The Federal Court of Appeal (the “FCA”) resolved an “unusual question” about the Federal Court’s jurisdiction to raise a substantive question not raised by the parties in the context of an urgent motion for judicial review. In Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) v Ewen, 2023 FCA 225 [Ewen], the FCA considered the unprompted decision […]
In Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform v Attorney General, 2023 ONSC 5197 (“CASWLR”), Goldstein J of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (“OSCJ”) dismissed a Charter application challenging the constitutional validity of various sex work laws arising out of Bill C-36, also known as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (the […]
In Ontario Teacher Candidates’ Council v Ontario (Education), 2023 ONCA 788 [OTCC], the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA") overturned a Divisional Court decision deeming Ontario’s Math Proficiency Test ("MPT"), aimed at incoming teaching candidates, constitutional and not contrary to s 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ("Charter").
The Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) has recognized that expression promoting equality by countering harmful speech is worthy of heightened protection because of its relation to Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter] s. 15(1) values, which bring it closer to the core values animating s. 2(b).
In R v Sharma, 2022 SCC 29 [“Sharma”], the Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC”/”the Court"] upheld the constitutionality of provisions that restricted the availability of conditional sentences. This decision marks a break from the SCC’s recent trend of overturning amendments to the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 [“Code”] made during the Harper era. Conditional […]
“The figures are stark and reflect what may fairly be termed a crisis.”
How should criminal courts account for the existence of systemic and pervasive anti-Black racism when sentencing Black offenders? This is the question that the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (“NSCA”) grappled with in R v Anderson, 2021 NSCA 62 [Anderson]. More specifically, the appellate court examined how evidence from ‘Impact of Race and Culture Assessments’ […]
No person has the right not to be offended. Every person, however, has the right to the safeguard of their dignity—at least in Quebec. How this right balances against another’s right to free expression was at issue in Ward v. Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse), 2021 SCC […]
On March 9, 2021, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) ruled in favour of Ontario Nurses Association (“ONA”) and Service Employees International Union (“SEIU”) Local 1 on the pay equity case Ontario Nurses’ Association v Participating Nursing Homes, 2021 ONCA 148 [ONA v PNH]. The case was a judicial review of the Pay Equity Hearings […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) (“The Court”) released their decision regarding the case of Fraser v Canada (Attorney General) 2020 SCC 28 [Fraser] in October 2020, however, the significance of this decision is noteworthy at this particular time in society, as we continue to grapple with discrimination and inequality.