Can The Municipal Owner Of A Road Construction Project Be Liable As An Employer For Violations Of The OHSA When It Has Contracted Out The Work?
Conventional wisdom might suggest not. But this is the very question the Court of Appeal for Ontario agreed to consider on October 28 when it granted the Ministry of Labour (MOL)…
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OHSA & Other Regulatory Offences: Do Increased Statutory Maximums Translate Into Higher Fines?
In December 2017, the Ontario legislature increased the maximum fines for offences contrary to the OHSA from $25,000 (individuals) and $500,000 (corporations) to $100,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. With an…
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Can Corporations Benefit From the Constitutional Protection Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment?
In December 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in R. v. Boudreault, 2018 SCC 58 (CanLII) finding, in part, that, fines levied against individuals can constitute cruel and unusual punishment if…
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Regulatory Offences: The Rarity of a Jail Sentence is No Reason Not to Order It (and other nuggets from the Court of Appeal for Ontario)
A month after the Court of Appeal for Ontario (“CAO”) re-affirmed deterrence as the primary sentencing factor for regulatory offences, the Court has released a decision that details the interplay…
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Minimum Fines & the OWRA: The Court of Appeal Sets the Bar High For Relief
The Ontario Water Resources Act (“OWRA”) provides for minimum fines for defendants convicted of a number of offences, including ss.30(1): Every person that discharges or causes or permits the discharge…
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Is The Ontario Court of Justice Now A Debt Enforcement Court?
Recently, an Ontario Court Justice found that justices overseeing sentencing hearings under the Provincial Offences Act (the “POA”) have the jurisdiction, in exceptional cases, to pierce the veil of asset-less…
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Not All OHSA Offences Are Strict Liability (Part 2)
In a previous case comment, I wrote that in R. v. Precision Diversified Oilfield Services Corp Drilling (“Precision”) the Alberta Court of Appeal would shortly have the opportunity to consider whether, properly…
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Government Tables Enabling Legislation for Deferred Prosecution Agreements
A month after it announced as part of the federal budget that it intended to introduce deferred prosecution agreements, the government tabled Bill C-74 on March 26. Through proposed amendments to…
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