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ABlawg Inducted into Clawbie Hall of Fame

On December 31, 2017

ABlawg is thrilled to have been inducted into the Canadian Law Blog Award (Clawbie) Hall of Fame today. The awards committee noted that “The blog of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law has long set the standard for legal academic blogging in Canada”, which is welcome encouragement as we approach our 10-year anniversary in February 2018.

We also congratulate our colleague and contributor Lisa Silver, whose Ideablawg won the Clawbie in the Best Law School/Law Professor Blog Award category.

Congratulations to all the Clawbie winners and finalists, and thanks to our readers for your continued support and commentary.

Inter-Provincial Recognition of Substitute Decision-Making Documents

By Katherine MacKenzie

On December 22, 2017

In Wills and Estates

By: Katherine MacKenzie

PDF Version: Inter-Provincial Recognition of Substitute Decision-Making Documents

Report Commented On: Alberta Law Reform Institute, Inter-Provincial Recognition of Substitute Decision-Making Documents, Report for Discussion 32

The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) is considering changes to the statutory rules governing recognition of substitute decision-making documents (enduring powers of attorney, personal directives etc.) that originate outside of Alberta. It recently published Inter-Provincial Recognition of Substitute Decision-Making Documents, Report for Discussion 32. The report reviews the issues with the existing law, considers the uniform provisions recently proposed by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) and makes preliminary recommendations for reform. Before it makes final recommendations to the Alberta government, ALRI is seeking feedback on the questions and proposals below.

An Unseverable Joint Tenancy: Intentions of the Donor or a Question of Law?

By Nigel Bankes

On December 21, 2017

In Property

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: An Unseverable Joint Tenancy: Intentions of the Donor or a Question of Law?

Case Commented On: Pohl v Midtal, 2017 ABQB 711 (CanLII)

In this decision Justice Rita Khullar concludes that when a parent makes an inter vivos gift of interest as a joint tenant in real property to an adult child, that gift may include an irrevocable right of survivorship. While there is a presumption that the donor has retained the power to sever during the donor’s lifetime, this presumption may be rebutted based on the expressed intentions of the donor. In this case the presumption was rebutted. In reaching these conclusions Justice Khullar relies heavily on the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Pecore v Pecore, 2007 SCC 17 (CanLII), a case dealing with a joint bank account.

ABlawg: Year in Review, 2017

By Admin

On December 20, 2017

In Blogs and Websites

By: ABlawg Writers

PDF Version: ABlawg: Year in Review, 2017

As we take stock of the year that was, ABlawg is pleased to provide our highlights from 2017, consisting of some statistics and a roundup of our bloggers’ contributions in substantive areas of law this past year.

The Numbers

ABlawg has published 156 posts so far in 2017. The post that generated the most hits this year was Alice Woolley’s The Incarcerated Complainant: Submissions to the Minister of Justice, with 2539 views overall (and see a second post on the same case here). Close behind were Jennifer Koshan’s post Another Workplace Death Illustrates the Need for More Enhanced Protections for Farm Workers with 2290 views, and Martin Olszynski’s post In the Growing Wave of Climate Litigation, Could the Automobile Industry be Next? with 2183 views. Overall, six ABlawg posts had more than 2000 views in 2017 (see also Drew Yewchuk, R v Cody: The Supreme Court Stands Their Ground on Unreasonable Delay, Jennifer Koshan, Sexual Assault, Starting Points, and Court of Appeal Panel Composition: A Chilling Effect on Individualized Sentencing? and Jonnette Watson Hamilton, When are Late Payment of Rent Charges in Residential Tenancies Unenforceable?).

ABlawg’s Clawbie Nominations for 2017

By Admin

On December 19, 2017

In Blogs and Websites

In this year where we marked the 150^th anniversary of the Canadian federation – for all its flaws and omissions – ABlawg nominates a number of Canadian law blogs with a constitutional / public law focus:

Rights Watch Blog from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Pro Bono Students Canada – a prolific group effort.
Double Aspect, with which our colleague Jonnette Watson Hamilton engaged in her post The Potential Impact of a Quebec Superior Court Challenge on Access to Justice in Alberta.
Robson Crim, another terrific group-based blog that has attracted high profile criminal law profs from across the country.
National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) Blog, which finished a strong year with posts about access to justice for survivors of sexual violence and a compelling post on SRLs with disabilities.
Reconciliation Syllabus, which we also nominated last year, and which continues to keep us thinking about the path to reconciliation, especially in this year of celebrations of “Canada 150”.
Although it does not focus on public law exclusively, we also nominate The Court, which has a really nice new look.

Thanks to all Canadian law bloggers for a wonderful and stimulating year of reading! #clawbies2017