Dear Members;

During these coming days as we deal with Covid-19 and its impact on our daily lives and business operations, I write this message in an effort to ensure the members of our Association have access to the latest details of the York Region Law Association’s efforts to address our member’s public health and safety concerns.

I’m sure, by now, all our members have been advised of the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice operations advisories. To recap:

• The Superior Court of Ontario, effective as of March 17, 2020, is suspending all matters currently before the court until further notice. Only URGENT public health & safety, civil, family and criminal matters will be heard.
• Full and updated details can be found at https://ontariocourts.ca/scj/ and we have placed a link to the courts directions on the BLOG section of our webpage at www.yorklaw.ca;
• The Ontario Court of Justice announced on March 15, 2020, that all out of custody matters currently in the case management process will be adjourned 10 weeks without the need for the accused person to appear before the Court. This does not appear to effect in custody matters (such as bail hearings) or matters scheduled before the court for purposes other than case management (such as trials). We await clarification on this point.
• Full and updated details can be found at https://ontariocourts.ca/ocj/general-public/covid-19-pandemic-planning-for-the-scheduling-of-matters-in-the-ontario-court-of-justice/  and we have placed a link to the courts directions on the BLOG section of our webpage at www.yorklaw.ca;

In keeping with steps taken by the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the Regional Municipality of York, and, in support of the public health recommendations designed to reduce the spread of Covid-19, the York Region Law Association is announcing:

• All CPD programs and other social functions, if any, scheduled to take place in the lawyer’s Lounge are hereby suspended until further notice. The Family Law Summit, scheduled to broadcast by way of webcast, will still take place and we are not taking any further registrations at this time;
• The Spring Family Law Lunch, tentatively scheduled for early May, has been suspended pending clearances and availability of an appropriate venue;
• The Association’s Annual General Meeting, tentatively scheduled for early May has been suspended pending clearances and availability of an appropriate venue;
• Effective immediately, the library will be UNSTAFFED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Betty and Janet will be accepting research and reference assignments remotely to continue to assist with members needs. While our main phone line will remain open and will be routinely monitored, our preference will be that they can be reached at bdykstra@yorklaw.ca and jmarchment@yorklaw.ca respectively. Please remember that their ability to assist will be hampered due to the remote aspect as well as their continued work on other Association assignments. I ask, therefore, that you expect and make accommodations for reduced response times with research requests.

Unfortunately, there are still many questions yet to be answered. For instance, I cannot comment authoritatively on whether these measures being implemented will remain in force at the time of or have an impact on the upcoming May Trial Sittings, currently scheduled to begin on May 18, 2020. We still await further details in this regard. Similarly, given the dynamic nature of this virus and the responses to it, the current restrictions are subject to change without notice.

We endeavour to do our best to bring the latest updates to our members as they happen. To that end, I have been asked, should members have any questions that remain unanswered through the resources above, that they forward them to this email address (president@yorklaw.ca) so that they may be passed on for further clarification.

I invite all our members to take this viral pandemic seriously and embrace, for their own good health and the health of others, the recommendations being made. Be careful and be safe.

Sincerely,

Adam C. White, B.A., LL.B.

President, York Region Law Association