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Ontario’s Ban on Pit Bulls Hasn’t Cut Dog Bites: Study

Posted in: "All, Animal Welfare by Admin | No Comments Thursday, April 29, 2010

dog bute chart

Five years ago Ontario banned pit bull dogs in the province citing “public safety.”* On Wednesday, the Toronto Humane Society released a study indicating that the ban has not been as effective as the government had anticipated.

In addition to a ban on pit bulls, the law also targets any dog that bites, attacks, or is a menace to public safety. Owners face fines of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to six months.

While it’s easy to blame the dogs, perhaps it’s time to put the blame on irresponsible owners.

Graphic courtesy of the Toronto Humane Society

*Dog Owners’ Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. D-16

In loving memory of Tara Wang, died from pancreatic cancer on February 2, 2004.

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Contents Added: Chinese Version of Buying and Selling a Small Business in Ontario

Posted in: "All by Admin | No Comments Thursday, April 29, 2010

I’m pleased to announce that the Chinese version of my blog “Buying and Selling a Small Business” is now available on the website under “Information in Chinese.”

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Preparing for Divorce – What Your Lawyer Needs to Know

Posted in: "All, Family Law by Admin | No Comments Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Many people plan for their weddings, but only a few actually plan for divorce – unless they’ve found someone else.

However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t need to prepare for your divorce proceeding. The better you’re prepared, the more your lawyer can help you.

Before you come to your first appointment, you should have the relevant documents and information in your possession, and you should be able to answer these questions:

  • What are the dates of birth of both spouses?
  • Has either of the spouses divorced before? If so, where and when was the divorce granted?
  • What were the surnames of the spouses before marriage?
  • When were the spouses married?
  • Where is the marriage certificate?
  • When did the spouses separate?
  • What properties did the spouses own at the time of marriage and at the time of separation?
  • What properties do the spouses own nowt?
  • Are there children involved? If so, what are their dates of birth, and where do they live?
  • What are the occupations of the spouses?
  • Where are your Notices of Assessment or tax returns for the past three years?
  • Does either spouse have a criminal record?
  • Has there been violence in the household?

The list goes on. If you think there’s something about the family that the court should be aware of, you should first bring it to the attention of your lawyer.

PSWLaw is a Toronto-based law firm practising in the area of family law.

Note: Please keep in mind that this article is provided for information and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be regarded as such. The law may have changed since the publication of the article.

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Legal Aid Ontario Launches Toll-Free Client Hotline

Posted in: "All, Legal Aid Ontario by Admin | 2 Comments Thursday, April 22, 2010

Legal Aid Ontario has launched a client hotline to streamline their services.

By calling 1-800-668-8258, individuals throughout the province will have cost-free access to representatives on the following topics in 120 languages:

  • general legal aid information
  • certificate applications and assistance
  • summary advice for criminal and family matters
  • referrals to duty counsel, legal clinics and social services

The service is available from Monday to Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.


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Chilling LGBT Elder Abuse: Greene v. County of Sonoma et al.

Posted in: "All, Administrative Law, Family Law by Admin | No Comments Sunday, April 18, 2010

When I was in law school, I worked at an estate litigation firm that also took on elder law files relating to capacity issues. I came across lawsuits against nursing homes, live-in caretakers, hospitals, and psychiatric institutions. It’s not unheard of for the (usually wealthy) elderly to be manipulated by individuals who were supposed to take care of them. However, I’ve never come across a case as appalling as this one.

As a human being, I am outraged by the deplorableconducts of the County of Sonoma, California.

As a lawyer, I feel ashamed that a constitutional democracy has allowed this misfortune to take place at all.

Thank you, court-appointed attorney Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa for speaking out on behalf of the elderly men who couldn’t themselves!

Via nclrights.org [National Center for Lesbian Rights]

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s “roommate.” The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold’s lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county’s actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.

With the help of a dedicated and persistent court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa, Clay was finally released from the nursing home. Ms. Dennis, along with Stephen O’Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O’Neill, Barrack & Chong, now represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home, with technical assistance from NCLR. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma.

May 1, 2010 is NCLR’s 33rd Anniversary. Celebrate with NCLR!

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Why Is Spousal Support So Hard?

Posted in: "All, Family Law by Admin | No Comments Saturday, April 17, 2010

For modest-income families with children, spousal support is hard to come by after the breakdown of the spousal relationship. There are several reasons for this.

1. Child support takes priority to spousal support.

Under both the Family Law Act* and the Divorce Act^, child support takes priority over spousal support if the payor is unable to pay both.

