 The Federation of Law Reform Agencies of Canada (FOLRAC) is thrilled that Canada’s Budget 2021 provides funding for Justice Canada to bring back the Law Commission of Canada. The Budget, released on April 19 by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, promises $18 million over five years (starting in 2021-22) and $4 million ongoing to revive the Law Commission, which was shut down in 2006.
The world has changed since 2006 and today’s legal system presents new challenges – new technologies, changing family and community structures, and recognition of the need for Indigenous justice and issues of systemic racism. Independent law reform agencies exist to tackle these challenges and improve access to justice for all Canadians. Our agencies study complex legal and policy issues, and make recommendations for reform based on extensive research, public consultations, and expert opinion. Our work is non-partisan, principled and forward-looking to identify approaches to important legal issues. The Law Commission of Canada, as a federally mandated law reform agency, will play an important role in our collaborations and we look forward to working with a federal counterpart on defining and implementing law reforms across Canada and across our many legal frameworks. “We are delighted by the announcement to restore the Law Reform Commission of Canada in yesterday’s budget,” stated Leah Howie, President of FOLRAC and the Director of the Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan, director@lawreformcommission.sk.ca. “Independent law reform helps to innovate and drive changes so that our laws reflect the issues we face in Canada; we help make lives better for all Canadians. We look forward to continuing our work with our federal colleagues back at the table.” FOLRAC was incorporated in 1990 to encourage cooperation among Canadian law reform agencies and to advance the public value of law reform across Canada. It has member agencies in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec.
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 Pension Division: A Review of Part 6 of the Family Law Act, which calls for reforms to how pensions are divided between separating spouses. The report is the culmination of more than two years’ work by BCLI’s Pension Division Review Project Committee, which since 2019 has been examining pressing and emerging legal issues in pension division.
Read more... On January 29, 2021, the Commission released its Final Report entitled "Abandoned Accounts and Missing Money: Establishing a Process for Unclaimed Intangible Personal Property".
From the report: "Personal property, such as account balances, insurance policies, wages owed, and deposits, can and do become abandoned or forgotten. In other provinces and international jurisdictions, established laws and processes enable the reunification of individuals with their unclaimed property. In Manitoba, no such process exists. The Manitoba Law Reform Commission (the “Commission”) decided to study the issue of whether this province should enact unclaimed property legislation similar to the legislation enacted in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and New Brunswick and recommended by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (“ULCC”) in its draft Act.1 The Commission has, therefore, conducted extensive research, conferred with individuals in the enacting jurisdictions and consulted with interested parties to determine the benefits and difficulties of establishing an unclaimed property program in this province." Get the full report at http://www.manitobalawreform.ca/ BRITISH COLUMBIA LAW INSTITUTE ALBERTA LAW REFORM INSTITUTE
BRITISH COLUMBIA LAW INSTITUTE ALBERTA LAW REFORM INSTITUTE LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF SASKATCHEWAN
 The Alberta Law Reform Institute is looking at a potential gap in the law relating to support for a child from a person standing in the place of a parent. In Alberta, a child can apply for support while the person is alive, but not after the
person’s death. The Institute proposes changing the law to allow a child to apply for family maintenance and support from the estate of a person who stood in the place of a parent and is also conducting a consultation to gather feedback on its proposals. Get the report and participate in the survey on their website.  Let the Alberta Law Reform Institute know how the Dower Act has affected your work at bit.ly/dowersurvey. The Dower Act in Alberta is a law that protects the property interests of a married person if the couple’s home is legally owned solely by the other spouse. It applies to the “homestead”, which means the house and some attached land where the owner spouse lived during the marriage. The Dower Act hasn’t been updated significantly since 1948 and is not serving Albertans bests interests. The Alberta Law Reform Institute is reviewing the Dower Act and would like to hear from lawyers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, bankers, trustees-in-bankruptcy, and other individuals who regularly encounter dower rights in their work. At this stage, we are particularly interested in hearing about any practical challenges or complications that arise because of dower rights. Let ALRI know how the Dower Act has affected your work at bit.ly/dowersurvey. Our consultation takes roughly 5-10 minutes to complete depending on your feedback. The Alberta Law Reform Institute values your input and thanks you for your participation. All responses will remain confidential and anonymous.  Today the British Columbia Law Institute published its Child Protection Project Committee’s Consultation Paper on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act.
In this consultation paper the committee is asking for public comment on its proposals to government to reform British Columbia’s main child protection law. Read more... BRITISH COLUMBIA LAW INSTITUTE ALBERTA LAW REFORM INSTITUTE LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF SASKATCHEWAN
(QUEBEC INSTITUTE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE REFORM)
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