As part of ongoing discussions to improve the federal child support guidelines, the Family Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association wrote to Justice Canada, adding details to its 2021 recommendation on child support payments in situations of shared parenting.

In a letter to Chief Justice Paul Crampton, the Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee of the Canadian Bar Association outlines factors the Federal Court should take into account in considering a vaccination policy for in-person hearings.

The government of Canada is committed to making the tax system fair for everyone, it says in its Budget speeches. One of the tools it can use to reach that goal is to uncover aggressive tax planning schemes. The Canada Revenue Agency distinguishes “aggressive” tax planning from the legitimate kind in that the former is a way to get around the intent of the law.

The Canadian Bar Association supports the federal government’s efforts to make the tax system fairer, President Stephen Rotstein writes in a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland. Provided lawyers can fulfil their duties to their clients with undivided loyalty.

The Child and Youth Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, in an update to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, says Canada continues to struggle with its compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, or UNCRC. Some of the Section’s recommendations are summarized below.

The Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association believes temporary projects and processes put in place in the early months of the pandemic for temporary residents should be extended. That’s the gist of a letter sent to the Director of Temporary Resident Program Delivery at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Fulfilling Canada’s labour needs not only during the pandemic but on a long-term basis justifies facilitating the transition of international students to permanent resident status. That’s the message conveyed by the Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association in a letter sent to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

The Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section of the Canadian Bar Association is in favour of proposed changes to voluntary filing mechanisms for certain investments by non-Canadians under the Investment Canada Act, or ICA.

The Judicial Issues Subcommittee of the Canadian Bar Association supports replacing the old process and establishing new rules for how complaints against federally appointed judges are handled. Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Judges Act, was introduced in December and the Subcommittee says, in a letter, that it supports the new process it ushers in.

The French Speaking Common Law Members Section of the Canadian Bar Association is calling on (available in French only; all quotations used here are translations) the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Official Languages to ensure that Canadians can be heard in the official language of their choice in bankruptcy and insolvency cases.