Legal Minute*GLM*
By Allan Gold, lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney
Vol. 17, #7 – July 31, 2026
DATELINE- TORONTO (PICKERING), Canada July 15, 2026 – “Teen who fatally stabbed elderly woman in Pickering receives 10-year maximum youth sentence” Rochelle Raveendran wrote: “Doney, a retired kindergarten teacher, was found with stab wounds outside a home on Lynn Heights Drive and Fairport Road in May 2025. The boy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April. ‘No sentence’ will make victim’s loved ones whole: judge. At court on Wednesday, Justice Lisa Wannamaker said “there is no sentence that will make Ms. Doney’s loved ones feel whole again.” The judge addressed the boy directly, saying she hopes that listening to Doney’s family speak about her in court may motivate him to commit to rehabilitation. “Perhaps something good can come from this horrible tragedy,” she said. ” 1
OPENING
I was horrified by the above case. It was a senseless killing. A lovely lady was taken prematurely from her family. It got me thinking. What if?
What if you were a mandatary acting on behalf of your elderly parent or relative suffering from Dementia (Concerned Person) and there was someone who didn’t seemed quite right, interacting with him or her? You’re concerned. Yes, he or she could be someone in plain sight posing a great danger to your loved one. What should you do? Don’t overreact. Pay attention to his or her comings and goings. Be vigilant. But then, there are unwelcome intrusions, disturbances or worse. Perhaps cash and/or items have mysteriously disappeared. It’s now serious. What can you do, if anything?
What if you were a mandatary acting on behalf of your elderly parent or relative whose spouse had died, suffering from Dementia and there was someone taking an interest in him or her? Yes, it could be innocent. But motives could be nefarious. You’re concerned. But then, there are unwelcome intrusions, disturbances or worse. Perhaps cash and/or items have mysteriously disappeared. It’s now serious. What can you do, if anything?
Doing nothing isn’t an option.
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“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero 1
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STARTING POINT
Knowing what terms mean is the correct place to start.
Definitions
“inappropriate” – it’s an “adjective [in and appropriate.] Not appropriate; unsuited; not proper.
1. Not appropriate; not belonging to” 2
“Mise en demeure” – it’s a demand letter by which one person asks another to resolve a problem, pay an amount owed or respect a contract within a specific period. This formal notice must identify the parties, provide a summary of the dispute, indicate what’s requested, and specify the time limit for satisfying the demand.
“ peace bond” – it’s a “protection order made by a court under section 810 of the Criminal Code. It is used where an individual (the defendant) appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed.” 3
“protection order” – it’s “an order directing a natural person to refrain from or cease doing something or to perform a specified act in order to protect another natural person who fears that their life, health or safety is threatened, in particular due to a context of violence based on a “concept of honour, of family, spousal or sexual violence, of intimidation or of harassment. “ 4
STATUTE: CRIMINAL/CIVIL
1595. An extrajudicial demand by which a creditor puts his debtor in default must be made in writing.
The demand must allow the debtor sufficient time for performance, having regard to the nature of the obligation and the circumstances; otherwise the debtor may perform the obligation within a reasonable time after the demand.
1991, c. 64, a. 1595; I.N. 2014-05-01; I.N. 2015-11-01.
Criminal Code ( R.S.C. , 1985, c. C-46)
“If injury or damage feared
- 810 (1) An information may be laid before a justice by or on behalf of any person who fears on reasonable grounds that another person
- Marginal note:Duty of justice
(2) A justice who receives an information under subsection (1) shall cause the parties to appear before him or before a summary conviction court having jurisdiction in the same territorial division.
- Marginal note:Adjudication
(3) If the justice or summary conviction court before which the parties appear is satisfied by the evidence adduced that the person on whose behalf the information was laid has reasonable grounds for the fear, the justice or court may order that the defendant enter into a recognizance, with or without sureties, to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of not more than 12 months.
- Marginal note:Refusal to enter into recognizance
(3.01) The justice or summary conviction court may commit the defendant to prison for a term of not more than 12 months if the defendant fails or refuses to enter into the recognizance.
