Cross-Border & Canadian Business Blog
Exploring cross-border business opportunities and trends.
In Blair v. Ford, 2021 ONCA 841, Brad Blair (“Blair”) appealed the decision of Justice Belobaba to dismiss Blair’s action against Premier Doug Ford (“Ford”) on the basis that it was a strategic lawsuit against public participation (“SLAPP”). The Court of Appeal dismissed Blair’s appeal and upheld the decision of Justice Belobaba. This is another …
Continue reading “Defamation Claim Against Premier Ford Slapped Down”
With social media, the number of defamation cases has increased. What is defamation? In a nutshell, it means that someone has written something about you that jeopardizes your reputation. Take the following example: “The restaurant at “X” is terrible, and I encountered food poisoning last time I was there”. Suppose the owner of the restaurant …
In today’s day and age, data breaches are common. Digital extortionists will use sophisticated techniques to obtain confidential and private information of millions of individuals from well-known platforms like Yahoo and Shopify. If you are a victim of such an attack, the question becomes: what damages are you entitled to? Unfortunately, a recent decision by …
The province of Alberta has joined the Canadian Federal Government and a number of the other Canadian provinces, proposing to update its privacy laws. Currently, Alberta’s legal privacy framework includes the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP). These laws govern the collection, use, and disclosure …
What happened? The Quebec Government made waves when they tabled Bill 96 – An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec, on May 13, 2021. The bill amends the province’s Charter of the French Language by instituting some broad and significant changes to Quebec’s language laws. Once passed, Bill 96 would affirm …
The date a limitation period begins depends on when the claim was discovered. The recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Kaynes v. BP, PLC clarifies the law of discoverability under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24 (the “Act”) concerning claims for fraudulent misrepresentation. Overview The defendant, BP PLC (“BP”), is …
Continue reading “Discoverability and Fraudulent Misrepresentation”
Starting in 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has rendered a series of decisions that have progressed from the imposition of a duty of good faith and fair dealing on the employer, at the time of an employee’s dismissal, towards a duty of good faith and fair dealing in the overall employment relationship. In …
Continue reading “Good Faith and Fair Dealing in Canadian Employment Law”
On Monday, April 19, 2021, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, released the first official budget in the past two years, titled, Federal Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience (the “Budget”). The Budget proposed over $100 billion in spending, and, among the more significant measures, the Budget proposes extending …
As I mentioned in my previous post, quant and TOBAM funder Yves Choueifaty’s journey towards securing a Canadian patent for his process of constructing “anti-benchmark” securities portfolios has not been easy. But first, a quick detour. Many companies have secured Canadian financial system patents. For example: TD-Bank: 36 patents in block chain, machine learning, recommendations, …
Continue reading “Financial Product Differentiation Using Patents – A Canadian Example (Part 2)”
Lightbulbs, bike gears, corkscrews, drilling rigs, TV towers, computer chips, medicine, and cleaning supplies. That’s the kind of stuff patents are for, right? Patents are only applied-for by those white-coated toilers frowning at lab benches, by those strange tinkerers in their dusty garages, and by those hoody-clad Silicon Valley campus-dwellers carting their chaotic circuit boards, …
Continue reading “Financial Product Differentiation Using Patents – A Canadian Example (Part 1)”