Articles by Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press

Jan 19 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A one-time Toronto lawyer known for championing underdog causes and whose high profile battles with the profession's regulator spanned decades has been forced into legal retirement. In a decision this month, a Superior Court justice permanently barred Harry Kopyto from practising law, providing legal services or holding himself out as a legal agent — a ban […]

Jan 17 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — An American civilian court has refused to order a military court to decide an appeal from former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr. In a brief decision this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied Khadr's request to force the issue. "At this time, (Khadr) has not demonstrated […]

Jan 17 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A man convicted of raping a sleeping woman has had his sentence reduced because the judge wrongly decided he had planned the crime. In its unanimous decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected a bid by Saied Ghadghoni to overturn his conviction but said his 30-month sentence was too harsh. Ghadghoni, then 22, and […]

Jan 17 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The Senate forfeited any claim to immunity from lawsuits over its suspension of Mike Duffy, because its actions were politically motivated and unlawful, the senator's lawyer argued on Thursday. In submissions to the Ontario Court of Appeal, Lawrence Greenspon said the decision in November 2013 to suspend Duffy without pay came at the direction […]

Jan 15 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A dozen individuals have been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in damages for defamatory statements they made in an internet chat forum, even though the plaintiffs don't know who they are and collecting will likely prove difficult. The judgment in Ontario Superior Court of Justice comes despite the difficulties in suing people […]

Jan 14 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A prosecution decision to renege on a plea bargain after prospective witnesses were told the accused would admit his guilt would deprive the man of a fair trial, an Ontario court has ruled. As a result, Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance ordered enforcement of the deal Jon-Paul Fuller had agreed to rather than make […]

Jan 5 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A prominent Canadian aid worker convicted of sexually assaulting two children in Nepal is set to argue he was the victim of a police conspiracy and unfair trial. In legal materials ahead of his appeal, expected to be heard Jan. 7, Peter Dalglish alleges a host of problems with the investigation and court […]

Jan 2 2020 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A prosecutor should not have asked a father accused of incest about why his daughter might have made up her allegations against him, Ontario's top court ruled on Thursday. As a result of the questioning, and the judge's refusal to stop it, the accused should get a new trial, the Court of Appeal decided.  […]

Dec 23 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The conviction and 40-year prison sentence for a young mentally ill Canadian who plotted terrorist attacks in New York City should be set aside, his lawyer argues in a new appeal brief. The brief on behalf of Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy argues that the trial judge violated his rights, and the sentence handed down […]

Dec 22 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Emergency services will soon have to ensure they can pinpoint the location of people calling 911 for help on their cellphones. The technically complex shift mandated by Canada's telecommunications regulator to what's called Next-generation 9-1-1 — or NG9-1-1 — should allow for a faster, more accurate system in which eventually data, photos, videos […]

Dec 20 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A much-relieved son of Russian spies flew back from Moscow to his Toronto birthplace on Friday, a day after the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed his Canadian citizenship. The court decision and flight marked an end to a long-running ordeal for Alexander Vavilov and his brother Timothy that began nine years ago when his […]

Dec 20 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The federal government failed on Friday to persuade an Appeal Court that a schizophrenic man who attacked a Canadian Forces recruiting centre was a one-person terrorist group. In upholding the acquittal of Ayanle Hassan Ali, Ontario's top court rejected the idea that someone committing a terrorist act could legally be considered to be acting […]

Dec 19 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The former head of a public health unit on Thursday lost her last bid to keep secret a report that details her personal relationship with a convicted fraudster the agency hired as its chief financial officer. However, despite the Supreme Court of Canada's refusal to weigh in on the case, the report involving Dr. […]

Dec 19 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — The shock waves of the flesh-ripping, metal-twisting blast that devastated so many Canadian lives on a quiet, rural road in southern Afghanistan 10 years ago still ripple with a force that's palpable. They live on in the heartache of an empty chair at a Christmas dinner, in the phantom pain of a missing limb, in the guilt […]

Dec 18 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A bus driver sent home to change out of the kilt he wore to work on a casual Friday was not a victim of anti-Scottish discrimination, Ontario's human rights tribunal has ruled. In its decision, the tribunal decided that Tracy Macdonnell had provided no evidence the directive from Grand River Transit in the Region […]