- Marginal note:Conditions in recognizance
(3.02) The justice or summary conviction court may add any reasonable conditions to the recognizance that the justice or court considers desirable to secure the good conduct of the defendant, including conditions that require the defendant
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- (a) to abstain from the consumption of drugs except in accordance with a medical prescription, of alcohol or of any other intoxicating substance;
- (b) to provide, for the purpose of analysis, a sample of a bodily substance prescribed by regulation on the demand of a peace officer, a probation officer or someone designated under paragraph 810.3(2)(a) to make a demand, at the place and time and on the day specified by the person making the demand, if that person has reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant has breached a condition of the recognizance that requires them to abstain from the consumption of drugs, alcohol or any other intoxicating substance; or
- (c) to provide, for the purpose of analysis, a sample of a bodily substance prescribed by regulation at regular intervals that are specified, in a notice in Form 51 served on the defendant, by a probation officer or a person designated under paragraph 810.3(2)(b) to specify them, if a condition of the recognizance requires the defendant to abstain from the consumption of drugs, alcohol or any other intoxicating substance.
- Marginal note:Conditions
(3.1) Before making an order under subsection (3), the justice or the summary conviction court shall consider whether it is desirable, in the interests of the safety of the defendant or of any other person, to include as a condition of the recognizance that the defendant be prohibited from possessing any firearm, cross-bow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, firearm part, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive substance, or all such things, for any period specified in the recognizance and, if the justice or summary conviction court decides that it is so desirable, the justice or summary conviction court shall add such a condition to the recognizance.
- Marginal note:Surrender, etc.
(3.11) Where the justice or summary conviction court adds a condition described in subsection (3.1) to a recognizance order, the justice or summary conviction court shall specify in the order the manner and method by which
- Marginal note:Reasons
(3.12) Where the justice or summary conviction court does not add a condition described in subsection (3.1) to a recognizance order, the justice or summary conviction court shall include in the record a statement of the reasons for not adding the condition.
- Marginal note:Supplementary conditions
(3.2) Before making an order under subsection (3), the justice or the summary conviction court shall consider whether it is desirable, in the interests of the safety of the informant, of the person on whose behalf the information was laid or of that person’s intimate partner or child, as the case may be, to add either or both of the following conditions to the recognizance,
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- (a) a condition prohibiting the defendant from being at, or within a distance specified in the recognizance from, a place specified in the recognizance where the person on whose behalf the information was laid or that person’s intimate partner or child, as the case may be, is regularly found; or
- (b) a condition prohibiting the defendant from communicating, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, with the person on whose behalf the information was laid or that person’s intimate partner or child, as the case may be.
- Marginal note:Form — warrant of committal
(4) A warrant of committal to prison for failure or refusal to enter into the recognizance under subsection (3) may be in Form 23.
- Marginal note:Modification of recognizance
(4.1) The justice or the summary conviction court may, on application of the informant or the defendant, vary the conditions fixed in the recognizance.
- Marginal note:Procedure
(5) The provisions of this Part apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to proceedings under this section..“5
Code de procédure civile chapitre C-25.01
“CHAPITRE I.1
L’ORDONNANCE DE PROTECTION
2024, c. 37, a. 6.
515.1. L’ordonnance de protection est une ordonnance enjoignant à une personne physique de ne pas faire ou de cesser de faire quelque chose ou d’accomplir un acte déterminé en vue de protéger une autre personne physique qui craint que sa vie, sa santé ou sa sécurité ne soit menacée, notamment en raison d’un contexte de violence basée sur une conception de l’honneur, de violence familiale, conjugale ou sexuelle, d’intimidation ou de harcèlement.
L’ordonnance de protection peut être demandée au moyen d’un exposé présentant sommairement les faits allégués ou au moyen du formulaire établi par le ministre de la Justice.
Elle peut également être demandée, si la personne craignant la menace y consent ou si le tribunal l’autorise, par une autre personne ou par un organisme.
La demande d’ordonnance de protection est réputée faite sous serment.
2024, c. 37, a. 6.
515.2. La demande d’ordonnance de protection est notifiée à une autre partie avec un avis de sa présentation.
Toutefois, le tribunal peut prononcer une ordonnance de protection d’une durée maximale de 10 jours sans que la demande ait été notifiée à l’autre partie.
Une fois la demande notifiée, cette ordonnance peut, avant l’instruction au fond, être prolongée ou prononcée pour une période excédant 10 jours.
2024, c. 37, a. 6.
515.3. La demande d’ordonnance de protection est instruite et jugée d’urgence.
Elle est prononcée pour une durée maximale de cinq ans et aux conditions déterminées par le tribunal. Elle peut être renouvelée, prolongée ou prononcée de nouveau.
2024, c. 37, a. 6.
