Nine months after his life
and reputation were shattered
by a fatal altercation with an
enraged cyclist, former Ontario
attorney general Michael Bryant
was exonerated.
On May 25 Richard Peck, the
senior B.C. criminal lawyer
hired by Ontario as an independent prosecutor, withdrew charges of criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving
causing death against Bryant, a
former cabinet minister in the
McGuinty government.
Peck said in open court there
was simply no reasonable prospect that the 44-year-old lawyer,
who was seen as a possible successor to McGuinty, would be
convicted in the death last
August of Darcy Allen Sheppard, 33.
Sheppard, a bicycle courier
with a criminal record who had
a history of unprovoked violence
and aggression towards motor-
ists, accosted Bryant and his
wife, Toronto entertainment
lawyer Susan Abramovitch, by
deliberately cutting in front of
their car with his bicycle and
subsequently jumping onto their
1995 Saab convertible. He had
more than twice the legal limit
of blood alcohol at the time. He
died from a head injury when
his torso hit a fire hydrant and
he fell from their moving vehicle.
“As for the justice system, I now have a unique
perspective from its highest pedestal as attorney
general to its pillory, a defendant cuffed in the
back of a squad car accused of two very serious
offences involving the tragic death of a man.
strategic advice on energy law
while the charges were still out-
standing last November.
“Michael has been forever
altered by this,” West acknow-
ledged. “He himself has said he
is not the same person. He and
his wife and his children have
had a very difficult time through
the whole thing. There is no
rejoicing here. There is a griev-
ing [Sheppard] family. There
has been a terrible tragedy.
There has been the right out-
cycling community and the
media, who declared Bryant’s
political career over.
The Law Society of Upper Canada
has decided to provide more informa-
tion to the public in its website’s law-
yer/paralegal directory, which until
now has disclosed only the licensee’s
licence type, status, contact informa-
tion and whether a lawyer has the
required insurance to provide real
estate services.
Information on the licensee’s past
discipline history and current practice
restrictions is being added to make
public information about a lawyer or
paralegal easier to obtain. The disci-
pline history will come from an inter-
nal electronic database with data on
3,400 discipline cases from Feb. 27,
1986 to the present. Although the dir-
ectory currently discloses that the
lawyer’s or paralegal’s practice is
restricted, no further details are pro-
vided. Details about any restriction(s)
will now be accessible from informa-
tion already maintained in the profes-
sional regulation division’s case man-
agement system.
PIPEDA reforms
CONTENTS
NEWS
THE RISKS of using social
networking sites......................... 10
Inspections with no warrants
THE SUPREME Court of Canada
interprets a pioneering aboriginal
treaty ......................................... 1
AVOIDING LIABILITY for data
security breaches....................... 11
violates Charter: B.C. trial court
LEGAL HELP for Haiti from
Canadian lawyers shifts to long
term concerns.............................. 1
THE DRAWBACKS of computing
‘in the cloud’ .............................. 12
GARY OAKES VICTORIA
ONTARIO’S EX-ATTORNEY
general is exonerated of criminal
charges in a cyclist’s death..........2
GOOGLE ADWORDS dodges liability
for trademark infringement ............ 13
ALLOWING AN electrical systems
inspections with no warrant
violated the Charter, says a B.C.
trial court......................................2
Criminal Law
REFORMING SEARCH and
seizure..................................... 15
NOVA SCOTIA’S mental health
court helps clients be heard....... 15
NEARLY THREE-QUARTERS of
divorcing couples use lawyers,
according to Statistics Canada..... 3
BUSINESS & CAREERS
A PASSION for human rights
drives this lawyer...................... 4
CHINA’S LEGAL system
uncovered............................... 22
SUCCESS FROM the start............ 23
Provincial legislation authorizing warrantless entries into
homes to inspect electrical systems for safety risks possibly
related to marijuana grow operations violates the Charter, a
rarely-convened five-judge panel
of B.C.’s top court has held.
Writing for a unanimous court,
Chief Justice Lance Finch held
that such inspections “constitute
a considerable intrusion into an
individual’s reasonable expecta-
tion of privacy…”
And while the Safety Stan-
dards Act includes a requirement
that there be “reasonable grounds”
for an inspection, that is not suf-
ficient to make the searches
acceptable under the Charter, he
said.
The Harper government tabled
reforms May 25 to the Personal
Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act (PIPEDA).
Among other things, the
Safeguarding Canadians’ Personal
Information Act: specifies the ele-
ments of valid consent for the collec-
tion, use or disclosure of personal
information; clarifies the meaning of
lawful authority for the purpose of
disclosures to government institutions
of personal information without the
knowledge or consent of the individ-
ual, and; permits organizations, for
some purposes, to use and disclose,
without the knowledge or consent of
the individual, personal information
related to prospective or completed
business transactions. Bill C-29 also
permits federal works, undertakings
and businesses to collect, use and
disclose personal information without
the knowledge or consent of the indi-
vidual in order to establish, manage
or terminate employment relation-
ships and provides a framework for
organizations to proactively notify
individuals about disclosures of their
personal information to government
institutions.
Spam regulation
OPINION
RECRUITMENT WITHOUT tears.. 23
JEFFREY MILLER....................... 5
SPOTLIGHT ON in-house
counsel ................................. 25
KAREN SELICK .......................... 5
DEPARTMENTS
FOCUS
Information Technology
E-COMMERCE and the virtual
shopaholic .................................... 9
RICHES, MCKENZIE & HERBERT LLP
PATENTS, TRADE MARKS, COPYRIGHT, LITIGATION
BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS - PATENT & TRADE MARK AGENTS
PAUL HERBERT, R. PH, B.SC., PHM., LL.B., PH.D. BRANT LATHAM, B.A.SC. B.SC. (CHEM. ENG.), LL.B.
DAN HITCHCOCK, B.ENG. (ELEC. ENG.), LL.B. GARY M. TRAVIS, B.SC. (GEOL.), LL.B.
JEFF PERVANAS, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL.B. JASON LEUNG, B.SC. (GENETICS), J.D.
MICHAEL ADAMS, B.ENG. (MECH. ENG.), B.SC., LL.B. BOBBY ATHWAL, B.A.SC. (MECH. ENG.), M.A.SC., LL.B., J.D.
THE BENEFITS of going
paperless ................................ 9
Announcements. . . . . . . . . . . 25
Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Lawddities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Legal Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Names in the News. . . . . . . . . 4
Weekly Digest. . . . . . . . . . . . 18
TRADE MARK AGEN TS LEONARD GROVE (1930-2006)
MARTA TANDORI CHENG TELEPHONE: (416) 961-5000
2 BLOOR ST. EAST, SUITE 1800 FAX: (416) 961-5081
TORONTO, ONTARIO M4W 3J5 E-MAIL: riches@patents-toronto.com
On May 25 Industry Minister Tony
Clement also introduced the compan-
ion Fighting Internet and Wireless
Spam Act.
Bill C- 28 would prohibit commer-
cial electronic messages sent without
the prior consent of the recipient and
provides rules for sending electronic
messages, including a mechanism for
the withdrawal of consent. The bill
also prohibits other practices that dis-
courage reliance on electronic means
for carrying out commercial activities,
such as practices which alter data
transmissions or install unauthorized
computer programs.
