Insights

The Youth Criminal Justice Act is an extensive piece of Federal legislation. [1] It has been in effect since 2003 and it governs the prosecution of youths charged with criminal offences. Criminal records, sentencing principals, and youth criminal procedure can become complicated for experienced legal counsel, let alone a self-represented accused...

The Condominium Property Act, 1993 ( Saskatchewan) (the “ Act”)places a statutory obligation on an owner to remit condo fees (ie. common expenses and reserve fund fees), and specifies that an owner is not exempt from that obligation even if the owner is in litigation with the condominium corporation. This means an owner cannot use a refusal to pay...

It's never a pleasant situation for a condominium corporation to be in when a unit owner falls behind in their condominium fees. As a board member or property manager who is responsible for collecting these fees you understand how difficult this can be. It’s not easy to go to a neighbour and remind them their bills are overdue. Talking to someone...

Mediation is becoming a viable option as an alternative to trial. This change was brought about by numerous factors, major ones being the expense and emotional toll that a trial takes on parties. Many forms of alternative dispute resolution are available to people, some of which are collaborative law, negotiation, and mediation. Mediation has...

WORKPLACE PRIVACY LAW UPDATE Personal Information (Privacy) and Arbitration Awards In August, the BC Court of Appeal considered whether an arbitrator could include personal information about employees in an arbitration award. The Union, UFCW Local 1518, had asserted that the inclusion of personal information in the arbitrator’s written reasons was...

The holiday season is quickly approaching and many separated or divorced parents will be looking to finalize their 2015 holiday plans with their children. In order to do so, it is very important that parents begin discussing their respective holiday plans. Should parents be unable to agree, an application to the Court may be made. In order to bring...

A corporation cannot just be given any name you wish. Before you can select a name for your corporation, there are a number of rules that must be followed. To begin with, the name must be searched against all other registered names in Saskatchewan, federal corporations and registered trademarks, and approved by Saskatchewan’s Corporate Registry...

I. Legislative Changes Federal Bill C-525 has been passed into Law The Canadian Parliament has amended the provisions of the Canada Labour Code, the Public Service Labour Relations Act, and the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act to require that all representation votes for certification or decertification involve a mandatory secret...

Many commercial leases contain either an option to renew or an option to extend the term of the lease. However, what many landlords and tenants do not know is that renewing a lease and extending a lease is not the same thing. A lease that is renewed comes to an end for an instant at the end of the original term, prior to the renewal term beginning...

Q: My Family Farm Corporation has applied for a loan from Farm Credit Canada. They are asking for a personal guarantee for the loan from me and my husband. They told us that we have to each speak to a lawyer to get independent legal advice for the guarantee. Why is this necessary? A: The short answer to this question is “to make sure that they can...

“He got off on a technicality” A colleague of mine used this phrase recently while commenting on a case so I decided to write about it. This is often the reaction of people upon learning about an obviously “guilty” individual evading justice; a little luck and perhaps some clever lawyering and the accused went free. The purpose of this short post...

When a person loses capacity and the ability to make their own decisions while they are still alive, what happens? Who can assist that person in dealing with day to day and financial matters? Here in Saskatchewan, the answers to these questions can be found in The Powers of Attorney Act, 2002 (the “Act”). Typically, if a person has done the proper...