Depending on particular circumstances, the spousal support payable may be so low that it’s not worth the efforts of pursuing it. For example, a $25 monthly spousal support for two years is hardly justifiable given the associated costs.

2. Calculation of support owing is practically impossible for the layperson.

While the non-binding Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG)+ provide a range of amounts payable, the exact calculation requires sophisticated computer calculation programs, which are not readily available to the public.

The SSAG also refers to two different kinds of calculation: spousal support without child support and spousal support with child support. The calculation takes into consideration such factors as these:

  • the income of the parties,
  • the individual net disposable income of the parties if child support is involved,
  • spousal support payable by the custodial parent,
  • shared and split custody arrangements, if any,
  • the length of support payable for adult children, if any,
  • the length of the marriage,
  • the age of the parties at the time of their separation.

With so many variables in the equation, calculation by hand is nearly impossible except for lawyers who are very familiar with the formula.

3. It’s difficult to interpret the results of the calculation.

The SSAG provides a range of amounts of spousal support payable – a ceiling and a floor. The discrepancy between these two amounts can range from several dollars for people earning modest income to tens of thousands of dollars for extraordinarily high income earners.

The interpretation of the results requires the application of case laws and legislative principles, and the analysis of the specific facts involved in the presenting case. Without the assistance of a lawyer who is familiar with these factors,the  parties are likely to find themselves stuck at an impasse, with the recipient claiming the ceiling and the payor the floor.

If you require assistance in finding out more about spousal support payable in your separation or divorce, give us a call at 416-433-5531.

PSWLaw is a results-driven law firm that practices in the area of family law.

Note: Please keep in mind that this article is provided for information and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be regarded as such. The law may have changed since the publication of the article.

*R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3, s. 38.1

^ R.S.C. 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.), s. 15.3

+ The SSAG is a project developed by the federal Department of Justice and authored by Professor Rogerson and Professor Thompson, both of the University of Toronto.

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Toronto Debates Restriction on Store Hours

Posted in: "All, Administrative Law, Business Development by Admin | No Comments Wednesday, April 14, 2010

When the City of Toronto Act* came into force in 2006, the Province relinquished the power to restrict store operating hours in the city on statutory holidays. Newly empowered in this area, city council at the time deferred to the status quo, allowing only a handful of disctricts to open on the holidays, namely the Eaton Centre, the Yonge Street strip, Harbourfront, and the Distillery District. Two additional malls, Vaughan Mills and Sherway Gardens, were later granted exemption.

However, it appears that the restrictions have not been enforced against business operators outside the exempted districts. Earlier this week, the Toronto Star reported that non-enforcement of the rules has resulted in confusion among store owners.^ The malls following the rules have lost business to exempted operators as well as to those who simply have not complied.

The current rules require mandatory closure on statutory holidays including New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Three out of the dates, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day, have Christian roots, while the rest of the holidays are civil in nature.

In the 1980s, mandatory closure on Christian holidays was ruled unconstitutional.** After the legislature removed the religious references in the mandatory closure rules, the court found civil purposes and essentially approved these rules.

Given Toronto’s diversity in population, “one size fits all” rules have their shortcomings. The popular opinion seems to be that the operating hours of stores should be decided by the individual owners, not the government.

It remains to be seen whether the debate will gather enough momentum to result in real changes.

*S.O. 2006, c. 11, Sch. A

^Paul Monoley, “Let Us Open on Holidays” Toronto Star (April 13, 2010)

**See e.g. R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., [1985] 1 S.C.R. 295

A Brief Note on the Missing Spouse and Substituted Service in Family Law

Posted in: "All, "Brief Note" Series, Family Law by Admin | No Comments Friday, April 9, 2010

It’s not unheard of for a spouse to suddenly move away, never to be heard from again. When this happens, the sudden disappearance can create major hurdles for the remaining spouse if he or she wants to claim support or seek divorce.

One of the fundamental principles of the common law system is that parties ought to have meaningful opportunity to participate in the process; often this means notice. When proper notice is not given to a party, the fairness of the proceeding is greatly tainted.

Readers can appreciate that if the wife or the husband moves out of the matrimonial home and vanishes, the one remaining may have trouble finding the former partner and giving him or her the proper notice required under the law.

The law requires that the remaining party exercise reasonable efforts to locate the one who ran away. If the whereabouts of the disappeared can be ascertained, he or she must be served according to the rules.

A lawyer’s office can help with the task of locating the missing person, having access to searches that are generally not available to the public. An MTO or driver’s licence search may be conducted if the lawyer undertakes not to use the results for purposes other than the anticipated litigation.

