July 2026
News
- July 21, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Federal Indian Hospitals Settlement – Webinar for lawyers supporting Indigenous clients who may be eligible to submit a Claim under the FIH Settlement.
- CBC: AI ‘gone awry’ made up case law, a Manitoba court says. Justice experts say it highlights a lack of access
- SLAW Tips Tuesday: Use Newspaper Archives to Find Cases
- LAW360: Sentence cannot be served after convicted person dies: Manitoba Court of Appeal
Featured News Item
Seeking Feedback from the Profession on Bar Admission Approach by Thursday, July 16
Sequence of Admission Training, Principal Responsibilities and Resources
The Law Societies of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED) are seeking feedback on Western Canada Competency Profile (WCCP) implementation. All five provinces use the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP) for bar admission training.
Previous engagement was done with a smaller cross-section of interested parties representing various roles and practice settings across the jurisdictions to support the drafting of a consultation paper. We are now seeking feedback from the broader profession including those not involved in articling or student development. In this survey, we are seeking input on three key components:
- The order students complete the bar admission training program and articling;
- Role of principals in teaching and assessing the WCCP competencies; and
- Resources required to support principals, supervising lawyers and students during articling.
The profession is invited to review a detailed consultation paper about the proposed changes before providing feedback via this survey by Thursday, July 16. The survey feedback will inform recommendations on next steps regarding the proposed WCCP implementation approach, considerations around CPLED operations and the overall regulatory environment in each jurisdiction.
Feature of the Month
Law Library Scanning & Delivery Service
Scan & Send
As part of or service for remote and virtual users, The Manitoba Law Library offers scans of sections of books and commentary to members of The Law Society of Manitoba.
Whether you need a particular statute, a cited passage, or an authoritative explanation, we can help you get the exact section you’re looking for, delivered through email.
You can request a specific section, or quote of a text, or even certain topics and we can provide scanned pdfs.
Interlibrary Loan & Network Retrieval
Sometimes we may not have that exact text or document. That’s why we offer retrieval of book scans through interlibrary loan, coordinated with other libraries When a requested title or volume isn’t available locally, we help locate it and arrange scan delivery to support timely research.
If you’re ready to make your research more efficient, request a scan and we’ll help you obtain the right legal material. Whether it’s from our own collection or through interlibrary loan across the law library network, we can help you track it down.
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 wills and estates with this popular title available from LexisNexis.
Will Power Newsletter
A monthly current awareness service that summarizes the various issues affecting estate administration in Canada, from funeral arrangements to the final passing of accounts. The newsletter contains feature articles written by practitioners, as well as case summaries and a legislative update.
The latest issue highlights matters on:
The differences between joint and mutual wills (analysis written by Jennifer Greenan);
The Court’s authority to permit an interim distribution request (Foster Estate v. Foster, 2025 NSSC 251);
The impact of surrounding circumstances on will interpretation (Stuart v. Estate of Vernon Allan Sanford, 2025 NBCA 110);
… and more!
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
The Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice provides a forum for in-depth discussion of administrative law issues emphasizing the important role played by tribunals, boards, and commissions in the administrative process.
Available online through Westlaw from 1998.
The most recent issue (39, June 2026) contains the following articles:
Strict Limits on Strict Liability: Why the Presumption of a Due Diligence Defence Should Not Extend to Administrative Contraventions
Justin Safayeni & Zachary Rosen
Reconstituting Judicial Oversight: The Effect of Bill C-9 on Judicial Discipline in Canada
Dave Snow & Andrea Lawlor
Mess of Glorious Chaos: The Law on Jurisdiction and Justiciability of University Disputes
Anna S.P. Wong
Appellate Courts in Judicial Review Cases: Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights v. Canada (Attorney General); West Whitby Landowners Group Inc. v. Elexicon Energy Inc.; and Davis v. Aviva General Insurance Company
Paul Daly
Journal of Parliamentary & Political Law
Available online through Westlaw from 2008.
The most recent issue (20, June 2026) covers the 2025 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Conference and includes papers on topics such as:
Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Gregoire Webber)
Aboriginal Rights (Douglas Sanderson)
The Notwithstanding Clause (Marion Sandilands)
Language Rights and Rights of Languages (Dominique Clement)
McGill Law Journal
The Journal is a bilingual publication that promotes the development of legal scholarship and aims to foster a more profound understanding of the common law and civil law legal traditions.
