Mississauga Personal Injury Law Blog

Anyone in Ontario can pursue a civil lawsuit against a person or entity that caused him or her injuries. Such a claim is known as a personal injury, or tort claim. It requires the victim, or plaintiff, to prove to the court that the defendant was negligent and at least partially at fault for causing the car accident or another incident that led to personal injury. Tort claims are typically filed in provincial court.

Ontario victims of debilitating injuries or illnesses who miss time from the job might improve sufficiently to return to work. If Canada Pension Plan disability benefits were stopped upon the person's return to his or her job, and the disability reappears, there is an option to reactivate disability claims. The same CPP benefits can be obtained if the same disability starts again, but a new application for benefits will have to be filed if it is a different debilitating condition.

Although the number of times the CPP benefits can be restarted is unlimited, specific criteria must be met. The period since the person's return to work and stoppage of benefits must not exceed two years, and continued working is impossible due to the return of the previous disability or the development of a related handicap. The person must be under the age of 65 and not a recipient of CPP retirement pension benefits.

With the legalization of recreational use of cannabis in Ontario and the rest of Canada, lawmakers are extremely busy with modifying existing laws and drafting new laws to govern marijuana use. The authorities in charge of road safety are making haste with new legislation to control marijuana-impaired driving. Many rules are still evolving, but commercial truck drivers already face more stringent tests to prevent increased numbers of car accidents involving big rigs.

Although the federal government has set testing standards, police authority guidelines, and limits for criminal penalties and charges, Ontario has set additional limits for truckers in the province, including a zero-tolerance rule for cannabis impairment. Authorities say commercial trucks are seen as workplaces where neither alcohol nor marijuana is allowed. Although related laws are still evolving, lawmakers want to strengthen the rights of roadside officers.

The fact that cannabis use is no longer against the law in Ontario does not remove the dangers that come along with its use by operators of motor vehicles. Safety authorities say positive drug tests exceed the number of positive alcohol tests in deceased victims of car accidents. Although no roadside test for drug impairment exists currently, Drug Recognition Experts and specially trained police officers can detect it -- with potentially dire consequences for the driver.

Parents are advised to communicate with their teenagers to prepare them for the dangers of driving while impaired. The effects of cannabis on people vary, depending on the quantity consumed and whether it was ingested, inhaled or smoked. The level of THC (the active ingredient in cannabis) can make a difference in the effect it has on the user, and this also applies to medical marijuana. Due to these variables, there is nothing to determine the amount of cannabis that can be consumed before becoming impaired.