515.4. Le jugement prononçant une ordonnance de protection est notifié sans délai par le greffier du tribunal aux parties, à toute autre personne qui y est identifiée et au corps de police du lieu où est domicilié le demandeur. Malgré le deuxième alinéa de l’article 133, il peut l’être par un moyen technologique.
Les dispositions concernant l’outrage au tribunal ne s’appliquent pas à l’égard d’une personne qui contrevient à une ordonnance de protection.
L’ordonnance de protection est exécutoire malgré contestation ou appel, à moins que le tribunal n’en ordonne autrement.
2024, c. 37, a. 6.”
GOING LEGAL
The general rule is that a designated mandatary can seek legal or administrative relief and act on behalf of an incapacitated person once the the protection mandate has been homologated by the Superior court. However, even beforehand, a named mandatary has a duty to protect the concerned person and act for their good and welfare. Indeed, the Mandate might contain a clause stating that even if not yet homologated, the Mandate is to be interpreted as an expression of the desires of the Concerned Person.
Mise en demeure
Regarding unwelcome intrusions, disturbances or worse caused by someone at the home of the aged person, the first step is to send him or her a formal notice demanding that he/she immediately cease the objectionable actions. If he or she does not comply, you can then contact the local police department and request an order under Article 810 of the criminal code. This article is reproduced above..In theory, the police could intervene, particularly if there’s a loss of money, etc. Furthermore, one could theoretically request a protection order in civil matters.
Requesting a Peace Bond
If and when a person fears someone will cause them personal harm, damage their property, or share intimate images without consent, or to resolve minor criminal charges without a trial. They can ask for a peace bond if they fear another individual will harm them, their partner, their children, or damage their property. It could be against neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances, strangers, or ex-partners.
Applying for a protection order in a civil matter
Should a person have fears arising from a context of violence. It’s not required that the threatening person has committed a criminal offence. It could be prompted by physical violence: punches, burns, bites. It could even be verbal and psychological violence – Shouting, threats, surveillance, social isolation, demeaning comments, destruction of valuable objects, violence against animals, humiliation, degradation It might be due to economic violence – Monitoring of income and expenses, prohibition from working, fraud, theft. Another cause is harassment and intimidation – Repeated calls and messages, being followed, being watched. 6
A civil protection order in Quebec is made by the Superior Court of Quebec. It orders a person to stop from threatening one’s life, health, or safety due to violence, harassment, or intimidation. It’s not necessary to have a police report. The lodging of a criminal charge is not required.
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“Better to be careful a hundred times than to get killed once.” — Mark Twain
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NOTEWORTHY
Allan J Gold is now featured in FeedSpot Top 90 Canada Law Blogs. Check it out at https://bloggers.feedspot.com/canada_law_blogs/
As well, Allan J Gold can be found at https://www.lexblog.com/site/allan-j-gold-blog/
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” – Elie Wiesel 7
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CONCLUSION
As a lawyer Montreal, elder law attorney, I say, “Where there’s a threat, one needs to act. If not you, then whom? If not now, then when?” If you ask me, one must timely step up and do what must be done!**
ALLAN J. GOLD, lawyer Montreal, elder law attorney.
www.allanjgold.com
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NOTICE – CAUTION –DISCLAIMER. The material provided herein is of a general nature, strictly for informational purposes. The interpretation and analysis is not to be misapplied to a personal situation with a particular set of facts. Under no circumstances, are the herein suggestions and tips, intended to bring a reader to the point of acting or not acting, but instead, the hope is that they are to be a cause for pause and reflection. It is specifically declared that this content is not to be a replacement of, or a substitution for, legal or any other appropriate advice. To the contrary, for more information on these presents, related subjects or any other questions, it is the express recommendation of the author that everyone seek out and consult a qualified professional or competent adviser.
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/teen-sentencing-pickering-eleanor-doney-9.7270822
- https://www.workaware.com/blog/50-safety-quotes-to-inspire-workplace-motivational-and-awareness/
- https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/factsheets-fiches/peace-paix.html
- https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/inappropriate
- Art. 515.1 c-25.01 – Code of Civil Procedure
- https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-810.html
- https://www.quebec.ca/en/justice-and-civil-status/support-victims-crime/protecting-safety/protection-order-civil-matter
- https://socialjusticeresourcecenter.org/quotes/domestic-abuse-quotes/
**© 2026– ALLAN GOLD – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-TOUS LES DROITS SONT RÉSERVÉS Ed. 2026-07-31-001
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