Congratulations to Milt Davis who was named a recipient of the 2024 Law Society Medal. Each year, the Law Society of Ontario awards the Law Society Medal to selected lawyers who have made a significant contribution to the profession. Award recipients are chosen for their outstanding career achievements and contributions to their communities.
Milt’s nomination for the award was supported by members of the firm and the litigation bar. In each of his letters of recommendation, his supporters highlighted Milt’s tireless commitment to the ideals of the profession; his significant contributions to the practice and reputation of the profession; his devotion to advocating on behalf of those members of the public whose voices would not otherwise been effectively heard; and his public dedication to combatting the scourge of anti-Semitism.
Milt will be honoured with the prestigious Law Society Medal at the annual Law Society Awards ceremony, which will be held on May 22, 2024.
On behalf of the entire firm, we congratulate Milt on this well-deserved recognition.
On February 9, 2024, the SCC released its decision in Attorney General of Québec, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, et al., an appeal of a Quebec reference case relating to the constitutionality of An Act respecting First Nation, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families (the “FederalAct“).
Katherine Hensel and Kristie Tsang of Fogler, Rubinoff LLP acted for the intervener, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), offering an Inuit and territorial perspective to the legal issues before the SCC. The Court upheld the Federal Act in its entirety as constitutional, including the Federal Act’s:
imposition of national standards in the delivery of child and family services;
acknowledgement and affirmation of Indigenous Governing Bodies’ inherent right to self-government and legislative authority over children and family service;
designation of Indigenous laws as having the force of federal law; and
declaration of the paramountcy of the Indigenous laws over provincial laws, in the case of inconsistency.
This is a successful result for IRC’s child wellbeing law, Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat, which will ensure that Inuvialuit children, youth, and families are supported wherever they live, for the benefit of Inuvialuit and Inuvialuit culture, and to mitigate and prevent the documented harm caused by non-Inuvialuit and non-Indigenous child welfare practices. This is also welcome news for our Indigenous clients currently engaged in developing their own child wellbeing laws or participating in coordination agreement discussions.
While the SCC refrained from commenting directly on the existence, scope, and extent of a s. 35 Aboriginal right to self-government, it confirmed that it remains open to Parliament to do so and act in accordance with that position. Stay tuned for an article on what this means going forward for Indigenous governing bodies and the child and family services sector
Justin Jakubiak and Bree Pierce, members of Foglers’ litigation group, successfully represented a family-owned trucking school before the Licence Appeal Tribunal in response to an immediate suspension order and a proposal to refuse to renew the school’s education program. After a grueling 7 day hearing the Tribunal ordered the Private Career Colleges Branch of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to immediately lift the suspension and directed the Superintendent not to carry out the proposal.
The decision is particularly important and noteworthy as victories for registrants against the Ministry are few and far between. The result is life-changing for our clients as they can resume their family-owned business which has 3 locations in Ontario and employs dozens of people.
A summary of the case follows:
Our client is a truck driver training school which has been registered under the Private Career Colleges Act since 2020 with locations in Mississauga, London and Hamilton.
The Private Career Colleges Branch of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (the “PCCB”) sent out two Superintendent’s letters, one in 2021 and one in 2022, to all trucking schools suggesting that there was an uptick in non-compliance with the Private Career Colleges Act. The letters warned that trucking schools would begin to see increased enforcement action. In stepping up enforcement, the PCCB bypassed their own “progressive compliance model”, which emphasized education before enforcement.A disgruntled former employee filed an unfounded complaint that led to a superficial investigation. This investigation led to an immediate suspension and a notice of proposal was issued to strip our clients of their registration.
