CBA Influence - Public Policy and Advocacy

The proposed Canada-wide early learning and child-care program was likely the most-discussed line item in the budget presented by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on April 19, and was certainly welcomed by members of the Canadian workforce most affected by the pandemic-related she-cession.

The coming into force of changes to Canada’s medical assistance in dying law, on March 17, is not the end of the story, says David E. Roberge

Milestones are good opportunities to pause, reflect and take stock. One hundred years ago the Canadian Bar Association became incorporated through a private act of Parliament, as was the custom in those days.

The CBA has long been an advocate for the modernization of the justice system, and change has been slow and incremental. Despite the system bursting at the seams, there was little appetite and even less money to make it happen.

If you went to a flea market in the days before the internet and were offered a pair of Vuarnet sunglasses for $10, you knew they were fake. Today’s counterfeiters are incredibly more sophisticated and difficult to catch than their 20th-century predecessors working in unregulated cash-only markets.

The issue of political interference in judicial appointments got an airing this fall after several news outlets in Quebec reported on private departmental emails purporting to show undue politicking in federal appointments.

Amendments to the Supreme Court of Canada Rules came into effect on January 27, 2021, aimed at simplifying the process to apply for leave to appeal and facilitating electronic filing.

Months-long delays in the processing of immigration claims, and the IRCC Case Processing Centres’ habit of returning those claims unprocessed for petty or erroneous reasons, is more than a source of frustration of applicants and their lawyers, it can also have detrimental effects on an individual’s eligibility for a program, or ability to work in Canada.

It’s just as unsafe to send people back to their home countries now as it was in March, 2020 when the federal government put a temporary hold on removals, says the CBA’s Immigration Law Section, which is concerned that they have started up again.

Draft regulatory amendments from the Canada Border Services Agency relating to transborder criminal inadmissibility have the potential to undermine legal and procedural safeguards, the CBA’s Immigration Law Section says in a letter responding the proposed amendments.