In Ottawa, these guidelines came into effect earlier this month. This decision was made without consulting the public or members of the bar, and betrays, to some extent, the public statement of Chief Justice Richard Wagner of the Supreme Court of Canada that the justice system cannot go back to 2019. The current system fails to maximize the gains of the pandemic, and in Ottawa, threatens to tax a courthouse that is sometimes short of physical courtrooms.
Although access to electronic filing offers environmental advantages and some degree of technological efficiency, the system for electronic filing is far from straightforward and continued investment will be required to rectify the limitations of the current system.Article content Were there occasionally cats on Zoom and a person dressed improperly? Absolutely. But in the balance, Zoom hearings worked, particularly in cases where there was a lawyer representing each side. Court decisions were delivered via e-mail and life went on.Article content