The full text of all items published in the McGill Law Journal since Volume 37, Number 2 (1992) are available on Lexis+.
Volume 71 (2026) contains the following articles:
Infirmer Ford (Fr.)
Noura Karazivan
The Reception of International Human Rights Law in Charter Litigation: “Not A Box of Chocolates” But You Still “Never Know What You’re Gonna Get”
Karinne Lantz
Voluntary Associations and the Rule of Law
Manish Oza
Reclaiming Freedom While Democracy Decays and AI Surges
Martha Minow
La Curieuse Histoire de la Loi sur les Dossiers D’Entreprises
Guillaume Laganière
Regard Comparatif sur L’Obligation Rèelle Environnementale et le Conservation Easement Comme Outils Potentiels de Mise en Commun
Yaëll Emerich & Félix-Antoine Lestage
Implementing Secondary Publication Right in Copyright Law for Green Open Access to Research
Faith O. Majekolagbe
Queen's Law Journal
The Queen’s Law Journal contains articles, comments and book reviews; it is a fully refereed scholarly publication produced by a student editorial board under the direction of a faculty advisor. The Journal has a well established international readership, and is among Canada’s most highly respected law journals.
The full text of all items published in the Queen’s Law Journal since Volume 21, No. 1 (Fall 1995) is available through Lexis+.
Volume 51 (2026) contains the following articles:
Contracting Out Pollution: A Proposed Interpretation of Environmental Liability Exclusion Clauses
Daniele Bertolini
Getting Personal: Individualized and User-Searchable Readability Results for a Large Corpus of Canadian Adjudicative Decisions
Mike Madden
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review
One of the oldest student legal journals in Canada, the Review is published twice yearly, in the winter and spring, by students enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.
The full text of all items published in the Review since Volume 54 (1996) is available through Lexis+.
Volume 84 (2026) contains the following articles:
Respect Is a Two-Way Street: Anderson, Morris, And the Fundamental Purpose of Sentencing
Matthew Farrell
Le Droit A L’inviolabilité Dissocié Du Droit A L’intégrité: Plus Qu’un Exercice Stylistique?
Laura Julien
Télétravail A Domicile: Les Obligations De L’employeur
Karine Lemieux
Court Notices & Practice Directions
Court of King’s Bench
Practice Directions
Notices
Provincial Court
Notices
- July 3, 2026- Dauphin and Swan River Court (Dauphin Centre)
- July 1, 2026- Westman Flooding (Dauphin Centre)
Modern Criminal Evidence, 2nd Edition
National in scope, this modern interpretation of criminal evidence law examines a wide range of topics, including judicial fact-finding, pre-trial considerations, expert evidence, circumstantial evidence, hearsay, character evidence, digital evidence, examination of witnesses, and the intersection of proceedings. This edition includes a significant update to the digital evidence chapter addressing deepfakes and AI-modified content, and expands its witnesses coverage into three separate, in-depth chapters.
Authored by a team of criminal law experts, including members of the criminal defence bar, crown, and the judiciary, Modern Criminal Evidence remains the most useful up-to-date resource for criminal litigators and judges seeking clear and practical guidance on evidentiary issues.”
Open Access
Open access (OA) publishing helps break down the barriers that traditionally limit who can read and engage with legal scholarship. It expands access for practitioners, community advocates, and the public. In a field where transparency and accountability matter, OA can strengthen the democratic function of law by making knowledge more widely available.
Critical Conversations in Canadian Public Law
“Critical Conversations in Canadian Public Law is a groundbreaking open-access collection of peer-reviewed essays showcasing interdisciplinary thinking on topical public law issues at the forefront of the evolving relationship between state and society.
In Canada, this relationship is undergoing a period of significant reinvention, as evidenced, for example, by the movements for reconciliation, decolonization and Indigenization, the calls to recognize and remedy systemic racism in institutions including police forces, and the recent extension of human rights protections to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
These examples reveal that we are experiencing a moment where claims that challenge the normative foundations of the discipline of public law are being made in real time; claims about citizenship, rights, and access to resources and benefits; claims about what substantive and procedural fairness look like, and for whom; claims about the obligations and limits of the state to proactively address both historical and current injustices; and challenges to the underlying assumptions about the state itself.
Critical Conversations in Canadian Public Law highlights the intersections of critical perspectives–including intersectional approaches to decolonial and Indigenous legal theory, Indigenous constitutionalisms, critical race theory, feminisms, queer theory and critical disability theory–and public law topics, broadly defined.
