On December 17th 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada in the decision of R. v. Lacasse [1] sent a warning to ordinarily law abiding citizens who commit impaired driving, by upholding a six and a half year term of imprisonment for the offence of impaired driving causing the death of two people.
The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently released its decision in R. v. Michaud, 2015 ONCA 585 . This decision is of importance as the Court’s endorsement of the hybrid model of ex ante / ex post legislation has the effect of recognizing the role of risk assessment as a legal necessity.
The Supreme Court of Canada released its anticipated decision in Guindon v. Canada[1] on July 31, 2015, which held that administrative monetary penalties (“AMPs”) under section 163.2 of the Income Tax Act (the “ITA”)[2] are not offences that trigger constitutional protections such as the right to be presumed innocent. Other…
On July 3rd, 2015, the Canadian government announced a new Integrity Framework (the “Integrity Regime”), which applies to all federal procurement and real property transactions, and debars suppliers who have been convicted of “integrity offences” from contracting with the federal government for a set period of time ranging from 5-10…
Over the past weeks there has been a lively debate in Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, about the efficacy of so-called deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and, more specifically, on whether Canada should adopt a DPA regime as part of its toolkit for responding to corporate wrongdoing. As we…
University of Toronto philosophy professor Joseph Heath argues for a reinstatement of rationality in social and political discourse in his new book, Enlightenment 2.0.[1] This book provides modern examples of statements by politicians that are not based on proper factual or logical foundations. We could use some rational logic in…
On April 17, 2015, Justice Tôth of the Quebec Superior Court imposed a one million dollar fine on a corporation found guilty of price fixing in the case of R. c. Pétroles Global inc (“Global Fuels”)1. This case is important because it affirms that corporations will be penalized for the…