News
- Province Introduces New Legislation March 5, 2025 – “Manitoba government is unveiling details of a new spring legislative agenda”
- “The National Requirement: Current and Future Impacts on Legal Education”
Question of the Month
This feature presents some of the interesting queries we receive, and highlights how we can direct you towards the appropriate resources.
What are the damages for personal injury?
The calculation for damages isn’t as simple as the above chart would have you believe. Pecuniary damages are often easier to calculate, such as loss of past income, future income, or earning capacity, there are also factors to consider such as loss of housekeeping ability in the case of Fobel v. Dean. Non-pecuniary losses are also difficult to determine. However, unlike some damages such as defmation, the Supreme Court has put a cap on non-pecuniary damages in the decision of Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd. This decision is nearly 50 years old and it isn’t hard to find opinions that the cap should be abolished. [1][2][3]
To help with some of these issues, the library is able to offer a number of resources.
For a quick search of general damages, you can access Carlson Personal Injury Quantums on Lexis+ at any of the Library’s computers, or send us your parameters and we are happy to run a search for you. To stay up to date subscribe to the LexisNexis® Personal Injury NetLetter (email us to sign up).
For general information we have print titles that include Personal injury damages in Canada — 3rd ed , Personal injury practice manual and Damages for personal injury and death in Canada
Related Resources Available Through the Member Portal
- Remedies: The Law of Damages. 3rd ed.
- Ken Mills, “When You’ve Been Injured: Damage Awards in Personal Injury Cases” (1994) 18:6 LawNow 22.
- Erik S. Knutsen, “Five Problems with Personal Injury Litigation (and What to Do about It)” (2013) 40:4 Advoc Q 492.
- Stephen D. Sugarman, “Compensation for Accidental Personal Injury: What Nations Might Learn from Each Other” (2011) 38:2 Pepp L Rev 597.
Open access
- THE CALCULATION OF DAMAGES FOR BODILY INJURY CLAIMS by Diana L. Dorey & Brent L. Rentiers
[1] https://mjlh.mcgill.ca/2020/03/17/popping-the-cap/
[2] https://www.injurylawyercanada.com/blog/3-reasons-the-pain-and-suffering-cap-should-be-abolished/
[3] https://tbayinjurylaw.com/2021/01/05/abolish-the-pain-and-suffering-damages-cap/
Latest Current Awareness
Newsletters
One of our many services is the distribution of legal newsletters. Our subscriptions with Lexis+ and Westlaw Canada allow us to share their newsletters with members of the Law Society of Manitoba. These newsletters cover all areas of law. For one example of what we offer, check out the latest on criminal law with this popular title available from LexisNexis.
LexisNexis(R) Corporations and Business Associations Law NetLetter
A monthly current awareness service providing comprehensive coverage of all significant new Canadian common
law court decisions on corporations and business associations law (in English) added recently to Quicklaw.
Issues are added on the 17th of the month.
The latest issue highlights matters on:
CORPORATIONS PARTNERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS LAW – Oppressive or unfairly prejudicial conduct — Conduct that unfairly disregards the interest of any security holder, creditor, director or officer.
If you would like to subscribe to any of these publications, please email library@lawsociety.mb.ca to be added to the distribution list.
Journals
Manitoba Law Library subscribes to a number of legal journals in print and digital. See below for the latest issues of popular titles. Members can request copies of articles under fair dealing guidelines by emailing library@lawsociety.mb.ca
Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice
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Tribunals in Canada: A Coming of Age 37 Can. J. Admin. L. & Prac. 175 Noel Semple
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Avoiding Multiplicity of Proceedings: Principles, Jurisprudence, and Exceptions in Administrative and Judicial Contexts 37 Can. J. Admin. L. & Prac. 225 Eli Fellman
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Vavilov and Professional Regulation Revisited 37 Can. J. Admin. L. & Prac. 199 Ashley Reid, William Shores, K.C.
