Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") dismissed the leave application in Knopf v Canada (Speaker of the House of Commons), 2007 FCA 308. This leaves the Federal Court of Appeal’s ("FCA") decision as the final word on the matter of whether the right to address committee members in either official language guaranteed by the […]
The present report will focus on the controversial issue of businesses using cheaper labour force coming from East European countries which joined the EU in 2004. Just before Christmas the Court finally ruled on two long-awaited cases concerning unions’ right to take collective action for the protection of their members’ interests. The Viking (Case C-438/05 […]
'By reading the characteristic features of any man’s castles in the air you can make a shrewd guess as to his underlying desires which are frustrated' – John Dewey What’s in a name? Apparently, quite a lot. In Dunsmuir v New Brunswick, [2008] 1 SCR 190 ["Dunsmuir"], a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Canadian Federation of Students v Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, 2006 BCCA 529. The eventual decision in this case may help clarify the bounds of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982 ["Charter"] right to freedom of expression, but it will also be faced with […]
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court By Jeffrey Toobin Doubleday, 369 pages, $34.95 The U.S. Constitution, Charles Evans Hughes once remarked, is precisely “what the judges say it is.” But judges are appointed by presidents. And presidents, in turn, rely on the support of social movements. Can we therefore take Hughes’ […]
Omar Khadr, the Toronto-born, Canadian citizen currently being detained at the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison, will be given the attention of the Supreme Court of Canada this week. The Canadian government is appealing an order of the Federal Court of Appeal, Khadr v. Canada (Minister of Justice), 2007 FCA 182. Because this case has national-security […]
On February 29, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") released its judgment in 620 Connaught v Canada (Attorney General), [2008] 1 SCR 131. The appellants represented over twenty bars, restaurant and hotel operating in Jasper National Park, Alberta. Each is required to pay an annual business license fee for the right to sell alcohol […]
On March 3, 2008, the Alberta Court of Appeal released a decision in the case of Reilly v. The Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta, 2008 ABCA 72, an interesting case that looked at whether the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court has the authority to approve or disapprove a particular use of […]
This past Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") handed down R v Stirling, [2008] 1 SCR 272 ["Stirling"], a case that will shed some light on the admissibility and use of prior consistent statements at trial. The SCC upheld judgments of the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the British Columbia Provincial Court, thereby […]
On Friday, March 7, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada released Dunsmuir v New Brunswick, [2008] 1 SCR 190 ["Dunsmuir"], a stark reversal of the last decade of administrative law jurisprudence on the issue of the standard of review. This decision, while undoubtedly a landmark judgment, may change little about how courts review administrative action. […]