Articles

On May 13, the Government of Quebec unveiled its proposed reform of the Charter of the French Language (the “Charter”), also known as Bill 101. This reform covers many spheres of society and the area of trademarks is no exception. Indeed, the bill entitled An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec (hereinafter, “Bill 96”) introduces significant changes to commercial signage in a language other than French.

On May 13, 2021, the Minister of Justice and Minister Responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, tabled Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec (“Bill 96”). The purpose of this bill is to affirm that the only official language of Quebec is French and that French is the common language of the Quebec nation. In this article, we share our preliminary thoughts on this bill and its effects on professional bodies in Quebec.

Since the beginning of the health crisis in March 2020, workplaces have undergone many changes in response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Government restrictions and the pausing of Quebec society have forced many companies to reassess and adjust their needs in order to cope with this new reality.

Until very recently, the answer to this question would have had to be no. A trend in the case law of the Commission d’accès à l’information (“CAI”) suggested that settlement privilege did not offer any protection when an access to information request was made of a public body. In these decisions, the CAI refused to apply settlement privilege and favoured the disclosure of settlement agreements in response to an access to information request.

The completion of the work, the correction of deficiencies and non-conformities, the handing over of the end-of-work documents and the taking possession of the work represent an important stage of a construction project.

In 2018, in accordance with its international commitments, including the Paris Agreement, Parliament passed the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the “GGPPA”). This legislative scheme has two components: (1) the creation of a fuel charge payable by certain producers, distributors and importers of various types of carbon-based fuels, and (2) the establishment of an output-based pricing system (“OBPS”) for industrial greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions by emissions-intensive industrial facilities.