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Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex: Access to Justice Implications for Low Income Litigants in Ontario 37 Can. J. Admin. L. & Prac. 243 Anna Rosenbluth, Anu Bakshi, Nabila F. Qureshi
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Beniey C. Canada (Sécuritépubliqueet Protection Civile), 2024 CAF 11, 2024 CarswellNat 51 (F.C.A.) 37 Can. J. Admin. L. & Prac. 267 Barbara von Tigerstrom
Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence
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Necessary Truths and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Definition of ‘Law’ 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 601 Shane D. Drefcinski , University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Platteville, Wisconsin, USA, Email: drefcins@uwplatt.edu
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Doctrinal Legal Science: A Science of Its Own? 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 343 William Hamilton Byrne, Henrik Palmer Olsen , Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Email: William.hamilton.byrne@jur.ku.dk
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Democracy and the Notwithstanding Clause 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 545 Michael Pal , Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada, Email: mpal@uottawa.ca
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When Is It Right to Speak of Animal Rights? 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 507 Lee McConnell , University of Bristol, UK, Email: lee.mcconnell@bristol.ac.uk
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Freedom under the Private Law, Allan Beever 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 639 Manish Oza , Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, Email: moza@uwo.ca
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Should No Further Books Be Written on the Law of Unjust Enrichment? 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 619 Sagi Peari , Faculty of Law, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Email: sagi.peari@uwa.edu.au
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The Coming of Age of Deliberative Constitutionalism 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 397 C. Ignacio Giuffré , Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Email: ignacio.giuffre@upf.edu
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John Robots, Thurgood Martian, and the Syntax Monster: A New Argument Against AI Judges 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 369 Amin Ebrahimi Afrouzi , Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, Email: a.e.afrouzi@yale.edu
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Moral Pluralism and Constitutional Horizontality 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 475 Tom Kohavi
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The Liberal Case for Community Land Trusts 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 427 Marc Goetzmann , University of Tours, France, Email: marc.goetzmann@univ-tours.fr
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The Practical Otiosity of Exclusionary Reasons 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 457 Kenneth Einar Himma , University of Zagreb Faculty of Law, Zagreb, Croatia, Email: khimma@gmail.com
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Defending Aggregated Legislative Intent 37 Can. J.L. & Juris. 571 David Tan , Deakin University, School of Law, Victoria, Australia, Email: david.tan@deakin.edu.au
Criminal Law Quarterly
- 84 — Bail and Indigenous Over-Representation in Canadian Detention Facilities: Do the 2019 Amendments to the Criminal Code Offer a Viable Solution? 73 C.L.Q. 84 Pascale Legault
- 1 — Late August to December, 2024: Police-Involved Deaths of Fifteen Indigenous People 73 C.L.Q. 1 Kent W. Roach
- 57 — Overburdening Horizontal Stare Decisis: Unresolved Constitutional Issues Post-Sullivan 57 Mark Mancini, Spencer Bass, Keith Brown
- 23 — Determining the Proper Scope of a Stay of Proceedings Granted on the Basis of Entrapment 73 C.L.Q. 23 Eric Andrews
- 6 — Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Multi-Unit Dwellings: A Better Approach 73 C.L.Q. 6 Eric Cook
Education and Law Journal
Annual Review of Education Law 33 Educ. & L.J. 233
Court Notices & Practice Directions
Court of King’s Bench
Practice Directions
Provincial Court
Practice Directions
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- February 12, 2025 – Remote Appearances before a Judge – Province Wide
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New Library Resources
New Print Titles
Organizational Structures of Academic Law Libraries: Past, Present, and Future, Volume 1.
Edited by Elizabeth
G Adelman & Jessica de Perio Wittman. Getzville, New York: William S Hein, 2023. xxii, 250 p. Includes illustrations. AALL Publication Series No 87. ISBN 9780837742724 (softcover) US$110.00.
Reviewed By
Alexia Loumankis
Reference and Research Librarian
Bora Laskin Law Library
University of Toronto
“In recent years, the landscape of Canadian academic law libraries has changed dramatically. For greater efficiencies, several existing law libraries have shifted from reporting to their law school to reporting to a centralized university library system. The processes, services, staff, and culture at these libraries have been transformed by these developments.
This text is a valuable resource for academic law librarians and administrators from both law schools and central libraries interested in exploring possible impacts of changes to the structure of their law library’s organization. Both current and future decisionmakers would benefit from its detailed and astute examination of the historical and current structure of academic law libraries.”
