Within a few weeks, Ontario Superior Court Justice Alex Sosna will deliver his sentence in one of the most prolonged and closely watched youth offender cases in Canadian history. He will have to decide the appropriate punishment for a now 19-year-old whose actions led to the death of a York Regional Police constable over four […]
Throughout the years, various offences have been enacted, both in the Criminal Code and under provincial regulation, to deal with a matter of grave public apprehension in Canada: impaired driving. One attempt to address this concern has been through the automatic roadside driving prohibition scheme (the “ARP regime” or “ARP scheme”) that has been used […]
The decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario (“ONCA”) in Ferri v Ontario (Attorney General), 2015 ONCA 683 [Ferri] is the latest in a string of municipal conflict of interest cases involving prominent municipal politicians. Mario Ferri was a well-known Regional and City Councillor for the City of Vaughan, Ontario. On his own volition, […]
In the recent decision of Potter v New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission, 2015 SCC 10, the Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC”] clarified several important rules pertaining to the law of constructive dismissal and administrative suspensions. This decision signifies a number of victories for employees who have been indefinitely suspended from their employment, and further restricts the […]
For decades, provincial and federal governments have enacted schemes aimed at reducing fatalities related to impaired driving. British Columbia’s latest attempt to curb impaired driving was predominantly upheld in Goodwin v British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) 2015 SCC 46 [Goodwin] and its companion case, Wilson v British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 2015 SCC […]
In December of 2013, a damning Ontario Auditor General report zeroed in on Ontario Power Generator (“OPG”) and its executive compensation packages. The report accused OPG of unnecessarily driving up electricity prices through nepotism, high labour costs, and one of the province’s most generous public-sector pension plans in comparison to the Ontario Public Service as […]
The film 12 Angry Men is a classic representation of the diverse personalities that come together on a jury and the challenges of reaching a consensus. In it, we see how group dynamics constantly evolve as the jury struggles to meet their obligation of delivering a sound verdict. Last week, the Court of Appeal for […]
In the United States, one issue that gets increasingly discussed in the context of presidential elections is the potential for the elected president to make appointments to the Supreme Court. In the deeply divided American Supreme Court, even one appointment can have a significant impact on the orientation of the Court, especially when it is […]
With the upcoming federal election scheduled for October 19, 2015, the case of Frank v Canada, 2015 ONCA 536 is particularly timely. Unfortunately, the case will not be resolved in time to allow the respondents in the case and other non-resident Canadians who have lived outside of Canada for more than five years the right […]
The separation of church and State has long plagued Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) recently revisited the scope of the duty of religious neutrality in Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City), 2015 SCC 16. The SCC, in allowing the appeal, prevented the Mayor of Saguenay from reciting a prayer in council meetings. While […]