The duty to accommodate employees with disabilities
By Anne-Marie Langan, Staff Lawyer In small rural communities where it may be difficult to find full time local employment, disabled workers often do not request accommodation for their disability for fear it will put their employment at risk. This is especially true for people who have a disability that… READ MORE
Anti-terrorism law expands police powers
Community Legal Education Ontario produces a monthly email bulletin called On the Radar. This month's On the Radar, reproduced for Legalese, looks at some of the laws that apply when the police decide to stop people on the street and question them. Under the federal Combating Terrorism Act, which… READ MORE
Pay attention to your hydro bills
By Anne-Marie Langan, staff lawyer, Rural Legal Services Lately Rural Legal Services has had a rash of complaints from seniors, clients with disabilities and persons on a fixed income, about their Hydro Bills. These complaints have included: Usage has been grossly underestimated for months and then the customer receives a… READ MORE
Public Holidays and Workers’ Rights
The information in this column was provided by Community Legal Education Ontario in its monthly email alert “On the Radar” Many of us look forward to the long weekend in May as the "unofficial" beginning of the summer. In anticipation of Victoria Day on May 20 and the other… READ MORE
Avoiding Telephone Trickery
It is probably safe to say that telephone fraud was not what Alexander Graham Bell had in mind when he pioneered the telephone in the 1870s. Unfortunately, modern-day telephone scammers defraud consumers out of millions of dollars annually. We hope that this article will help you to protect yourself… READ MORE
Are you a Survivor of Violent Crime?
Have you experienced assault? Have you ever been criminally harassed? Did you experience abuse as a child? Have you been the victim of domestic violence? If the answer is yes to these questions or if you have been the victim of another violent crime, you may be able to… READ MORE
Modernizing the legislative framework of not-for-profit corporations
by Peter Graham, Lawyer, Rural Legal Services The Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has undertaken a project to review and reform the Ontario Corporations Act (CA) in order to develop a new legal framework to govern the structure and activities of charities and not-for-profit corporations in Ontario. The update… READ MORE
Tobacco: Expensive Cheap Smokes
By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services If the Ontario government has its way, the purchase of cigarettes from a road-side “smoke shack” could get a lot more expensive thanks to the recently introduced Supporting Smoke-Free Ontario by Reducing Contraband Tobacco Act, 2011. The introduction of the act didn’t… READ MORE
Insurance
By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services Insurance is one of those things that we often don’t think about – until we need it! In fact many of us just tune out when it comes to this topic. After all, there are so many different types to consider: life,… READ MORE
Changes to the Law in 2009 to Remember in 2010
By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services The law is always changing. Each year brings an almost unbelievable onslaught of new legislation, amendments to existing legislation and supporting regulations and, of course, new interpretations of the law by our Courts. Lawyers are supposed to keep up with it all… READ MORE