Amendments Coming to the OHSA’s Sentencing Provisions
In Bill 88, “Working for Workers Act, 2022”, the Ontario legislature has enacted noteworthy amendments to the sentencing provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) that will come…
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Owner Exposure Under Ontario’s OHSA: The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will hear an appeal from the 2021 game-changing judgement of the Court of Appeal for Ontario (CAO)
In April, the CAO surprised many by its decision in Ontario (Labour) v. Sudbury, finding that the municipal owner of a road repair project, under the control of a general…
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An Update Regarding Minimum Fines and the Charter Protection Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has declined to hear an appeal that would have focused on the question in what circumstances minimum fines for regulatory offences infringe the s.12…
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A Commercial Truck Driver Has Been Convicted on Multiple Charges of Criminal Negligence Causing Death. But What About His Employer?
Highway 400 southbound in Toronto just north of its intersection with the 401 is problematic. Four lanes feed into the 401 with another two proceeding into the city by way…
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Corporations Are Not Entitled to the Charter Protection Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment
That is the November 5 finding of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Quebec (Attorney General) v. 9147-0732 Québec Inc., 2020 SCC 32, on appeal from the Quebec Court…
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Unreasonable Trial Delay: Some Recent Caselaw
The delay arising from reserved judgements should not be included in calculating its length: R. v. K.G.K., 2020 S.C.C. 7 (CANLII). In K.G.K. the defendant was charged in April…
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Can a Sentencing Court Order Officers and Directors of a Convicted Corporation to Complete Probationary Requirements on its Behalf?
An Alberta Queen’s Bench Justice has found that, in exceptional circumstances, it can. In R. v. D&J Isley & Sons Contracting Ltd., the family owned, corporate defendant had been convicted…
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Are There Two Tiers of Criminal Liability for Strictly Regulated Organizations and Their Management Arising From Workplace or Other Operationally Related Fatalities?
On November 14, 2019 the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released its decision in R. v. Javanmardi in which it simplified the test for wrongful act manslaughter (“manslaughter”). In so doing,…
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