December is just around the corner, so the Office Christmas Party season has officially begun! Since there is no surefire prescription for an incident-free Christmas party, employers should start taking proactive and precautionary steps now for ensuring adequate supervision and control of their events.
On November 7, the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, tabled Bill C-65 in order to strengthen the existing legal frame for the prevention of harassment and violence in the workplace. This Bill modifies Part II of the Canada Labour Code and the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act.
On April 13, 2017 the federal government, on the heels of an election promise made in 2015, tabled a bill in the House of Commons proposing the legalization of recreational cannabis.
Cheque Fraud: In 5-4 Split, the SCC Upholds and Refines Existing Defences to Conversion Claims Under the Bills of Exchange Act
In Teva Canada Limited v. TD Canada Trust, the Supreme Court of Canada found two banks liable for a $5.5 million cheque fraud scheme carried out by a former employee of the appellant, Teva Canada Ltd. In so doing, the Supreme Court has provided welcome clarity to a long-debated question: which innocent party – the employer or the collecting bank – should bear the risks resulting from employee cheque fraud?
On January 1, 2016, the enactment of a new Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) brought interesting changes to class proceedings in Quebec. Probably the most significant development of this reform is the reinstitution for defendants of the right to appeal from a judgment authorizing a class action.
On August 24, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) issued CSA Staff Notice 46-307 (“Staff Notice”) regarding its views with respect to cryptocurrency offerings. The Staff Notice indicated that tokens issued in the context of initial coin offerings could be considered “in many cases” as securities and that as such, securities law could apply to any coin offerings in Canada.