standard of review

Intentions Matter: Excluding Liability for Statutorily Implied Conditions in Earthco v Pine Valley

In Earthco Soil Mixtures Inc v Pine Valley Enterprises Inc, 2024 SCC 20 [Earthco], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) affirmed that common law principles of contractual interpretation apply to exclusion clauses under the Sale of Goods Act, RSO 1990, c S1 [SGA]. While “express agreement” sufficient to oust SGA liability must include an explicit statement of joint intention, it does not require precise legal terminology or “magic words” (Earthco, para 98).

Keeping Confident about Cabinet Confidentiality: Ontario v Ontario

In Ontario (Attorney General) v Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2024 SCC 4 [Ontario], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or the “Court”) held that the executive branch of the Ontario government was not required to disclose mandate letters sent to Cabinet Ministers because of society’s overriding interest in preserving Cabinet secrecy. The Court struck […]

Vanishing Horizons: Standard Form Contracts on Appeal in Bridging

The Ontario Court of Appeal (the “ONCA”) has provided fresh guidance on the applicable standard of review for a lower court’s interpretation of a standard form contract. Ontario Securities Commission v Bridging Finance Inc., 2023 ONCA 769 [Bridging] sheds light on the question of whether a standard form contract must have precedential value for an […]

A New Correctness Category: The SCC Departs from Vavilov in SOCAN

The first installment of this post addressed the statutory interpretation question in Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30 [SOCAN]. The entire court was in agreement on the issue, and this was unsurprising given the Copyright Board of Canada's (the "Board") blatant departure from the well-settled […]

Appeal Watch: Crown must increase annual payments to its Anishinaabe treaty partners in Restoule v Canada

In 1850, the Anishinaabe of the upper Great Lakes agreed to share their vast territory in exchange for hunting and fishing rights, as well as an annual payment (“annuity”) from the Crown. The Crown promised that the annuities could increase over time so long as resource development in the area proved profitable. Mining and forestry […]

SCC to review standard of care and causation issues in medical negligence suits

UPDATE: The SCC ruled on this case from the bench, allowing the appeal for the reasons of Justice van Rensburg at the Ontario Court of Appeal. How does a patient who suffered an unforeseen injury during surgery prove that their surgeon was negligent? Can the injury itself provide circumstantial evidence that the standard of care […]

Bell Canada: Applying the Vavilov Framework to Super Bowl Ads

Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov: The Supreme Court of Canada Gifts Administrative Law a New Standard of Review Analysis

Breach of the Peace: ONCA Addresses Police Power to Arrest in Fleming v Ontario

Tensions can run high during political demonstrations, and police are often deployed to monitor the situation and prevent an escalating conflict.  In doing so, police have a common law power to arrest individuals when they believe an arrest may prevent a breach of the peace without the requirement that police believe that the person being […]

R v Vice Media : The Special Role of the Press

When should judges grant police access to a media company’s communications with a source? What if that source is suspected of engaging in terrorist activity? In R v Vice Media Canada Inc., 2018 SCC 53 [Vice] the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) balanced the interests of the media and the state in creating a new […]