The investigation, per the decision of the Tribunal, was replete with confirmation bias and unsupportable assumptions. It mischaracterized the responsiveness of our client and disregarded their efforts to work with inspectors and investigators to ensure compliance. The investigation was not adequately thorough to merit the suspension or the notice of proposal. In fact, the investigator was admonished for his “apparent haste to embrace” the disgruntled former employee’s “rather dramatic exposé”. The Tribunal Ordered that the suspension should be lifted immediately, the notice of proposal should not be carried out, and our client’s registration should be renewed with reasonable terms and conditions immediately.
The decision is a reminder to all registrants that regulators and government actors are not immune to making mistakes and government overreach is real. Legal advice should always be sought in response to complaints, discipline, charges or proposals levied against a licensee by their regulator. The regulator may be wrong (and in our experience often make mistakes).
For more information about this case, or if you have any questions about your licence or regulated business, please contact Justin Jakubiak at: [email protected].
Our Fogler Rubinoff family strongly condemns the unprecedented, barbaric attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel.
While we in Canada live with the privilege of having the expectation of a peaceful existence, the Middle East presents a much different matrix of facts which make peaceful co-existence idealistic when the government in Gaza is a terrorist group that denies Israel’s right to exist. It is important to speak out against organizations like Hamas who wish to annihilate the Jewish people.
We support Israel and all its people. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the innocent victims of this tragedy. We specifically pray for the safe return of the kidnapped civilian bystanders.
To recognize her work as a leading Indigenous lawyer, Katherine Hensel has been named on to Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers by Canadian Lawyer Magazine.
Katherine is being recognized for her work as a leading Indigenous rights lawyer and is described as “a passionate advocate for the assertion of Indigenous and treaty rights, the duty to consult and child welfare matters.” She is featured in the Human Rights, Advocacy and Criminal Law category.
22,0000 individuals took part in the voting process this year to determine members of this exclusive list. Lawyers who are selected often contribute to the most nationally significant and strategic legal questions, cases, deals and disputes. Winners are selected across five different categories from hundreds of nominees.
We are pleased to share that the following lawyers will play important roles as members of the 2023-2024 OBA Section Executives.
Kathryn Balter, incoming Vice Chair, OBA Trusts & Estates Law
Alexander Evangelista, incoming Public Affairs Liaison, OBA Young Lawyers Division (Central)
Samantha Green, incoming Vice Chair, OBA Civil Litigation
William Taggart, incoming Technology Liaison, OBA Aboriginal Law
Congratulations to Karen Rosen who was honoured at the Paul Penna DJDS’s 25th Anniversary Gala. Dedicated to her clients and her community, Karen is a tireless advocate and deserving leader. Congratulations on this recognition!
We are thrilled to announce that Fogler, Rubinoff LLP has been voted as one of the top three law firms by Canadian Lawyer Magazine in their annual ranking of leading Ontario Regional Firms.
Canadian Lawyer Magazine surveyed lawyers, in-house counsel and clients from across Canada to nominate firms worthy of being ranked, and then created an open survey from that list which was distributed throughout the publication’s channels. Voters were asked to make their choices based on each firm’s “regional service coverage, client base, notable mandates, service excellence and legal expertise.”
Thank you to our peers, colleagues and clients for once again recognizing us with this honour, and congratulations to all of the firms ranked in the survey this year.
Click here to read the full rankings in Canadian Lawyer Magazine.
Congratulations to April Gougeon, Bill Hearn and Ronald Davis for winning a Mondaq 2023 Thought Leader Award for their article: What’s Ahead in 2023 for Privacy and Cybersecurity Law. The award showcases top authors based on readership across 15 countries and multiple areas of law.
Calling all 2SLGBTQ+ law students who will be applying to recruits in Toronto in 2023! We hope you’ll join us at this year’s in-person Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Firm Hop. The Canadian Association of LGBTQ2S+ Lawyers is proud to be organizing the 2023 Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Firm Hop, taking place from Monday, March 13, to Friday March 17, 2023. Students are able to choose which firms they’re interested in touring (each firm tour lasts 1 hour) but must choose a minimum of 7 (with the maximum number of available firm tours being 26).
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