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 […]
How private are your private messages? Can the police read the texts you send to others? This post explores R v Marakah, 2017 SCC 59, in which the Supreme Court of Canada found that a sender can have a reasonable expectation of privacy over messages retrieved from the phone of the person receiving those messages. The […]
In June 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada (“the SCC”) ruled in R v Bradshaw that the test for using corroborative evidence to establish substantive reliability of hearsay evidence is a strict one. If it is being used to establish the reliability of a hearsay statement, the corroborative evidence must (a) go to the material […]
In Nelson (City) v Mowatt, 2017 SCC 8 [Mowatt], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) recently found that the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) erred when it interfered with the finding of fact related to adverse possession in 2016 BCCA 113, setting aside two decisions of Kelleher J., 2014 BCSC 988 and 2014 BCSC 2219. The SCC […]
In the case of BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association v British Columbia (AG), 2017 SCC 6, the Supreme Court once again wrestled with the uniquely Canadian issue of limiting election advertising. The appellant was a non-profit from Vancouver named the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (“the Association”). Its mandate is to […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has recently delivered two companion judgments, Canada (Attorney General) v Fairmont Hotels Inc., 2016 SCC 56 [Fairmont] and Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. v Canada (Attorney General), 2016 SCC 55 [Jean Coutu], that substantially restrict the availability of the rectification remedy in Canada.
Canada’s eighth Chief Justice, Sir Lyman Duff, sits in his easy chair by the roaring fire in his home at 488 Wilbrod Street. Kenneth Campbell, his assistant, occupies a familiar place by his side. Campbell pores over the books that range in topic from the latest works on atomic energy to the political philosophy of […]
This brief comment will have the objective of answering a simple but very interesting two-part question: which Supreme Court of Canada decisions have received the most judicial treatment by subsequent courts and tribunals, and how many times have they been referenced in Canadian jurisprudence? Methodology and Data The list below (and accompanying data) was compiled […]
Do you know which judge tried to claim $50,000 a year in clothing expenses from 2004 to 2006 as a tax deduction? Can you name the bencher that was a former piano prodigy? Who hails from Don Mills and Lawrence Avenue in Toronto? We give you a “behind the robes” look at the nine current […]
This is the second part of a two-part series on the Supreme Court’s decision in R v Lacasse. Part 1 discusses how the majority decision in Lacasse raises the standard for appellate review on sentencing decisions. Part 2 highlights two problematic aspects of Lacasse: the majority’s unconvincing reasoning in justifying a high standard of review and […]