By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services I am often of two minds about the upcoming Holiday Season.The non-lawyer par t of me enjoy Christmas and New Years and all that this special time of year entails, especially getting together with family and friends. The lawyer part of me… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services It is indeed the information age. Information about you is being collected, sorted and stored by numerous governmental and private organizations. Perhaps there isn’t much we can do about the information collected as a result of our use of public services, but… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services It’s a complicated world and getting more complicated every day. Not a new or terribly profound statement, but it’s a reality that can have an enormous impact on the quality of life for many people. Increasingly government institutions and businesses rely on… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services Your hydro bill has just arrived. As usual, it’s a shocker, and there is the long winter ahead. You’re on a fixed income, and even the “equal billing” option leaves you short each month. At that moment, your white knight seemingly arrives… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services It’s summertime and people are on the move – an increasing number astride ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles). This year, more than a few ATV drivers have reminded me of an old legal maxim: “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Both the… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services Drinking and driving is an issue that is squarely on the agenda of the government of Ontario. Although the Province cannot infringe upon the Federal government’s criminal law powers to define the offence of impaired driving and to set the range of… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services For most people, just getting through a day at work is hard enough without facing the prospect of harassment or violence on the job. Effective June 15, 2010, workers in Ontario will have new protections against harassment or violence in the workplace… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services One of the realities of living in this area is the need for a source of reliable transportation. There are no buses, no taxis, no subways, and except for volunteer drivers, good neighbours, family members or friends and/or the Rural Routes program,… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services If you need legal help in Ontario and cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, you may be able to take advantage of one of the programs operated by Legal Aid Ontario (LAO). Whether or not you can receive help from LAO… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services Ontarians will begin paying the new Harmonized Sales Tax on July 1st, 2010. It combines the existing sales taxes, the GST (a federal tax of 5%) and the PST (a provincial tax of 8%) into one 13% sales tax. While politicians and… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services (Editor’s note – warning, this column contains some wishful thinking about the outcome of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament) It’s the last period of Canada vs. the USA in the final Olympic hockey game and the telephone rings: “Are you interested in… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services The Legal Clinic in Sharbot Lake has been producing a “Legalese” column for more than 20 years. For one reason or another, we sometimes find ourselves looking at our old columns and when we do, it’s interesting to see how the law… READ MORE

Written by Susan Irwin

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services You can talk to me. What you tell me stays with me. In fact, as a lawyer, I have very little choice in the matter. Every lawyer in Ontario is governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct as set down and enforced… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services Significant changes are coming to Legal Aid Ontario. The most dramatic changes will be noticed initially by people seeking Legal Aid Certificates to retain lawyers in Criminal or Family Law matters as set out in the following information release from Legal Aid… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services We live in an increasingly complicated world. A world of voice mail with confusing menus rattled off at break neck speed by electronic voices, “self-help” kits and forms that seem to require at least a college diploma to understand and, of course,… READ MORE

By Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services Insurance is one of those things that we often don’t think about – until we need it! In fact many of us just tune out when it comes to this topic. After all, there are so many different types to consider: life,… READ MORE