Contents Update: Estates Trusts & Pensions Journal

The latest edition of Estates Trusts & Pensions Journal has arrived and is now available for loan.

The current issue, Volume 40 Number 2, February 2021 includes:

FROM THE LAW REPORTS

A Tale of Two Patrimonies: Limits on the Flexibility of Trust Law by Lionel Smith
More about Illusory Trusts: Is “Tantamount” to Ownership the Same as “Ownership”? The Privy Council Takes a Step Too Far by Joel Nikitman

ARTICLES

Will Challenges and the Limitations act, 2002: A Resconsideration by Matthew Furrow and Daniel Zacks
Security for Cost Motions in Estate Litigation by Jonathan Keslassy and Nicole Abergil
Guardianship as a Last Resort by Brendan Pooran, Stephanie Dickson and Saquiba Rahman

If you would like a copy of any of these articles, please email library@lawsociety.mb.ca and we would be happy to provide a pdf version (subject to copyright regulations).

Finding On-Point Articles Using HeinOnline

Guest post by Melanie R. Bueckert, Legal Research Counsel – Manitoba Court of Appeal

I am very thankful for all of the excellent resources that the Great Library provides through our Law Society Member Portal.  My gratitude has increased greatly during the pandemic, while I have been unable to access the law school’s library.  While I often use HeinOnline to locate articles that I have already determined are relevant to my research, I hesitate to run searches of their databases, as the volume of results can be overwhelming.  However, in at least two cases in the past few months, my research has been improved substantially by their “More Like This” feature.  In case you haven’t used it yet, I will walk you through the very simple process.

Once you have located a relevant article in HeinOnline, look at the top of the document for the “More Like This” button.  Click it.  It will bring you to a list of results related to your article.  If you find that they are not particularly helpful, you can tweak the “Interesting Words” weighting on the left-hand side of the screen or remove some of those words.  You can also enter a new filtering term in the “Enter new term” box underneath the “Interesting Words”.  You can also limit your results by date range.

According to HeinOnline:

More Like This uses a program which finds ‘interesting words’ in an article, as determined by an algorithm that analyzes the article’s text. …

More Like This compares all articles in HeinOnline and ranks them in order based on which articles’ interesting words are most similar to the first article. Results include the top 50 most relevant articles available in HeinOnline.

See More Like This in HeinOnline for more information on this very useful feature.

Provincial Court Re-opening plans and virtual attendence

Notice – Return to Sitting for Trials, Dispositions and Special Sittings in most Circuits (March 12, 2021)

The provincial court is continuing to return to sittings in most circuits. This notice provides a detailed list of resumptions for the months of April and May.
An overview of these changes is provided as such:

“As of April 1, 2021:

  • All criminal trials set in the six major Court centres (Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Dauphin, The Pas, Thompson) will proceed as scheduled.
  • All dispositions where the person is in custody or a custodial disposition is being sought will proceed.
  • All dispositions where a non-custodial sentence is being sought can proceed, if the parties are able to attend remotely.
  • All dockets containing matters which are not yet set for disposition or trial will proceed virtually. Accused persons should not attend these dockets in person.
  • All circuit court trials and up to five in-person dispositions at each circuit court sitting can proceed. Additional dispositions can proceed on circuit if the accused person can appear remotely at the court sitting.
  • We will not be returning to the following communities in April and dockets will continue to be held virtually. The communities are Cross Lake, Garden Hill, God’s Lake, Lac Brochet, Nelson House, Oxford House, Pukatawagan, Split Lake and Waywayseecappo.

As of May 1, 2021:

  • We plan to return to sittings in Cross Lake, Garden Hill, God’s Lake, Lac Brochet, Nelson House and Waywayseecappo in May 2021, but these communities will be subject of a later notice as we assess on an ongoing basis the public health situation in those communities.

Further suspension in April and May 2021:

  • We do not expect to be able to return to Oxford House, Pukatawagan and Split Lake in April and May 2021.”

See the notice for full details.

Notice – Public Viewing/attendance at Virtual Hearings (March 15, 2021)

Member’s of the public who want to attend a virtual conference held by video or telephone may do so by following the protocols and procedures listed in the notice.

Legislative Update

Third Session, Forty-Second Legislature

Government Bills

The full text of previously unpublished bills introduced in the fall are now available.

1st Reading

Bill 46 The Court Practice and Administration Act (Various Acts Amended) – amends several Acts that govern the administration and practice of Manitoba’s courts.

