Ontario fast-tracking several bills with little or no debate

EDMONTON – Alberta Forestry Minister Todd Loewen says the decision to lift limits on trapping for animals like wolverines is being done to get more data on what to do with them.

Until recently, trappers on Crown land were almost entirely prohibited from trapping wolverines, lynx, river otters, and fishers — but Loewen’s decision means it’s now open season on all four.

Loewen says it was impossible for him to defend the virtual ban on these fur-bearing creatures because current population numbers for the animals are not known.

He says by lifting the limits, the government and conservationists will better understand the overall health status of each species through the data collected by trappers.

Conservationist Ruiping Luo, with the Alberta Wilderness Association, says the government should find a way to collect the data without killing the animals.

Luo says while lifting the ban may not lead to extinction, any further species loss or damage could create a domino effect with consequent harm to ecosystems.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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GATINEAU, Que. – A court order obtained by the Competition Bureau will require legal-software company Dye & Durham Ltd. to release records related to its business practices, the federal watchdog agency said Thursday.

It’s the latest development in an ongoing Competition Bureau probe, which aims to determine if Toronto-based Dye & Durham has engaged in anti-competitive behaviour and abused its dominant position in the market.

The bureau is examining what it calls certain Dye & Durham practices that may prevent competing software firms from supplying products or services to legal practitioners.

While no conclusion of wrongdoing has been made, the Competition Bureau said in a news release Thursday it is seeking information from the public to advance its investigation. It said it welcomes feedback from legal-software users and providers.

Dye & Durham’s stock price immediately sank on the news, and was down more than 17 per cent as of midday trading Thursday.

In a news release, Dye & Durham said it is fully co-operating with the Competition Bureau’s investigation and will “continue to take steps to inform and educate the bureau on its business and industry practices.”

The company went on to say it is concerned the Competition Bureau may be acting on allegations from industry competitors who have “resisted productivity enhancing innovation.”

It said it is also concerned the bureau’s allegations “improperly contextualize” commercial relationships and standard software industry business practices.

At the same time it is being investigated for potential anticompetitive behaviour, Dye & Durham has been trying to defend itself against an aggressive activist investor.

New York-based Engine LLP, which owns approximately 7.1 per cent of the company’s stock, has proposed its own slate of rival candidates for election to Dye & Durham’s board of directors at its upcoming annual general meeting.

Engine said this week that a boardroom overhaul is warranted at Dye & Durham after what it called “years of disappointing shareholder returns, value-destructive M&A, high employee turnover, inappropriate executive compensation and anti-shareholder action.”

Dye & Durham responded by saying that Engine’s attempt at a wholesale replacement of the board and management team puts the company’s “extraordinary track record and future trajectory at risk.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:DND)

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MONTREAL – One of the lawyers for a Quebec man who was acquitted Wednesday of a decades-old double murder hopes her client’s case will convince other wrongfully convicted people not to lose hope.

For the first time in more than 40 years, Claude Paquin woke up today as a completely free man after Quebec’s Crown prosecutor’s office declined to try him for a second time for the 1978 murders of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah.

Lawyer Julie Harinen describes the result as “historic and exceptional” because so few murder convictions are overturned in Quebec.

Paquin was first convicted of the murders in 1983, his appeal was unsuccessful, and he served 18 years in detention before being granted parole.

Project Innocence Quebec took up his case, and this year federal Justice Minister Arif Virani ordered a new trial after concluding there were reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.

Harinen says the prosecutor’s decision to drop the case was based on new evidence that emerged, including that the informant who served as the main witness against Paquin changed his story and received money and favours in return for testimony.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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