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Securing the Infrastructure, Straining the Constitution? Bill C-8’s Cybersecurity Overhaul

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On September 5, 2025

In Administrative Law, Constitutional, Privacy

By: Dav More and Tulika Bali

Matter Commented On: Bill C-8, An Act respecting cyber security (1st Sess, 45th Parl, 2025)

PDF Version: Securing the Infrastructure, Straining the Constitution? Bill C-8’s Cybersecurity Overhaul

Cyberattacks targeting vital infrastructure have intensified globally. Recent high-profile incidents in the United States and Europe prompted national governments to tighten regulation (see Industrial Cyber, The National Law Review, CER, and AP News). The EU’s NIS2 Directive mandates stricter cybersecurity standards across member states by 2024. In Canada, the federal government introduced Bill C-26 in June 2022, aiming to overhaul cybersecurity regulation, but that bill died when Parliament was prorogued in early 2025 (Miller Thomson at para 2-3).

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Bill C-2 and the Return of Warrantless Access: Same Fight, New Wrapper

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On September 4, 2025

In National Security, Privacy

By: Dav More & Tulika Bali

Matter Commented On: Bill C-2, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of the border between Canada and the United States and respecting other related security measures (1st Sess, 45th Parl, 2025)

PDF Version: Bill C-2 and the Return of Warrantless Access: Same Fight, New Wrapper

Bill C?2, the federal government’s so-called “Strong Borders Act,” introduced in June 2025, proposes sweeping changes across border enforcement, immigration, and criminal law. Also tucked deep in the Bill are expansive new powers for law enforcement to access subscriber data, often without a warrant. These lawful access provisions, which have been controversial in the past, are now being quietly reintroduced through omnibus national security legislation. The constitutional concerns are immediate and serious, especially under section 8 of the Charter. Critics argue that the Bill undermines more than a decade of privacy jurisprudence and reopens doors that R v Spencer, 2014 SCC 43 (CanLII) had firmly closed (see here).

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Charter Sections 15 and 25: The Majority Judgment in Dickson v Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and its Application in the Federal Court

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On August 29, 2025

In Aboriginal, Constitutional, Equality, Indigenous

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton, Robert Hamilton, and Jennifer Koshan

Cases Commented On: Dickson v Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, 2024 SCC 10 (CanLII); Houle v Swan River First Nation, 2025 FC 267 (CanLII); Donald-Potskin v Sawridge First Nation, 2025 FC 648 (CanLII); Cunningham v Sucker Creek First Nation 150A, 2025 FC 1174 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Charter Sections 15 and 25: The Majority Judgment in Dickson v Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and its Application in the Federal Court

This is the third in a series of four ABlawg posts on the Supreme Court of Canada’s complex decision in Dickson v Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, 2024 SCC 10 (CanLII). The first post examined the extent to which various factions of the Court referenced the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the second post analyzed their handling of whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applied in this context. In this post, we explore another issue on which there was serious disagreement amongst members of the Court. Having found that the Charter applied to the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation’s (VGFN) residency requirement for Council elections, the majority (Justices Nicolas Kasirer and Mahmud Jamal, with Chief Justice Richard Wagner and Justice Suzanne Côté concurring) and dissenting justices (Justices Sheilah Martin and Michelle O’Bonsawin) ruled on how to approach the interplay between sections 15(1) and 25 of the Charter. We look at the majority judgment and three recent decisions applying the majority’s approach to section 25, also in cases involving First Nations elections: Houle v Swan River First Nation, 2025 FC 267 (CanLII) (Houle), Donald-Potskin v Sawridge First Nation, 2025 FC 648 (CanLII)) (Donald-Potskin), and Cunningham v Sucker Creek First Nation 150A, 2025 FC 1174 (CanLII). The fourth post in this series will focus on the dissenting judgment of Martin and O’Bonsawin JJ on the interplay between sections 15(1) and 25.

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Luciano Lliuya vs. RWE AG: Corporate Climate Liability Through the Lens of the Polluter Pays Principle

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On August 19, 2025

In Environmental

By: Flavia Vieira de Castro

Case Commented On: Luciano Lliuya v RWE AG (2025) Hamm Higher Regional Court, 5 U 15/17 OLG Hamm / Case No. 2 O 285/15 Essen Regional Court (see here for an unofficial translation of the decision)

PDF Version: Luciano Lliuya vs. RWE AG: Corporate Climate Liability Through the Lens of the Polluter Pays Principle

This post briefly examines the recent and long-awaited decision rendered by the German Higher Regional Court of Hamm in the Lliuya case. This judicial decision is the first to recognize the potential liability of a large greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter from the energy sector for actual climate-related risks. The decision could have significant practical implications for other large GHG emitters, which have contributed to the climate crisis over the last decades while profiting from their polluting activities. The Lliuya decision signals that legal accountability of carbon majors for the climate-related damage is increasingly likely, and large GHG emitters – not only in Germany but also here in Canada and elsewhere – should consider factoring the risk of legal liability into their business models in the future.

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The Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2024/2025: The Sequoia Settlement Hits the Orphan Inventory

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On August 18, 2025

In Energy, Environmental, Oil & Gas

By: Drew Yewchuk

Matter Commented On: Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2024/2025

PDF Version: The Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2024/2025: The Sequoia Settlement Hits the Orphan Inventory

On July 15, 2025 the Orphan Well Association (OWA) released their Annual Report for 2024/2025. OWA annual reports provide insight into Alberta’s orphan oil and gas site problem and the pace at which the problem is being addressed (see the ABlawgs on past OWA annual reports: 2022/2023 and 2023/2024). The OWA annual report is separate from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)’s annual liability management performance reports, which ABlawg covered for 2022 and 2023. This blog summarizes the current state and foreseeable future of Alberta’s current orphan oil and gas site problem.

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