🇨🇦 Supreme Court invents new tort, expands state reach into family disputes

Six judges just decided that existing assault and battery laws weren't enough, so they created an entirely new civil tort for intimate partner violence based on coercive control. This isn't about protecting victims — assault charges already exist. This is about expanding subjective, hard-to-prove claims into family law, where vague accusations of financial control or preventing recreational opportunities can now trigger six-figure lawsuits. Justice Kasirer's reasoning that someone is an unfree spouse opens the door to weaponizing normal relationship conflicts through the courts.

The Ontario Court of Appeal already said existing torts covered this case and reduced damages to $100,000. The Supreme Court overruled them anyway, inventing law from the bench and setting a framework for future judicial activism. Expect divorce lawyers to feast while men navigate a new minefield where controlling the household budget or discouraging a bad friend could be reframed as coercive abuse. Another institution captured, another tool for post-separation litigation warfare.

🍁 Maple Chronicles