If the husband or wife cannot be found directly, the court may permit substituted service through a friend or relative who remains in contact with the disappeared.

If all else fails, the court may consider an order dispensing with service if it’s satisfied that all reasonable efforts have been exercised and the other side is intentionally evading service. However, dispensing with service is hardly a solution to the problem. Because ex-parte (without notice) litigation violates the principles of procedural fairness, once the other side becomes aware of the proceeding, he or she may be entitled to move to set the results of any ex-parte proceeding aside and start afresh.

PSWLaw in Toronto is your family law advocate.

Call 416-433-5531 for an appointment today.

Note: Please keep in mind that this article is provided for information and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be regarded as such. The law may have changed since the publication of the article.

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Ontario Report Goes “Digital,” a Disappointment for the Google Generation

Posted in: "All, Product Review by Admin | No Comments Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Ontario Report, the semi-official law report published under the mandate of the Law Society Act, has finally gone digital after more than a hundred years in print. I was very excited about the online edition when I first received the news.

Today I had a chance to take my first look at the online edition. While it’s billed as “digital,” the report looks exactly like the print version. The publisher seems to have taken the plate sets and simply put them online. Readers must “flip” through the pages one or two at a time to find what they are looking for.

For the generation that grew up with Google, the layout is antiquated and frustrating to navigate.

While a “search” option is indeed available, this primitive feature produces fragmented results. For example, when I searched the phrase “sexual assault,” (a phrase that’s commonly seen in the Report) results include “common assault,” “assault,” and “assault with weapon.” Each search result was listed in a different link, making it difficult to locate the desired document.

Further, the scope of each search appears confined to a single issue. In other words, a database comprising archived cases is not available. For a comprehensive database search, you will have to subscribe to QuickLaw, a commercial service operated by the same publishing company.

Clearly the technology for a more user-friendly interface exists; the commercial version of the database works just fine. Unfortunately, it’s apparently unavailable for most lawyers, whose membership dues include  subscription to the Ontario Report ($355 per volume plus GST), but not the commercial database of archived case.

I suppose the layout may have been designed to remain exactly the same in order not to frighten those lawyers who still dictate or write out their emails for the secretaries to type out. However, the lack of improvement is a huge disappointment for the Google generation, who want something more than the plate set being scanned and put online.

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Book Review – 053803: Life at Fifteen by Robert J. Gagnon

Posted in: "All, Book Review by Admin | No Comments Wednesday, April 7, 2010

053803 Life at Fifteen

by Robert J. Gagnon

R J Gagnon Publishing; 336 pages; US $14.95 (Kindle eBook)

15 year-old Robert Gagnon needed to kick his drug and alcohol addiction. He decided that by robbing a bank, he would get the assistance he needed so badly. As a young offender, he thought he might have to stay in jail for a few months and he then could start over again. It was December 19, 1975.

Only nothing turned out as he planned. He ended up serving 10 years in an adult prison before he was released in 1985. He grew up in the correctional institutions of the State of Florida.

Gagnon was deemed to dangerous to be placed with other young offenders. Being placed among hardened criminals, 15-year-old Gagnon needed to learn fast and act quickly to survive. So begins this epic story of survival, friendship, and life.

Although the book was written long after Gagnon’s release, the narrative is compelling and the plot page-turning. Gagnon projects his memory onto the pages as accurately as he can and invits the readers to watch the show with him.

During his 10 years in prison, Gagnon transformed from an insecure young man to a content small engine repairman. Details of an inmate’s daily routine are intimately scripted – the chores, the politics, the racism, the sex – they were all there. Gagnon’s story is candid, frank, and sometimes appalling but always fascinating. The inner demons, the insecurity, the anxiety, and the fear of a convict are shared with the readers without reservation.

While Gagnon makes no apologies for what he had to do to survive in jail, readers can feel his remorse and desire to redeem himself as the story carries on.

The book is written, quite understandably, in colloquial language. The dialogue is filled with expletives, as one would expect in a prison setting. The narrative, however, could have been edited more professionally. A few misused words are misused throughout the book. For example, on at least four occasions the word “aspect” is mistakenly used in the place of the word “except,” and the word “then” in the place of “than.” Sentences are sometimes fragmented or run-on with modifiers dangling. The reading would certainly become smoother if these details were looked after.

Despite these minor flaws, the book remains quite enjoyable. A story of self-preservation and redemption, 053803 Life at Fifteen will definitely pique the attention of readers interested in the criminal justice system.

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