Coming soon … Legal Information Hub

The Manitoba Law Library, in partnership with the Law Society, Dept. of Justice and others, and funded by a grant from the Manitoba Law Foundation, is piloting a legal information program in the Winnipeg courthouse.

The goal of the project is to provide information and assistance to members of the public who are struggling with dealing with the courts. Representation without legal counsel is difficult and challenging, particularly when trying to follow the rules and procedures that the legal system requires, and puts extra pressure on judges and parties who are represented. Additional assistance for self-represented litigants is important in order to increase fairness and access to justice.  

Under the supervision of a practising lawyer, law students will be available to provide assistance on a drop-in basis in the Great Library on Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. At times when in-person assistance is not available, the public will still be invited to use the ante room at the front of the library during regular library hours, and there will be a computer available for legal research.

As part of the pilot project, data will be collected on the types of problems people are encountering and the number of people the Hub assists. The pilot will start Monday, February 10th and last four months. 

Decision of the Week – Bankruptcy and Fraud

This week’s decision comes from Alberta – Alberta Securities Commission v. Hennig, 2020 ABQB 48.

[1]               This is an application by the Alberta Securities Commission for a declaration that an administrative penalty levied against Theodor Hennig survives his discharge as a bankrupt pursuant to subsections 178(1)(a), (d) and (e) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S. 1985, c B-3. The administrative penalty arose from the findings of a panel of the Securities Commission that Mr. Hennig was responsible for misrepresentations in the financial statements of a public company of which he was a director and officer, that he obtained financial benefits as a result of non-disclosure of material facts, that he participated in market manipulation which resulted in artificial prices for another company, and that he made ongoing misrepresentations to Commission staff, all contrary to the public interest.

2020 ABQB 48

This decision analyses the meaning of the term “offence” as used in s. 178(1)(a) of the BIA and whether it includes administrative penalties ordered by the securities commission. Justice Romaine found that:

81]           The Applicant is entitled to the following relief:

a)         a declaration that the judgment arising from the administrative penalty survives Mr. Hennig’s bankruptcy pursuant to subsection 178(1)(e) of the BIA;

b)         a direction requiring Mr. Hennig to show cause why a new judgment should not be granted as against him; and

c)         an order renewing the judgment for a period of ten years, and granting the Alberta Securities Commission a new judgment against Mr. Hennig pursuant to Rule 9.21 of the Alberta Rules of Court for the amounts remaining due and unpaid on the judgment.

Further commentary is available from this article from The Lawyers Daily.

Thomson Reuters Accounting Issues

Last fall Thomson Reuters migrated their accounting platform to one being used by their other international offices. Since then, customers have been having serious problems ensuring invoices are accurate and they have received what they’ve ordered.

The Vendor Liaison Committee of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries has been meeting with senior management at Thomson Reuters to ensure these concerns are addressed and fixed. If you are not a member of CALL/ACBD and are having difficulties resolving your issues, please contact me at ksawatzky@lawsociety.mb.ca and I will add your concerns to ours.

We are hopeful this will be resolved soon.

Legislative Update – New Proclamation

The Government has issued the following proclamation:

The Sustainable Watersheds Act (Various Acts Amended) (S.M. 2018, c. 6)

With the advice and consent of the Executive Council of Manitoba, we name January 1, 2020, as the day on which Part 1 of The Sustainable Watersheds Act (Various Acts Amended) (S.M. 2018, c. 6) comes into force.

Part 1 refers to renaming conservation districts as “watershed districts”.

A board of a district may now do work outside its boundaries if the work benefits the district. For that purpose, a board may enter into agreements with others, including First Nations. When assessing the benefits, a board must consider the relevant watershed management plan prepared under The Water Protection Act.