2018
First Reference annual holiday donation, season’s greetings and holiday break

Our office will be closed for the holidays at noon on December 24 and will reopen January 2, 2019. Also note that we will not be blogging during the holidays.
Top 10 most-read Inside Internal Controls posts for 2018

This year on the Inside Internal Controls blog we’ve been covering some of the hot topics in internal controls, governance, information technology, not-for-profit, and business management.
Internal audit needs to perform in a way that matters to the board and top management

Internal audit can help leaders with assurance that their people, systems, and processes are able to deliver the desired results – and advice and insight on how to improve them further.
Stricter impaired driving laws are in force next week

Stricter impaired driving laws are set to come into force next week.
Bill introducing changes to IP legislation receives swift approval from parliament

Bill C-86, the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2, (the “Bill”) which makes a number of changes to the Trademarks Act, the Patent Act and the Copyright Act as well as introducing the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents Act became law in Canada after receiving Royal Assent on Dec. 13, 2018.
Blowing the whistle is just the beginning of the whistleblower journey


I’ve been studying fraud and white collar-crime for over 20 years. Never would I think that I’d be accused of making a fraudulent claim against a company that had wronged me. And yet, I’ve recently been accused of exactly that.
Delayed: The Pay Transparency Act, 2018, will not come into force on January 1, 2019

Bill 57, proposed to postpone the coming into force of the Pay Transparency Act, 2018. On December 6, 2018, it did just that.
Who takes cyber risk?

Who is taking cyber risk? Is it the board and top management who are deciding how much scarce resource to invest in breach prevention, detection and response? Or is it the business leaders whose initiatives are damaged or worse should there be a security incident?
Full steam ahead for official bilingualism: Government of Canada tables overhaul of official languages regulations

On October 25, the Government of Canada tabled significant amendments to the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations. As discussed previously, this regulatory overhaul stems from commitments made in the 2018 federal budget plan to improve access to services offered in the language of the official minority by federal institutions from coast to coast.
Bill 66: More changes to employment and labour legislation
On December 6, 2018, the legislature again introduced new changes to the statutory labour and employment regime of the province. While Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act (“Bill 66”), makes changes to a wide swath of laws, the ESA and the LRA are subject to some new tweaks.
The Supreme Court of Canada confirms that the Doctrine of Unforeseeability is not part of the Civil Law of Contracts in Québec

The issues to be determined by the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) in this highly anticipated decision included whether the doctrine of unforeseeability (hardship) was an integral part of Québec law, or the requirements of good faith and equity could provide a legal basis for the claims made by CFLCo.
Costco reports a material weakness in internal control. But is it really?

In an Oct. 4th news release, Costco Wholesale announced its operating results for the 4th quarter and full year expecting to report a material weakness in internal control.