Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Rights Face Legislative Challenge: British Columbia Teachers’ Federation v British Columbia

The government of British Columbia ("BC") recently filed an appeal challenging the decision by the Supreme Court of British Columbia ("BCSC") in British Columbia Teachers’ Federation v British Columbia, 2014 BCSC 121 [BCTF] which found in favour of the provincial teachers' union. The leader of the governing BC Liberal Party, Christy Clarke, has signalled the province’s readiness […]

Live from the SCC: Carter v Canada

Early on a rainy morning, I arrived to the Supreme Court of Canada and was lucky enough to be able to watch the Carter v Canada (Attorney General) [Carter] appeal. In this case, several plaintiffs challenged the Criminal Code provisions prohibiting physician assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter. […]

Minority Language Education for Majority Students: CS Francophone du Yukon v Yukon Territory

On  26 June 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") agreed to hear an appeal of Commission Scolaire Francophone du Yukon v Attorney General of the Yukon Territory, 2014 YKCA 4 [CS Francophone]. The case concerns a dispute over the control and management of the Territory's French language education system and is the first time […]

Torture and the Limits of Sovereign Immunity: Kazemi Estate v Islamic Republic of Iran

In Kazemi Estate v Islamic Republic of Iran, 2014 SCC 62, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") looks at whether Canadians have the right to sue foreign governments for damages resulting from acts of torture. The SCC ultimately denied the victims’ claim for a civil action, finding that acts of torture are not exceptions to the general […]

Martin v Alberta, Federal Employees, and Workplace Injuries: Just Like the Rest of Us

In Martin v Alberta (Workers' Compensation Board), 2014 SCC 25, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") resolved an issue that had been treated inconsistently by appellate courts across Canada. The SCC held that workplace compensation claims of federal employees, who are subject to the Government Employees Compensation Act, RSC 1985, c G-5 [GECA], are generally governed by […]

Banks Forced to Repay Added Charges Plus Punitive Damages: Bank of Montreal v Marcotte

On September 19, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") released its decision in Bank of Montreal v Marcotte, 2014 SCC 55 [BMO v Marcotte], and its two companion cases, Amex Bank of Canada v Adams, 2014 SCC 56, and Marcotte v Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, 2014 SCC 57. The case in BMO v Marcotte was based […]

Aboriginal Status, Mandatory Minimums, and Prosecutorial Discretion: R v Anderson

Back in June, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") dealt with the issue of whether Crown prosecutors are constitutionally required to consider the Aboriginal status of accused persons when deciding to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence in R v Anderson, 2014 SCC 41 [Anderson]. The respondent, Frederick Anderson, was charged with impaired driving pursuant to section […]

New Test for When an Appellate Court Can Raise a New Issue: R v Mian

In R v Mian, [2014] 2 SCR 689 [Mian], the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") attempted to strike a balance between two competing roles for appellate courts – of neutral arbiter and of justice-doer. In the process, the SCC set a new precedent for determining when an appellate court can raise a novel legal issue.

The Supreme Court Addresses the Truth in Sentencing Act and the Retrospective Application of Legislation: R v Clarke

R v Clarke, [2014] 1 SCR 612 is part of the trilogy of cases recently released by the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) addressing the issue of the Conservative government’s tough-on-crime policy expressed in the Truth in Sentencing Act, SC 2009, c 29 [Act]. As discussed in previous commentary from TheCourt.ca on R v Summers, [2014] 1 SCR 575 [Summers], the Act amends […]

Prisoners Cannot Be Punished Twice: Canada (Attorney General) v Whaling

This past March, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") issued a unanimous 8-0 decision on Canada (Attorney General) v Whaling, [2014] 1 SCR 392. This ruling upholds the Charter right of prisoners not to be punished twice for the same offence. History In 1992, Parliament brought in a simplified process for accelerated parole review (“APR”) that […]