Bill 47 The Early Learning and Child Care Act – replaces The Community Child Care Standards Act. It establishes principles of early learning and child care services that must be considered in the administration of the new Act. Consequential amendments are made to The Child and Family Services ActThe Environment ActThe Income Tax ActThe Municipal Assessment Act and The Social Services Appeal Board Act.

Bill 48 The Fiscal Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Amendment Act – requires that the government not incur a deficit greater than the baseline amount and penalizes ministers by reducing their salaries if the deficit is not reduced by at least $100 million each year. This Bill amends The Fiscal Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act

Bill 49 The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act – amends The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Bill 51 The Limitations Act – replaces The Limitation of Actions Act with a new limitations regime, The Limitations Act.

Bill 52 The Minor Amendments and Corrections Act, 2021 – corrects typographical, numbering and other drafting errors. It also makes minor amendments to various Acts.

Bill 53 The Municipal Statutes Amendment Act (2) – amends four Acts: The Municipal Act, The City of Winnipeg Charter, The Municipal Board Act, and The Planning Act

Bill 54 The Personal Health Information Amendment Act – amends The Personal Health Information Act.

Bill 55 The Reducing Red Tape and Improving Services Act, 2021 – amends several Acts and repeals two Acts to reduce or eliminate regulatory requirements or prohibitions and to streamline government operations.

Bill 56 The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Amendment Act – Under The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act, areas within federal jurisdiction are exempt from the rules respecting smoking and vaping and the advertising and sale of tobacco and vapour products. This Bill removes the exemption. The Act now applies across Manitoba, subject to other legally recognized exceptions.

Bill 57 The Protection of Critical Infrastructure Act – establishes The Protection of Critical Infrastructure Act. An owner or operator of infrastructure may apply to the Court of Queen’s Bench for an order to respond to interference with infrastructure.

Bill 58 The Criminal Property Forfeiture Amendment Act – amends The Criminal Property Forfeiture Act. This Bill allows the court to make two new orders before forfeiture proceedings begin, adds new presumptions concerning cash, vehicles and other property, and other changes related to disclosure and offences.

Bill 61 The Apprenticeship and Certification Amendment Act – amends The Apprenticeship and Certification Act.

Bill 62 The Animal Diseases Amendment Act – amends The Animal Diseases Act to require a person to obtain consent before entering a biosecurity zone or interacting with animals in such a zone. A biosecurity zone is an area within a livestock operation to which access is tightly controlled to limit the spread of pathogens. Consent is now also required before interacting with animals in transport. This Bill makes it an offence to block or interfere with a vehicle transporting commercial animals.

Bill 63 The Petty Trespasses Amendment and Occupiers’ Liability Amendment Act – amends The Petty Trespasses Act and The Occupiers’ Liability Act. The Petty Trespasses Act is renamed The Trespass Act. Under the current Act, a verbal or written warning is required to make out a trespass offence, unless a property is fully enclosed. This Bill amends the Act so that a warning is no longer required. Under The Occupiers’ Liability Act, an occupier of premises has a limited duty of care to persons driving off-road vehicles or to recreational trail users. This Bill amends the Act to apply the same limited duty of care to anyone 12 years of age or older

Bill 64 The Education Modernization Act – changes the way the education system is governed and delivered in Manitoba. A new Act is enacted and several Acts are amended or repealed.

Bill 67 The Public Health Amendment Act – amends The Public Health Act to enable the chief public health officer to make orders during an epidemic that prevent people from working at more than one hospital, personal care home or other facility. The order may address implementation matters.

2nd Reading

Bill 50 The Legal Aid Manitoba Amendment Act – Currently, the tariff of fees paid to solicitors for providing legal aid is set by regulation under The Legal Aid Manitoba Act. This Bill amends the Act to require the management council of Legal Aid Manitoba to establish the fees.


Check here for the current status of bills.

HeinOnline’s Focus on Canadian Content

With the recent increase in working from home, or difficulties getting to the Great Library to use our print material, HeinOnline is a great resource for Canadian Federal and Provincial historical legislation.

Take a look at this month’s HeinOnline Content highlight to see what they have to offer for your legal research.

While you’re there, you may want to sigh up for their free Customer Training Session to learn more about how to search and navigate this content.

To see what else HeinOnline has to offer visit the February Content Release for more highlights, tips, guides, and updates.