8.5 Years in Jail for Driving, HPV Vaccine dispute, and a Driving Appeal by 80 Year Old

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Recently, small groups of protesters have been intentionally blocking highways to get attention for their cause and to compel the government to meet various demands. So far, police have exercised restraint and have attempted to persuade the protesters to move before arresting them. The police are not, however, required to wait any period of time before arresting people who are committing a criminal offence. As discussed on ...

14 Tammi 202221min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Mediation efforts to resolve civil or family disputes are typically treated as being confidential and can’t be referred to if the case winds up in court. The reason for this is to permit candid discussions and compromise that result in disputes settling before going to trial. A recent Supreme Court of Canada case considered the admissibility of a “summary of mediated agreement” that was prepared following the mediation of a family law di...

31 Joulu 202121min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 – 11 has resulted in family law disputes between separated parents who disagree about getting their children vaccinated. A number of these cases have now been litigated, across Canada, and the consistent outcome has been for court orders permitting the children to be vaccinated, despite the objection of one parent. On the show, one of these cases is discussed which involved two chil...

26 Joulu 202120min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: There are two kinds of Mischief offences in the Criminal Code: Mischief, and Public Mischief. Mischief is defined and prohibited by section 430 of the Criminal Code. This section makes it an offence to, amongst other things, damage or destroy property or to interfere with the lawful use, operation or enjoyment of property. This section applies if someone wilfully damages property by, for example, spray painting graffiti on a wall o...

16 Joulu 202121min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The previous Conservative federal government added numerous mandatory minimum jail sentences to the Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. While they have failed to deter crime, they have contributed to the disproportionate number of indigenous and Black Canadians in jail. Indigenous Canadians represent approximately 5 percent of the population but are 30 percent of federal prisoners. This is double the percentage from twe...

9 Joulu 202122min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The BC Court of Appeal recently allowed a sentence appeal by the Crown and converted a two-year conditional sentence, sometimes called house arrest, into a regular jail sentence for a bookkeeper convicted of defrauding her employer. Because the bookkeeper had a previous conviction for similar behaviour and was acting in a position of trust, the two-year jail sentence was not surprising. A theft or fraud committed by someone in a position...

6 Joulu 202121min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The obstruction of roads and highways has become an increasingly common method of protesting various things. As discussed on the show, blocking or obstructing a highway, and in so doing, preventing anyone from doing anything they have a right to do, is a criminal offence pursuant to section 423 (1) (g) of the Criminal Code. The office is punishable by a maximum of five years in jail. Section 2 of the Charter permits “freedom of thought...

25 Marras 202123min

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: More than three days after flooding caused massive damage in BC, the provincial government declared an emergency pursuant to the Emergency Program Act. The emergency declaration lasts for up to 14 days and can be renewed. Pursuant to the authority this affords, the provincial government has restricted travel on damaged highways and has limited consumers to purchasing no more than 30 liters of fuel at a time. The provincial government...

21 Marras 202121min