In a series of six landmark decisions on November 12th, 2013, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (ONCA) struck down the mandatory minimum sentences for possession of prohibited or restricted firearm (with ammunition either loaded or easily accessible; s. 95 of the Criminal Code). The decisions can be found as follows: R v Nur, 2013 […]
On December 9, 2012, social media was ablaze with reports of a small monkey in a winter coat and diaper, wandering around an Ikea parking lot, apparently looking for its owners. The “Ikea Monkey”, as the animal was later dubbed, entered the furniture store and was subsequently picked up by Toronto Animal Services. Darwin the […]
On June 15, 2012, Justice Smith of the British Columbia Supreme Court effectively created an exception to the Criminal Code to allow for physician-assisted suicide. The trial judgement Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) was discussed briefly in a previous post on The Court. Justice Smith gave Parliament a year to amend the laws surrounding assisted suicide, and the Government of Canada appealed […]
While the Criminal Code of Canada provides a great many statutory definitions for terms used within, the conception of some of these definitions can evolve over time. This is particularly true with respect to ‘weapon’ and ‘firearm’, as defined in s. 2 of the Code. Indeed, a rare five-judge panel at the Ontario Court of […]
In my previous post here on The Court, I discussed the upcoming appeal of Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2013 ABCA 98, and how the Supreme Court of Canada has an opportunity to clarify whether contractual interpretation should be guided primarily by the intention of the contracting parties at the time the agreement was made (the intentionalist […]
On August 22, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear an appeal from the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2013 ABCA 98. The SCC’s granting of leave in Bhasin signals the Court’s eagerness to determine a longstanding legal debate about the judicial interpretation of contracts and the duty to […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”) has granted leave to appeal in Douglas Martin v Worker’s Compensation Board of Alberta, et al., 2012 ABCA 248, with a tentative hearing date of December 10th, 2013. Background Douglas Martin worked for Parks Canada in Banff, Alberta. On December 18th, 2006, Parks Canada delivered a disclosure letter to […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) declined to hear an appeal regarding the City of Toronto's billboard tax. The tax was enacted in 2010 and is directed at “third party signs”, fixed exterior signs that advertise goods or services not available at the premises where the sign is located. Pattison Outdoor Advertising (Pattison) and Out-of-Home […]
On October 25th, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) granted leave to appeal in United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v Alberta (Attorney General) 2012 ABCA 130. The case involves striking union workers who had videotaped people crossing a picket line and then threatened to post the images online. The issue before the SCC […]
On October 15, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada heard an appeal by Telus Communications to quash a General Warrant and Assistance Order to produce daily records of all text messages sent and received by two Telus subscribers in connection with a police investigation. The main issue in this case is whether a General Warrant […]