contrast, Alberta is allowing ...