Bulletins Archives - Blakes Business Class

CSA Publishes Reforms to Enhance Client-Registrant Relationship and Policy on Embedded Commissions

July 11, 2018

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently released two highly anticipated notices related to CSA’s investor protection initiatives. The proposals are the result of a lengthy consultation process and aim to better align the interests of registrants with the interest of their clients, improve outcomes for clients and clarify to clients the nature and the terms of their relationships with registrants….

Posted by:

Stacy McLean, Norbert Knutel, Jill Davis and Tairroyn Childs

Posted in: Capital Markets

Ontario Court Upholds Debarment of Municipal Contractor, Confirms Municipalities’ Broad Discretion in Commercial Decision-Making

July 10, 2018

In its recent decision, Interpaving Limited v. City of Greater Sudbury, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court) (Court) upheld a municipality’s four-year debarment of a contractor, affirming municipalities’ broad discretion to make business decisions. The Court also described the scope of the duty of procedural fairness in public sector debarments. BACKGROUND Interpaving Limited (Contractor) is a road…

Posted by:

Marianne Smith, Nicole Henderson and Christopher Di Matteo

Posted in: Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Procurement

Communicating with Ontario’s New Government: A Refresher

July 9, 2018

On June 29, 2018, the new Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, and his cabinet were sworn in, the first change in government in 15 years. The new government has announced wide-ranging plans that will impact sectors as varied as health, energy and infrastructure. Those seeking to communicate or liaise with the new government should keep in mind the lobbying and…

Posted by:

Alexis Levine and Nicole McDonald

Posted in: Government & Public Sector, Lobbying

What Canada’s Cannabis Act Regulations Mean for Licensed Producers

July 9, 2018

The voluminous regulations to Canada’s Cannabis Act are set to be published on July 11, 2018 and include a number of items that are consistent with indications provided by the government in the consultation process. This bulletin summarizes provisions likely to be of interest to licensed producers and their counterparties. OUTDOOR GROW Outdoor cultivation of cannabis is permitted, but cannot…

Posted by:

Alexis Levine and Kerri Marks

Posted in: Cannabis

Small Brewers Successfully Challenge Alberta’s Beer Markup Regime

July 9, 2018

On June 19, 2018, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench declared part of Alberta’s provincial beer markup regime to be in contravention of section 121 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (Constitution) in Steam Whistle Brewing Inc. v. Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. This decision has important implications for inter-provincial trade generally and for provinces enacting measures aimed at protecting local…

Posted in: International Trade, Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Quebec’s Revised Act respecting labour standards: New Challenges for Employers

July 5, 2018

Québec’s National Assembly recently enacted Bill 176, entitled An Act to amend the Act respecting labour standards and other legislative provisions mainly to facilitate family-work balance (Bill). The Bill was assented to on June 12, 2018. Below is a description of the key changes made to the Act respecting labour standards (Act) and which, unless otherwise indicated, came into force…

Posted by:

Natalie Bussière and Francis Laperrière Racine

Posted in: Employment & Labour, Uncategorized

Drilling Down: Alberta Court Finds Production Volume Royalty Can Be an Interest in Land

July 4, 2018

On June 22, 2018, in Re Manitok Energy Inc., Justice K. Horner of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (Court) confirmed that the creation, grant and sale of a production volume royalty can constitute an interest in land where the parties have an express intention to create such an interest. This decision adopts the reasoning of the Ontario Court of…

Posted by:

Ryan Zahara, Chris Nyberg and Matthew Summers (Student-at-Law)

Posted in: Financial Services, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Oil & Gas, Restructuring & Insolvency

B.C. to Crack Down on Hidden Ownership of Real Estate with New Reporting Obligations

July 4, 2018

On June 20, 2018, the B.C. Ministry of Finance released a white paper on draft legislation that will require reporting on beneficial ownership of land in B.C. The draft legislation, titled the Land Owner Transparency Act (LOTA), follows the government’s announcement in the 2018 budget that it intends to collect and make available information about beneficial ownership of land in…

Posted by:

Mike Ventresca

Posted in: Commercial Real Estate

Canadian Regulators Issue Revised Derivatives Dealer and Adviser Business Conduct Rule Proposal

June 28, 2018

On June 14, 2018, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published for comment a revised version of Proposed National Instrument 93-101 – Derivatives: Business Conduct (Business Conduct Rule). The Business Conduct Rule would impose a range of requirements on Canadian and foreign persons engaged in the business of trading over-the-counter derivatives (derivatives) (Derivatives Dealers) or advising in connection with transacting in…

Posted by:

Stephen Ashbourne, Aaron Palmer, Tim Phillips and Paul Rand

Posted in: Capital Markets, Financial Services, Structured Finance & Derivatives

The Federal Community Employment Benefits Initiative: Building Diversity Project-by-Project

June 28, 2018

On June 22, 2018, federal Ministers Amarjeet Sohi, of Infrastructure and Communities, and Ahmed Hussen, of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced a new Community Employment Benefits Initiative (Initiative) to support the diversification of Canada’s workforce through infrastructure project funding. We expect that the Initiative will have an impact on developers and operators of infrastructure as well as public sector owners…

Posted by:

Mark Johnson, Catherine Doyle and Patrick Sobchak (Student-at-Law)

Posted in: Construction, Infrastructure

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