At what point does a provincial environmental law which affects interprovincial pipelines stop being environmental legislation and start being an impermissible regulation of a federal undertaking? The British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) was tasked with answering this question in the Reference re Environmental Management Act (British Columbia), 2019 BCCA 181 (EMA Reference), which pitted […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) Justices have the privilege and responsibility of representing Canada’s highest court and last court of appeal. Throughout their time on the bench, they remain apart from the legal bar to maintain objectivity and prevent bias. Yet once retired from the SCC, many justices resume the practice of law. The […]
In 9147-0732 Québec Inc. c Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, 2019 QCCA 373 [9147-0732 Québec Inc.], a case that has attracted some media attention, the Quebec Court of Appeal (“QCCA”) addressed the question of whether a corporation can benefit from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms s.12 protection against “cruel and unusual treatment or […]
The open court principle requires that the media is able to report on court proceedings, except in rare cases where doing so would infringe, for example, an accused's right to a fair trial or a witness's right to privacy. In recent years, social media has been increasingly used to communicate information from courtrooms to the […]
In January 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”), will be hearing an appeal of Araya v Nevsun, 2017 BCCA 401 [Nevsun], which involves a group of Eritrean plaintiffs who filed a claim for damages at the Supreme Court of British Columbia (“BCSC”) against Nevsun Resources Ltd. (“Nevsun”), a Canadian mining company based in Vancouver, for gross […]
In December 2017, the Canadian government announced changes to its Canada Summer Jobs ("CSJ") program that sparked debate over the program's constitutionality. CSJ is a funding subsidy designed to provide students with summer work opportunities. Under the program's new changes, organizations applying for the funding—small businesses, non-profits, and other community organizations—were required to check a […]
You would be forgiven, said Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella at Chief Justice Richard Wagner’s swearing-in ceremony, for forgetting that it is possible for men to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”). A female justice has overseen the SCC for so long that it is tempting to consider male leadership a […]
In 2011 in Saskatchewan, the complainant C.D. was 14 years old, although according to the evidentiary record he looked older (R v George, 2017 SCC 38 at para 10 [“SCC”]). He engaged in intimate activity with George, a 35-year-old female acquaintance. C.D. never complained to the authorities about the sexual encounter; rather, it came onto […]
This post discusses the constitutional challenge recently brought by sexual assault complainant Ava Williams against the London, ON Police Services (“LPS”). The applicant alleges that the police force engaged in gender-based discrimination contrary to Charter section 15 for relying on stereotypes about gender and sexual assault complainants while investigating her case, resulting in her claim […]
This is the first of a two-part post outlining the constitutional issues in R v Gerard Comeau, an interprovincial trade case to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada on 6 - 7 December 2017. In anticipation of the hearing, the posts offer a brief overview and analysis of the constitutional issues likely to be […]