The Supreme Court of Canada’s ("SCC") recent decision in Health Services and Support – Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27, finally clarified that the guarantee of freedom of association in section 2 (d) of the Charter protects collective bargaining rights. The SCC stressed that this right is limited and does not […]
Strother v 3464920 Canada Inc., 2007 SCC 24 [Strother], is an important decision which clarifies the obligations of law firms to their clients, as well as former clients. This appeal from the British Columbia Court of Appeal was released by the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") on Friday, June 1, 2007 and has generated discussion […]
Have you ever wondered which SCC Justice your decision-making most resembles? The Court is pleased to present Matthew Skala's on-line quiz: Which Canadian Supreme Court Justice are You? Created in 2004, the quiz offers a small handful of case summaries - majority and dissenting opinions. Your job is to pick the judicial opinions most closely […]
On May 24th, the Toronto Star ran an editorial piece by U of T Family Law professor Brenda Cossman about a case that is seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC"). The case, Jane Doe v Alberta, 2007 ABCA 50, deals with the question of the legal viability of a written […]
The law of human rights in Canada is really based on a single case: Ont. Human Rights Comm. v Simpsons-Sears, [1985] 2 SCR 536 [O'Malley], often cited as O'Malley v Simpsons-Sears, at para 28, where Justice McIntyre fatefully introduced the prima facie test. His formulation of a prima facie case follows the precedents, which essentially say that there must […]
Introduction It makes sense to begin any discussion on the applicability of the Charter with a consideration of s. 32(1), which reads: "This Charter applies (a) to the Parliament and government of Canada in respect of all matters within the authority of Parliament including all matters relating to the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories; and […]
The Facts 3464920 Canada Inc. (formerly, Monarch Entertainment Corporation) marketed tax-shelter investments related to the film industry in Canada. Monarch engaged tax lawyer Robert Strother and the law firm of Davis & Company (“Davis”). The written retainer (the “Initial Retainer”) expressly prohibited Davis from acting for others in relation to these tax-sheltered schemes. In November […]
With the recent decision handed down against the claimant in Christie, there has been discussion here at The Court concerning how far legislation must go in creating barriers to courts before the unwritten constitutional principle of the ‘rule of law’ is invoked to strike down such legislation. Though on the one hand there is a […]
It is trite to say that the banking industry and the insurance industry have been staples of the Canadian economy for over a century. One would assume that by now Canadian law would be clear on where the regulation of these industries falls in the constitutional division of powers. Banking, after all, has been expressly […]
Every lawyer quickly learns to eschew confident statements about what Supreme Court of Canada decisions will mean. You find out early on that the case that seemed to herald an earth-shattering transformation of your field often becomes completely ignored and forgotten, while cases that seemed ho-hum at the time become seminal. The careful solicitor is […]