Jun 12, 2017

A Warning to Contractors and a Lesson for Regulators: Enforcement and Penalties Under the Consumer Protection Act

Virtually every regulator engages in some form of consumer protection. Concerns relating to false billing, misleading advertising, and the failure to deliver products and services can be found in nearly every regulatory statute. The vigour with which regulators seek the most serious remedies relating to these consumer protection issues is, however, quite variable. In some cases, the media has criticized regulators for not revoking a registrant’s registration when they have been found guilty of professional misconduct for false or misleading billings.

May 24, 2017

Panic in Wychwood Park?

On May 18, 2017, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“the Court”) released its decision in Black v. Owen. The appeal concerned the enforceability of the appellants’ legal obligation to pay an annual levy as their contribution toward maintenance costs for private roads and other common areas in Wychwood Park, a residential area within the City of Toronto. The payment obligation arose under an 1891 Trust Deed (the “Trust Deed”) registered on title to the lands within Wychwood Park.

May 18, 2017

Ontario Announces Proposed Changes to the OMB and the Results of the Coordinated Review of Four Provincial Land Use Plans

Over the past few days there have been a series of announcements from the province of Ontario regarding the introduction of legislation related to reforms of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), and the results of a coordinated review of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan. Please find details about both of these announcements below.

Apr 6, 2017

Residential Landlords Beware! Toronto By-law Creates Onerous New Obligations

On March 28, 2017, Toronto City Council adopted Agenda Item LS17.1, which authorizes the creation of a new by-law (the “By-law“) to govern apartment buildings in Toronto, and creates significant new record-keeping and reporting obligations for residential landlords. The definition of “apartment buildings” is intended to apply to all purpose-built rental properties in Toronto with three (3) or more storeys and ten (10) or more dwelling units available for rent. It will not apply to long-term care facilities, licensed retirement homes, or co-operative housing, but will cover Toronto Community Housing buildings (with some small differences).

The proposed By-law will apply to an estimated 3,578 apartment buildings in Toronto. The By-law will come into effect on July 1, 2017, and according to Councillor Josh Matlow, City inspectors will have visited every building by the end of 2017.

Mar 29, 2017

Feds Not Just Blowing Smoke: Recreational Marijuana to be Legal by July 1, 2018

Less than twenty-four hours after being called out by a candidate for the leadership of the NDP, CBC News has reported that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government plans on introducing legislation in early April 2017 with the intention of legalizing recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018.

According to the CBC report, the new legislation will “broadly follow” the final recommendations of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization, providing landlords and retail marijuana business owners with some clues as to what the final regulatory system will look like.

Feb 16, 2017

Alleged Acts of Sexual Abuse Pre-Bill 87: Will Bill 87 Apply?

Bill 87 (the “Bill”), which contains significant amendments to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (“RHPA”),  passed first reading in the Ontario legislature in December 2016. Although the Bill is not yet law, if and when it is enacted, there will be some important changes to the way in which RHPA Colleges deal with allegations of sexual abuse.

Under the Bill, a broader scope of conduct will be considered sexual abuse, and more acts of sexual abuse will result in mandatory revocation. This raises the question: how should Colleges deal with allegations of sexual abuse when the events in question pre-dated these new amendments? Is the member subject to the old RHPA provisions, or might the new provisions apply to the allegations?

The answer? It depends. The law on the application of new legislative provisions to prior conduct is complex and often inconsistent. This bulletin outlines two situations in which this question is likely to arise but it is impossible to give an answer that encompasses every situation, and the discussion below will not apply to all scenarios. As always, Colleges would be wise to consult with legal counsel to determine the appropriate way to proceed in any particular case.

Jan 9, 2017

No Bidding Around: The Competition Bureau Targets Bid-Riggers in 2017

Over the past few years, we have written and presented extensively about how Canada’s Competition Bureau has cracked down on price-fixing and bid-rigging in Canada’s construction industry. In December of 2016, the Bureau announced that as a result of several recent discoveries of illegal bidding practices, it will be intensifying its efforts to identify and prevent bid-rigging, with a particular focus on provincial and municipal infrastructure projects.

Dec 5, 2016

Parental Recognition and Proposed Amendments to Ontario Legislation: Part 2

In February 2016, we wrote about the Cy and Ruby’s Act (Parental Recognition), 2015, which proposed a number of amendments to statutes dealing with parental recognition.   We noted that the proposed amendments (the main amendments being to the Children’s Law Reform Act ) dealt with various typical factual scenarios involving assisted reproduction with donated genetic material from a third party, surrogacy arrangements or the possibility that an intended parent’s own genetic materials would be stored and used at a later time.  One of the goals of the proposed amendments was to facilitate the parental recognition of same-sex partners who rely on assisted reproduction for the conception and birth of children they intend to parent.  Indeed, one of the significant proposed amendments was the replacement of all references to “mother” and “father” with references to “parent”.