Procedural Power of Courts Not Constrained by PIPEDA

In Royal Bank of Canada v. Trang, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) does not interfere with the procedural powers of a court. The decision arose out of a situation in which past judicial interpretation and application of PIPEDA had impeded the ability of the…

Supreme Court Affirms Supremacy of Solicitor-Client Privilege

In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. University of Calgary, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (with two justices partially concurring) affirmed that the University of Calgary was justified in its refusal to produce certain documents over which it had claimed solicitor-client privilege to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (Commissioner). The…

First CASL Decision Invites Long-Desired Feeling of Normality

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation is relatively new, onerous and far from elegant. Organizations have been weighing the risks the best they can – and in doing so have puzzled over how to account for CASL’s provision for penalties of up to $10 million. On October 26th, the CRTC issued a decision in which it held that a company…

Federal Government Introduces Legislation to Establish Target Benefit Plans Framework

On October 19, 2016, the federal government introduced Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, legislation that would, if passed, provide a framework for the establishment, administration and supervision of target benefit plans (TBPs). TBPs provide for fixed or capped contributions, a targeted “defined benefit type” pension formula and flexibility…

Federal Government Introduces Amending Legislation to Support CPP Enhancement

On October 6, 2016, the federal government introduced Bill C-26, An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act and the Income Tax Act, new omnibus legislation to support Canada Pension Plan (CPP) enhancement. If passed, Bill C-26 would, among other things, amend the CPP to: increase the maximum…

Raising the Bar – Thirteenth Edition

The Fall is upon us and, with that, the courts are back in full swing. Although this may mean busy times for you ahead, it also means that we can look forward to interesting decisions from the court on topics that may impact your litigation strategies…