This collection bridges the divide between traditional, largely liberal, public law scholarship and critical perspectives by centring critical theories as not only relevant, but imperative, to robust, fully contextualized understandings of contemporary public law challenges.”
Equal and Inalienable Rights: Essays on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Edited by Melanie R. Bueckert & Derek B.M. Ross. Toronto: LexisNexis, 2024. xlii, 458 p. ISBN 9780433533801 (softcover) $145.00.
Reviewed By
Emily Da Silva
Head, Research Support (Education, Law, Management, and Social Sciences) University of Ottawa Library
“This volume addresses a variety of themes central to contemporary human rights discourse, makes the case for further analysis in under-theorized areas of human rights scholarship, and raises important questions about the continuing legacy of the UDHR. It will be of interest chiefly to researchers in the areas of human rights law and Canadian constitutional law, as well as courthouse and academic library collections. This collection of essays gathers the contributions of legal scholars who presented papers at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75 Symposium held at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, in the fall of 2023. The symposium brought together legal scholars, practitioners, and historians from across Canada and the globe to reflect on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its historical roots, enduring legacy, and contemporary influence on human rights jurisprudence.
…
This volume addresses a variety of themes central to contemporary human rights discourse, makes the case for further analysis in under-theorized areas of human rights scholarship, and raises important questions about the continuing legacy of the UDHR. It will be of interest chiefly to researchers in the areas of human rights law and Canadian constitutional law, as well as courthouse and academic library collections. “
Events
Upcoming Events
Substantive Law
Civil Litigation
Stewart v Auch, 2026 MBCA 57: Motion by appellant for an order pursuant to rule 46.2 of the MB, Court of Appeal Rules, for a rehearing of her dismissed appeal and other ancillary relief, including that the panel of judges who heard the appeal recuse themselves from the rehearing due to bias. The Court cited College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba v Hancock, 2023 MBCA 94 regarding the general principles of r. 46.2. The strong presumption of judicial impartiality and the test for reasonable apprehension of bias is outlined in Yukon Francophone School Board, Education Area #23 v Yukon (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 25. Motion dismissed.
Attallah v. St. James-Assiniboia School Division et al., 2026 MBKB 92: Applicant seeks to access certain records kept by Respondent concerning Applicant’s interactions with the school. Respondent says it is entitled to withhold the emails and some parts of the notes pursuant to s. 23(1) of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The rationale for this section is described in John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), 2014 SCC 36. Respondent also relies on ss. 17(2) and 17(3) of the Act, which concerns the privacy of a third party. The Court found none of the information sought by the Applicant was improperly withheld by the Respondent.
Criminal Law
R v Marjanovic, 2026 MBCA 61: Sentence appeal. While serving a sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for eighteen years, the accused pled guilty to possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a weapon. The sentence imposed was 33 months to be served consecutive to the life sentence. At para. 8, “[…] A life sentence means what it says: imprisonment for life. While most people are released on parole at some point, it does not alter the sentence. It follows that a sentence, consecutive to life, is illogical because it does not operate until the accused dies (see R v Camphaug, 1986 CanLII 1164 (BCCA); Regina v Sinclair (1972), 6 CCC (2d) 523, 1972 CanLII 1297 (ONCA)). Because the sentencing judge imposed a sentence consecutive to the accused’s life sentence, a legal error was made and no deference is owed.”
R v GJB, 2026 MBCA 60: Sentence appeal. The trial judge imposed consecutive sentences of five-and-one-half years for each offence and declined to reduce the combined sentence on account of the principle of totality. The Court reiterates that an appellate court cannot disturb a sentence simply because it would have weighed the relevant factors differently (R v Harrison, 2025 MBCA 35) and cites R v Logan, 2022 MBCA 97 regarding the deference owed to totality considerations. The Court found that even if the trial judge erred in principle in failing to consider the accused’s age when addressing totality, we are not persuaded that such an error had a material impact on the total sentence imposed (R. v. Lacasse, 2015 SCC 64). Leave to appeal was granted but the appeal was dismissed.
