In many jurisdictions, the state has no right of appeal against the acquittal of an accused at trial. This is not so in Canada, where the Attorney General may appeal an acquittal on questions of law. In R. v. T.J.F, 2024 SCC 38 [“T.J.F.”], the Supreme Court of Canada allowed a Crown appeal of an […]
What is the causal line between attempted murder and aiding suicide? The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will grapple with this issue as it has granted leave [41420] to appeal the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s (“ONCA”) decision in R v BF, 2024 ONCA 511 [BF]. At issue before the court will be the interplay […]
What standard of review applies when reviewing the vires of subordinate legislation? In the post-Vavilov era, this question has been the subject of conflicting appellate guidance. The Alberta Court of Appeal in this case followed the “hyper-deferential” standard that the Supreme Court (“SCC”) set in Katz Group Canada Inc. v. Ontario (Health and Long‑Term Care) […]
Canadian privacy law hit Facebook hard in the Federal Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Privacy Commissioner of Canada v Facebook inc., 2024 FCA 140 [Facebook]. The unanimous decision held that Facebook failed to obtain meaningful consent from users prior to disclosing user data. The decision is part of a larger trend in Canadian jurisprudence […]
In York Region District School Board v Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, 2024 SCC 22 [YRDSB], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) reviewed an arbitrator’s decision regarding the reasonable expectation of privacy of two teachers at an Ontario public school. The majority conducted a correctness review to set aside the arbitrator’s decision, holding that the […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has granted leave [41126] to appeal the Alberta Court of Appeal’s (“ABCA”) decision in R v Sheppard, 2023 ABCA 381 [Sheppard]. The case will join R v Friesen, 2020 SCC 9 [Friesen] and R v Bertrand Marchand, 2023 SCC 26 [Bertrand Marchand] as further guidance on sentencing offenders who […]
In Canada (Commissioner of Competition) v Cineplex Inc., 2024 Comp Trib 5 [Cineplex], the Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) levied penalties of nearly $40 million dollars against Cineplex Inc., finding that Cineplex Inc. made price misrepresentations through its digital ticket purchasing platforms. The decision marks the first contested proceeding involving the recently enacted “drip pricing” deceptive marketing […]
In R v Wolfe, 2024 SCC 34 [Wolfe], a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) ruled that driving prohibitions cannot be imposed upon conviction for driving-related criminal negligence. The decision closes a years-long, multi-court debate over the statutory interpretation of new driving offence provisions in the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 [Code].
In R v Carignan [41186], the Supreme Court of Canada (“Supreme Court”) will — for the first time — interpret the scope of and relationship between ss 495(2) and 495(3) of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46. Section 495 governs police powers to arrest without warrant. Subsections (2) and (3) of this provision have […]
Loyalty point programs demonstrate that, for GST/HST purposes, a payment can be received in its entirety as both a commercial and exempt amount. The Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) recently allowed an appeal brought by President’s Choice Bank (“PC Bank”) in President’s Choice Bank v Canada, 2024 FCA 135 [President’s Choice]. The decision permitted PC […]