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statutory interpretation

Parliament Doesn’t Make Mistakes: Clarifying Driving Prohibitions in R v Wolfe

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].

SCC Clarifies Bankruptcy Discharge Provisions

In Poonian v. British Columbia (Securities Commission), the Supreme Court of Canada clarified that disgorgement orders, but not administrative fines, could survive discharge under provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The GAAR applied: Deans Knight Income Corp v Canada

In Deans Knight Income Corp. v Canada, 2023 SCC 16, (“Deans Knight”) the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal, holding that the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (“GAAR”) under s. 245 of the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th supp) (“ITA” or “the Act"), applied to a series of […]

R v Basque: Strange Statutory Interpretation

Section 259(1)(a) of the Criminal Code of Canada [Code] imposes a mandatory minimum; at sentencing, judges must apply a driving prohibition of at least twelve months for offenders convicted of impaired driving pursuant to this provision. Interpretation of the interaction between three provisions implies that pre-sentence driving prohibitions cannot be credited toward that minimum. The […]

​​Reasonably Robust Reasonableness: Mason v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)

At issue in Mason v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 SCC 21 [Mason] was whether “acts of violence” in s. 34(1)(e) of the Immigration Refugee and Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 [IRPA] requires a nexus to national security, or relates only to violence broadly, in order to find a permanent resident or foreign national […]

SCC Refuses to Extend Random Sobriety Stop Power to Private Property: R v McColman

Driving, as a licensed activity, carries certain limitations. Perhaps most important among them is the prohibition against driving while impaired. But the law cannot reach every corner of a person’s life. At a certain point, privacy interests come into play. To be a driver in Ontario is to drive a vehicle on a “highway”—that is, […]

Double Royalties or Users' Rights? The SCC Interprets the Copyright Act in SOCAN

In Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30 [SOCAN], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) heard an appeal from the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”). The case turned on the interpretation of s. 2.4(1.1) of the Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c C-42 [the Act].

To Deport or Not to Deport, A Question of Reasonableness: SCC Grants Leave to Appeal to Mason v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

On March 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to appeal to Earl Mason, et al v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, et al, SCC Case No 39855. This case is significant for being one of the first substantive appellate discussions of judicial review post-Vavilov (Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v […]