Monday, October 18, 2010 represents the eighty-first year anniversary of one of the most famous cases in Canadian constitutional jurisprudence: Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General), [1930] A.C. 124, otherwise known as the Persons case. The case is significant for two main reasons. First, by accepting that women fit the definition of “qualified persons,” and could […]
This November, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") will weave in and around federal and provincial legislation that has generated consternation over divorce and property division equity in Canadian provinces. The judges will hear party submissions from the Manitoba Court of Appeal ("MCA") decision of Schreyer v Schreyer, 2009 MBCA 84, a judgment that ultimately released […]
Earlier this year, in Van Breda v Village Resorts Limited, 2010 ONCA 84 [Van Breda], the Ontario Court of Appeal ("OCA") refined the assumed jurisdiction test as developed in Muscutt v Courcelles, [2002] 60 OR (3d) 20 (ONCA) [Muscutt]. In essence, the Van Breda decision simplified an eight-factor analysis into a two-step analysis (for a […]
On September 28, 2010, Justice Susan Himel of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave her verdict in the case of Bedford v Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264 [Bedford]. Justice Himel’s decision, which essentially has the effect of decriminalizing prostitution in Canada, drew pointed and fierce reaction. Commentators across various disciplines were quick to articulate their position […]
On April 7, 2010 the Ontario Court of Appeal (“OCA”) revisited the “thin skull” principle in Frazer v Dr. Haukioja, 2010 ONCA 249 [Haukioja]. The court decided issues related to medical professionalism after Grant Frazer took a vicious spill on his motorcycle and broke his ankle. The following action against his physician, Dr. Haukioja, resulted in […]
Whatever Your Politics... George Galloway is an alarming man. When he is interviewed on television, renowned and regularly resolute broadcasters succumb to trembling in trepidation. Although he possesses a cheeky grin and charming Scottish lilt, he is loud, blunt, and, on occasion, exceptionally rude.
For the two little pigs that built their homes out of straw and sticks, the Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") latest decision in Progressive Homes Ltd v Lombard General Insurance Co of Canada, [2010] 2 SCR 245 [Progressive Homes] presents a happy ending to their harrowing tale of home destruction arising out defective workmanship. In Progressive Homes, […]
Last week, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that findings made in a disciplinary police hearing can preclude the re-litigation of the same issue in a civil trial. In Penner v Niagara (Police Services Board), 2010 ONCA 616, Wayne Penner discovered that issue estoppel can apply to a seemingly dissimilar proceeding.