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In the growing area of elder mediation, which now includes mandatory mediation of adult guardianship issues in British Columbia, a new report calls for mediation practice guidelines, training and ethical standards. The report from the Canadian Centre for Elder Law emphasizes the heightened sensitivity and skill needed by mediators. Ethical issues include determining whether parties have the capacity to participate meaningfully in mediation, the need for legal representation and questions of abuse and neglect.
Canadian Lawyer Legal Feeds (January 16, 2012)
Canada’s Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) is asking regulators to mandate that banks continue to use the independent national agency to settle any disputes with clients that the banks cannot resolve internally. The issue arose after Toronto Dominion Bank announced plans to withdraw from OBSI and begin using another ADR service which Royal Bank of Canada has been using since it left OBSI three years ago. OBSI was created to handle complaints against banks and since 2002 has also been responsible for resolving investment complaints.
The Star.com (October 31, 2011)
Ontario has followed Nova Scotia in enacting a statute specifically addressing commercial mediation. Ontario’s Commercial Mediation Act of 2010 permits agreements reached in mediation to be registered and enforced as court judgments. Commercial mediation does not include disputes over insurance benefits, collective bargaining disputes, computerized mediation or informal attempts by judges or arbitrators to encourage settlement while presiding over litigation or arbitration proceedings. The statute requires certain disclosures by mediators relating to possible conflicts and bias and sets forth mediation confidentiality requirements. The statute is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation, which has also been incorporated by several states in the U.S. when enacting the Uniform Mediation Act. The Ontario statute focuses on pre-litigation mediation and does not apply to the mandatory mediation provisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure. The statute took effect with commercial mediations that commenced on or after October 25, 2010 in Ontario or even outside the province if the parties stipulate coverage of Ontario law.
Stikeman Elliott LLP (November 5, 2010); Law Times (December 6, 2010)
The Ontario Court of Appeals imposed a $40,000 penalty on an insurance company for refusing to mediate a personal injury case it considered to be outside the statutory requirement for mediation. The lower court found that the case was within the statutory threshold, but accepted the insurer’s position as legitimate. However, the appellate court took a harder line in imposing the penalty and emphasized the requirements of participating in mediation and attempting to settle expeditiously.
Law Times (October 18, 2010)
Ontario Chief Justice Warren Winkler proposed in a lecture which will be published this fall that the increasing cultural shift towards mediation requires that the court system adapt by providing judicial mediation in civil cases as a routine matter. The Chief Justice is concerned that without much more mediation by judges the court system will lose relevance. In addition, he believes that courts need to provide direct mediation services so that the benefits of mediation are not limited to those who can afford private mediators. The Chief Justice notes that judges are often in the best position to mediate cases because parties take judges’ views seriously. On the other hand, he notes that there are many hurdles to be surmounted, such as courthouses not designed for handling mediations in large numbers, mediations often continuing beyond court hours, and sitting judges who may have neither the aptitude nor desire to be mediators.
Lawyers Weekly (September 3, 2010)
A dispute over the arming of Canada Border Services Agency officers at a station on the reservation of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne has festered for many months despite attempts at dialogue and visits by several Members of Parliament. The tribe has been suggesting mediation since the beginning of the conflict. Both sides may finally be leaning toward mediation as the only way to resolve the issues.
Watertown Daily Times (November 5, 2009)
Mediation successfully reaches agreement in 95% of the workplace psychological harassment cases mediated by the Commission des norms du travail in Quebec. In the four years since legislation was enacted protecting employees from psychological harassment, about 8,600 complaints have been filed and a little over a third have been resolved through mediation. Of complainants using mediation, 85% reported they were very satisfied with the mediator’s work.
Canada Newswire (July 3, 2008) (Subscription Required)
A paralegal was sentenced to four months of house arrest for contempt of court in Ontario after violating a permanent injunction prohibiting the practice of law. The paralegal unsuccessfully asserted that she was merely involved in mediation, which is not regulated, because she advertised that she could prepare legal documents and provide services relating to uncontested divorces.
Law Times (October 15, 2007)
Facing a potential “meltdown” of the Toronto court system, which is the third largest in Canada, Justice Warren Winkler introduced a three-phase mediation system to encourage parties to settle, and created specialized pools of judges to mediate in specific areas. Even with 30,000 civil lawsuits being filed annually, wait times for long trials are now down to one year, compared to three years in 2004 when Justice Winkler was appointed Senior Regional Justice.
Globe and Mail (Toronto Can.)(May 16, 2007)(Subscription Required)
The Ottawa Chamber Music Society is preparing to mediate with its popular artistic director, Julian Armour, who recently resigned. The plan for mediation came out of a meeting of more 300 concerned music lovers, and may include a longer-term role for the mediator to assist with other organizational issues.
The Ottawa Citizen (March 13, 2007)
Business disputes in Canada are increasingly turning to mediation, and more mediators are available to resolve them, according to the ADR Institute of Canada and others. Both attorneys and business people are recognizing that mediation can provide better and more subtle solutions to complex business disputes than going to court, as well as saving time and money. Full blown litigation is seen more and more as costly brinkmanship. Ten years ago, Canadian Supreme Court Justice George Adams shocked colleagues by stepping down from the bench to begin a mediation practice, but he has seen lawyers become much more sophisticated in planning for and using mediation over the last decade.
Financial Post (March 18, 2007)
2/01: CA: Couple's mediation rising in popularity read 1/16: Canadian Report calls for training, standards in elder mediation read 11/28: The copyright dispute between Insight Productions’ Canada Sings and Dutch format The Singing Office appears headed to mediation read 11/21: Take high road during custody battle read 11/15: Divorce, separation, custody laws in B.C. given overhaul read 8/31: Ottawa: U of O professor seeks early mediation in defamation case read 8/25: Vancouver Public Schools enters into mediation with union read 7/29: City of Saskatoon, transit union agree on mediation read 7/19: Divorcing Ont. couples to attend mandatory session on alternatives read 7/08: Mediation adds up to hope - A potentially nasty and divisive teachers' labour dispute has most likely been averted by a thoughtful and productive mediator's report read read all 
The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion.
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