R v V.R.R.R., 2026 MBCA 56: Accused appealed the conviction for sexual interference, arguing that, in rejecting his testimony, the trial judge made palpable and overriding errors in his assumptions as to how a person should testify (see R v Kruk, 2024 SCC 7). This appeal does not raise an error of law as in Kruk. Rather, the accused challenges the credibility assessment made by the trial judge in rejecting the accused’s evidence. Credibility assessments are reviewed on the standard of palpable and overriding error. In R v Berg, 2026 SCC 21, the Supreme Court cautions that a trier of fact cannot reject an accused’s account based solely on a “‘considered and reasoned’ acceptance”. The Court allowed the appeal, quashed the convictions and ordered a new trial.
R v Desjarlais, 2026 MBPC 41: Accused charged with sexual exploitation, s. 153(1)of the Criminal Code. Discussion of sexual exploitation cites R. v. Audet, 1996 CanLII 198 (SCC) and grooming as defined in R. v. Woodward, ONCA 2011 610. Accused was found guilty.
R v Olivier-Job, 2026 MBPC 39: Accused found guilty of communicating with another person for the purpose of obtaining sexual services for consideration, contrary to Criminal Code s. 286.1(1). This decision concerns whether the doctrine of entrapment calls for a judicial stay. The SCC summarized the doctrine’s purpose in R v Mack, 1988 CanLII 24 (SCC). In R v Ramelson, 2022 SCC 44, the SCC contextualized the application of the test in Mack to virtual spaces. It was found the doctrine of entrapment was not established.
Family Law
Starkell v Simmons, 2026 MBCA 49: Respondent appealed a case conference judge’s decision refusing request for leave to file a motion for contempt against the petitioner in relation to a final order, using form 70DD, which is provided for in rule 70.24(31.1) of the MB, King’s Bench Rules. Issues: (i) the reasons for the decision are sufficient to permit appellate review; (ii) the decision is invalid because rule 70.24(4)(r) excludes a motion for contempt related to a final order from the procedure in rule 70.24; and (iii) the process established in rule 70.24(31.1) is invalid because it is ultra vires s. 92(14) and 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (UK), and because it violates s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (i) Regarding the issue of sufficient of resaons R v Ji, 2025 MBCA 86 was cited and the Court found the case conference judge’s decision to be insufficient. (ii) Parties were asked to address the effect of rules 70.24(4)(r) and 70.24(6) as they relate to the applicability of rule 70.24 and form 70DD, which invokes rule 70.24(31.1), to a contempt motion related to a final order. They cited two practice directions issued by the ACJ FD, neither of which refers to r. 70.24(6) or specifically makes a contempt motion related to a final order subject to r. 70.24. The Court reasoned that the authority to modify r. 70.24 by practice direction can only be exercised under r. 70.24(6) by the Chief Justice. (iii) The Court found it would not be appropriate for them to deal with this issue as there is an absence of a factual record to review, which would prejudice the intervener, the petitioner and other potential interested interveners (Guindon v Canada, 2015 SCC 41.)
Legislation
Federal
Received Royal Assent
- C-30 An Act to implement certain provisions of the spring economic update tabled in Parliament on April 28, 2026
- S-227 An Act respecting Arab Heritage Month
- C-9 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places)
- C-11 An Act to amend the National Defence Act and other Acts
- C-16 An Act to amend certain Acts in relation to criminal and correctional matters (child protection, gender-based violence, delays and other measures)
- C-20 An Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes
- C-25 An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and to enact An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026
- C-26 An Act to authorize certain payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of improving housing supply
- C-32 Appropriation Act No. 2, 2026-27
- C-33 Appropriation Act No. 3, 2026-27
- C-225 An Act to amend the Criminal Code
- C-14 An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the National Defence Act (bail and sentencing)
- S-228 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)
- C-8 An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts
Recently introduced bills
- S-250 An Act to amend the Department of Justice Act
- S-249 An Act respecting Christian Heritage Month
- S-248 An Act respecting Caribbean Heritage Month
- C-287 An Act to amend the National Research Council Act
- C-288 An Act to enact the Protection Against Online Fraud Act and to amend the Criminal Code
- C-289 An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make a related amendment to the Criminal Code
- C-290 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (theft of property of cultural or religious significance)
- C-291 An Act to amend the Department of Industry Act (small businesses)
- C-37 An Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nation lands
- C-286 An act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Food and Drugs Act
- C-36 An Act to enact the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act, to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to make amendments to other Acts
Provincial
The House adjourned on June 1, 2026.
The 3rd Session of the 43rd Legislature will reconvene Tuesday, September 29th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.
New Regulations