Claims

Sexual abuse class-action against Montreal oratory can proceed

If you provide commercial liability coverage for religious organizations, you might want to check Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in L’Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal v. J.J. The decision paves the way for a class action lawsuit against Montreal’s St. Joseph’s Oratory, as well as the Congregation of Holy Cross, by some survivors of sexual […]

By Greg Meckbach | June 7, 2019

2 min read

Claims

How this auto client got bus-ted

A British Columbia motorist whose sharp right turn made a bus brake suddenly has lost his dispute with the Insurance Corporation of B.C. Wen Sheng Li was involved in an accident in Vancouver on June 1, 2018. ICBC found him 100% at fault. Li tried unsuccessfully at the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) to pin liability […]

By Greg Meckbach | June 7, 2019

2 min read

Claims

Spring flooding not sinking cottage markets in Ontario, Quebec: report

TORONTO – Spring flooding has failed to sink Ontario and Quebec’s cottage real estate markets, according to Royal LePage’s annual recreational property report. Parts of Quebec cottage country were inaccessible for weeks because of road closures and some Ontario properties had to be viewed when they were partially submerged. Yet demand is so strong in […]

By Greg Meckbach | June 7, 2019

2 min read

Claims

How AI can help shape a more effective disaster response

Artificial intelligence (AI) should be used not only to predict what will happen, but to shape and influence that outcome, the president of IBM Canada said Wednesday. “Predicting it is good, but the value that you get as an enterprise is when you take that prediction and alter the outcome to something that you like […]

By Jason Contant | June 7, 2019

2 min read

Welcome to the new era of online flood maps

The organization responsible for flood risk mitigation in and near Kitchener, Ont. is contemplating enabling online access to maps that would let some clients see whether they are in a high-risk flood zone. For the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), the ultimate aim is for some clients to be able to go to a website […]

3 min read

Ottawa’s spring floods put last round of repairs to the test

OTTAWA – A new round of repairs is in store for pathways around Parliament Hill, after the second major flood in three years. Water levels on the Ottawa River remain a metre above normal and crews working for the National Capital Commission are just beginning to assess the damage to infrastructure near the Ottawa River. […]

3 min read

How the EU’s data privacy law will apply to your Canadian clients

The European Union’s new data privacy law can affect your clients even if they don’t have offices in Europe, a cyber security expert with one of the world’s biggest brokerages warns. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect in 2018, gives legal rights to citizens of all 28 European Union member nations. One […]

2 min read

How budget cuts will affect flood risk mitigation

Flood risk mitigation in Ontario could start to depend a lot more on the willingness of corporations and individuals to donate money to the conservation authorities. “The conservation authorities are going to have to make a better case for outreach for private sources of money to fund their research than they have to date,” Blair […]

4 min read

How reliable are severe weather emergency alerts?

Two tornadoes that swept through the Ottawa region Sunday have prompted questions about the effectiveness of Canada’s emergency alert system. Questions arose after numerous residents reported that they never received warnings about a tornado that hit Orléans, an east-end suburb of Ottawa. In one case, a homeowner in Orléans told CBC that her next-door neighbour […]

3 min read

Military help in Pikangikum First Nation being ‘drawn down’ as wildfire slows

PIKANGIKUM, Ont. – The Canadian Armed Forces says military help is being “drawn down” in a remote northwestern Ontario First Nation as a wildfire that triggered the evacuation of vulnerable residents slows its spread. Second Lt. Christopher Dube says in a statement that “the need for military aircraft capabilities has waned” over the last 48 […]

1 min read