The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has handed down another decision on dangerous driving in Andelina Kristina Hecimovic v Her Majesty the Queen. Hecimovic was charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death. The British Columbia Supreme Court acquitted her. The BC Court of Appeal allowed an appeal from the acquittal and ordered a new trial. […]
In the recently released decision Holland v Hostopia.com Inc., 2015 ONCA 762 [Holland], the Ontario Court of Appeal reaffirms the importance of fresh consideration where the employer seeks to amend the employment agreement. Where a basic offer of employment includes a requirement to sign a full employment agreement at a later time, that full employment agreement will […]
In R v Noureddine, 2015 ONCA 770 [Noureddine], the trial judge misunderstood how juries are selected by appointing static triers, rather than rotating triers per section 640(2.1) of the Criminal Code, RSC, 1985, c C-46. Facts The appellants, Mr. Noureddine and Mr. Sheridan, were both charged with first degree murder. Both were acquitted, but subsequently […]
City of Toronto v Uber Canada Inc., 2015 ONSC 3572 [Uber] is a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (“ONSC”) dealing with the legal status of Uber, an interactive ride-sharing service that is disrupting the regulated taxi industry in Toronto. Justice Sean F. Dunphy ruled that Uber is neither a “taxicab broker” […]
So far, in R v Riesberry, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) was uncharacteristically laconic – in an oral judgment on the day of hearing, it “dismissed the appeal with reasons to follow.” As of now, the SCC has yet to release its reasons. Having mulled over the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) decision that […]
Sentence Handed Down Recently, TheCourt.ca published an analysis of how the court might rule in the case of R v SK. On November 16, 2015, Superior Court Justice Alex Sosna rendered his sentence for the now 19-year old man who was convicted for the first-degree murder of York Regional Police Officer Garrett Styles. Justice Sosna […]
The case Association des parents de l’école Rose-des-vents v British Columbia (Education), 2015 SCC 21 [Rose-des-Vents] represents an interesting example of a new generation of issues related to minority language educational rights that Canadian courts are brought to resolve on the basis of s.23 of the Charter. This provision is “designed to correct and prevent […]
On November 9, 2015, in assessing the scope of the prohibition on bestiality under s. 160 of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 in Her Majesty the Queen v DLW, the Supreme Court of Canada was asked, for what is believed to be the first time in Canadian history, to consider a piece of legislation […]
The 2015 Federal Election is certainly one for the history books. Not only did Canadians witness the meteoric rise of ppro Liberal Party, which appeared to have been all but dead after its defeat in 2011; we also saw the highest voter turnout since 1993, and record-breaking increases among youth and First Nations peoples. Indeed, this […]
With the intensification of the Syrian crisis, refugees have been much in the news lately. Refugees also became a quasi-central issue during the earlier part of the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign. The past 9 years of Conservative government have proven transformational for Canada’s refugee and immigration system, some would argue for the worst. In […]