“Everyone gets the same benefit” sounds like the definition of fairness until you look at who gets squeezed when the rules change. We start with a Surrey teachers’ parental leave top-up dispute that has taken a surprising turn: adoptive parents argue that equal top-up pay can still be discriminatory because adoption can bring immediate, […]
A government can detain someone for mental health reasons, but can it also force treatment without first asking a harder question: are they actually capable of deciding for themselves? We walk through a major British Columbia decision on involuntary treatment under the Mental Health Act, where the court finds a section 7 Charter breach […]
One word can change everything when it comes from a legal regulator. We dig into the BC Law Society’s mandatory Indigenous education course, the controversy over how it described the Kamloops Residential School site, and why some lawyers pushed to add a qualifier like “potential” when claims have not been independently confirmed. When that […]
Bail has become the go-to explanation for everything people hate about crime and disorder, but the law is more stubborn than the politics. We sit down with Michael Mulligan to sort out what Bill C-14 actually does, what it cannot do because of the Charter, and why the presumption of innocence and section 11(e) […]
A campus sticker dispute, a GST mistake that snowballs for years, and a pre-COVID work-from-home fight all end up in the BC Court of Appeal, and the common thread is proof. We walk through a defamation claim tied to “I Heart Hamas” stickers attributed to a UBC social justice group and explain the first […]
A province says a police misconduct record is sealed and destroyed. The Supreme Court of Canada says a fair trial can’t work that way. We walk through a major ruling on criminal disclosure and why it matters when an investigating officer’s credibility is on the line, especially where past discipline involves dishonesty or reliability […]
A court ruling can change more than a headline, it can change how safe you feel about the basics: owning property and trusting the people who handle your money. We walk through a remarkable British Columbia Aboriginal title dispute connected to lands in Richmond and the Cowichan Tribes, where a private property owner tried […]
A province suing over opioids is one thing. A province passing a statute that makes it easier for itself to sue, then launching a sweeping class action on that foundation, is something else entirely. We walk through British Columbia’s opioid litigation strategy, the allegations about marketing and addiction risk, and how the Opioid Damages […]
A city changes a bylaw, two parks get added to a no-camping list, and suddenly the real question isn’t “is this fair?” but “who has the legal power to decide?” We walk through a fresh BC Supreme Court decision on Victoria’s park camping restrictions, including why the court treats the amendment as legislation, not […]
A public servant gives three decades to the province, then gets fired without cause on the very day a government is about to fall. The BC Supreme Court doesn’t just disagree with how it was handled; it finds the termination was politically motivated and meant to turn a non-partisan employee into a convenient scapegoat. […]
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