A unique feature of the Global Occupy Movement which dominated headlines during the fall months was its ability to harness new forms of online social media to raise awareness, voice political critiques, and to provide some unity to an otherwise disjointed protest. It is perhaps by virtue of this virtual existence that the movement gained […]
This post is one of two winning papers submitted by JD students at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University as a written assignment for Prof. Richard Haigh's State and Citizen course. In its 2007 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") addressed the controversies regarding interjurisdictional immunity in Canadian Western Bank v The Queen in […]
This is the second part of a two-part post regarding Canada (Attorney General) v PHS Community Services Society. Part I can be found here. Section 7: Life, Liberty and Security of the Person in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side The claimants in (case) having failed to establish that the criminal prohibitions on possession and trafficking in the Controlled […]
This post is one of two winning papers submitted by JD students at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University as a written assignment for Prof. Richard Haigh's State and Citizen course. The doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity, which can be used to challenge statutes on the ground of division of powers, seeks to limit the applicability […]
Whatcott v Saskatchewan (Human Rights Tribunal) Part I outlined the grounds on which the tribunal’s decision was upheld at the trial level. Whatcott appealed again, and found a sympathetic ear at Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal. Here is how the rest of Whatcott’s journey to the SCC unfolds. Anti-gay demonstrator Bill Whatcott will soon learn what the […]
The oral argument in the case of US v Jones before the US Supreme Court started off with an odd imaginative exercise. Chief Justice Roberts asked the court to impose the allegedly unconstitutional actions of the police onto the justices of the Court, and mull over the implications of such an imposition. That is, Chief Justice […]
In R v Sarrazin, [2011] 3 SCR 505 [Sarrazin], the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") passed down its latest pronouncement on the availability of the curative proviso. At issue was whether the requirements for application of the curative proviso should be relaxed, and whether the proviso applied on the facts of the case to deny the […]
One necessary implication of the growth of the administrative state—and the legislative delegation of various social and economic responsibilities to the executive—is the diffusion of human rights jurisdiction over a broad cross-section of decision-makers. To the degree that a large number of actors and tribunals make decisions with either direct or incidental effects on people’s […]
This is the first part of a two-part post regarding Canada (Attorney General) v PHS Community Services Society. Part II can be found here. Facts and Judicial History Vancouver’s Downtown East Side ("DTES") has long been known for its rather unique neighbourhood makeup. 4,600 intravenous drug users, nearly half of all of those in the city are […]
Last April, the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments regarding the constitutionality of the proposed national securities regulator. Broadly, the issue was whether the proposed Canada Securities Act [Act] was a valid exercise of the federal government’s trade and commerce power under s. 91(2) of the Constitution Act, 1867. With the Legal Post reporting that the […]