"Why don't we appoint an aboriginal justice to the Supreme Court of Canada?" Troy Hunter, a law student at the University of Victoria, posed this question to the panel at the Canadian Constitutional Affairs Conference (CCAC) held January 17-19, 2008 in Québec City. This event was inspired by the 1961 Congrès des affaires canadiennes organized […]
Amongst the most difficult cases for the criminal justice system are those where there is no evidence of criminal conduct independent from the victim and where the defence position is simply a denial. Of course, confirmation of the complainant’s evidence is not essential for a conviction, nor does the criminal burden of proof allow for […]
One of the most significant challenges currently facing the SCC is to provide clarification on the approach the courts should take in their review of administrative decisions. While the pragmatic and functional approach developed to determine the proper standard of review has provided more flexibility to courts to review administrative decisions on an individual basis, […]
The Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") recent decision in R v CLY, 2008 SCC 2, should help clarify some of the substantive implications of the standard burden of proof in criminal proceedings. True to form, however, the court's judgment in CLY - a unanimous decision, but one punctuated by conflicting concurring reasons - has also […]
This statement summarizes the personal attitude that Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes on “the abortion issue.” This was during the 2006 election campaign, at a time when the Liberals raised alarm over the Conservatives’ position on abortion. Again, in 2008, with a minority government reportedly at the brink of dissolution, Canadians are witnessing the same […]
On Tuesday, January 22, the SCC heard and reserved judgment in Hydro-Quebec v Syndicat des employees de techniques professionnelles et de bureau d'Hydro-Quebec. When released, the decision will likely shed light on the important question of how far an employer is required to accommodate the disabilities of its employees.
Today, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") will render its judgment in the application for leave to appeal from Tomasson v Canada (Attorney General), 2007 FCA 265. At issue is whether the provisions of the Employment Insurance Act, SC 1996, c 23, which grant certain maternity benefits only to biological mothers, discriminate against adoptive mothers within […]
[Editor's note: Today, the SCC hears its appeal in Royal Bank of Canada v Saulnier. Reproduced below, with permission, is an article that first appeared in the April 2006 edition of Mariner Life which discusses the trial level decision of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court when it was released. While the case has been modified […]
Contributors at TheCourt.ca have been closely following developments involving R v Grant since it was granted leave at the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") in June of last year. While the case is not scheduled to be heard until the end of April (and that date is merely tentative), some developments have arose in the past […]
[Editor's note: On January 28, 1988, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in R v Morgentaler, [1988] 1 SCR 30. To mark this month’s twentieth anniversary, TheCourt.ca caught up with one of the accused in the case, Dr. Henry Morgentaler. The following is drawn from an email exchange with Dr. Morgentaler.] TheCourt.ca: What […]