Events
Upcoming Events
Substantive Law
Falvelle Martin, A. & Trask, B. “Role Call: Can a Backbench Legislator Practice as a Criminal Defence Lawyer? A Legal Ethics Analysis.” Manitoba Law Journal, vol. 47 issue 4.
Best, Cris. “What is the meaning of ‘spouse’? Federal Court of Appeal provides clarity.” Law360 Canada. Accessed 3 March 2025.
Bankruptcy Law
Stewart v. Auch, 2025 MBKB 26: Application under Sections 178(1)(d) & (e) and 69.4 of The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). In 2022, respondent was found personally liable for a loan owed to applicant. In 2024, respondent made an assignment into bankruptcy under s. 49 of the BIA. Poonian v. British Columbia (Securities Commission), 2024 SCC 28 and Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company v. Rodriguez, 2018 ONCA 171 considered. Application granted under s. 178(1)(e).
Civil Litigation
College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba v Hancock, 2025 MBCA 14: Appellant found to be a vexatious litigant. An order under section 31.1(1) of the CA Act was made. The court reviewed the relevant principles in Green v University of Winnipeg, 2018 MBCA 137.
Memaz Inc. v. Gauthier et al., 2025 MBKB 29: Defendant is a protestor who violated an interim injunction. Plaintiff was successful in proving the elements laid out in Carey v. Laiken, 2015 SCC 17 and defendant was found guilty of civil contempt.
Criminal Law
R v DMS, 2025 MBCA 16: Crown appeals accused’s acquittals. Crown argues trial judged erred by dismissing an application for an order permitting complainant to testify by videoconference under s. 714.1 of the Criminal Code. It was found the trial judge erred when applying the standard in R. v. Haevischer rather than s. 2.02 of the MBKB Criminal Rules, and by applying the principles set out in R. v S.D.L. rather than the test in R. v. J.L.K.. Appeal allowed, acquittals set aside, new trial ordered.
R v. Morrisseau, 2025 MBKB 20: Accused charged with second degree murder. Crown’s case based on circumstantial evidence. Court followed R. v. Villaroman, 2016 SCC 33. R. v. Daley, 2007 SCC 53 used to examine the defense of intoxication. Number of blows inflicted on the deceased and the accused’s after-offence conduct were contributing factors. Accused found guilty.
R v. Benstead, 2025 MBPC 8: Accused charged with obstructing justice. Accused argues the police went beyond the judicial authorization when requesting information from a telecom company, breaching his s. 8 Charter rights. The search was conducted before the R. v. Bykovets, 2024 SCC 6 decision and it was not settled law that police needed judicial authorization to obtain an IP. No breach of Charter rights was found. Frederickson, P.J. notes that, following the three lines of inquiry set out in R v. Grant 2009 SCC 32, the evidence would have been admitted even if a breach was found.
Lesiuk, Noah. “Sentencing in Line with Society: R v Bunn and the Manitoba Court of Appeal’s Use of Social Understanding as a Justification for Increased Sentences.” Manitoba Law Journal, vol. 47, issue ? [pre-print].
Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Re Douglas Estate, 2025 MBKB 25: At issue: s. 22(5)(b)(ii) of the Court of King’s Bench Surrogate Practice Act — whether a holographic Codicil written by the deceased is a valid testamentary instrument. No one witnessed the Codicil, but it is otherwise prima facie valid. Principles in Vout v. Hay, 1995 CanLII 105 (SCC) applied. Codicil not admitted to probate.
Legislation
Federal
The first session of the 44th Parliament was prorogued on Monday, January 6, 2025. The second session is scheduled to open on Monday, March 24, 2025.
Provincial
The 2nd Session of the 43rd Legislature reconvened on Wednesday, March 05, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Government Bills
| BILL NO. | Bill Title | 1st Reading | 2nd Reading | 3rd Reading | Royal Assent |
| 206 | The Homeowner Protection from Unsolicited Purchase Offers Act/Loi sur la protection des propriétaires contre les offres d’achat non sollicitées | Mar. 6, 2025 | |||
| 223 | The Official Time Amendment Act, 2025/Loi de 2025 modifiant la Loi sur le temps réglementaire | Mar. 6, 2025 |
Public Bills
New Regulations