At the heart of the debate surrounding mandatory minimum sentences in Canada lies the insular but simple fact that Parliament, rather than the judiciary, dictates the application of such sentences to ensure that all offenders convicted of a specific crime receive at least a minimum term of imprisonment, regardless of the circumstances which surround the […]
In Westerhof v Gee Estate, 2015 ONCA 206 [Westerhof], the Court of Appeal for Ontario (“ONCA”) determined that experts who give opinions based on their participation in the events of a proceeding (a “participant expert”) may not need to comply with Rule 53.03 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, RRO 1990, Reg 194. Rule 53.03 […]
In Hopkins v Kay, 2015 ONCA 112 the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) ensured that parties who suffer misuse of their private health information can claim common law damages against the wrongdoer. The court found that statutory damages under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, SO 2004, c 3, Sch A [PHIPA], did not create […]
A landmark decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”) in Sandhu v Siri Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara of Alberta, 2015 ABCA 101 [Sandhu], extends the oppression remedy outside of the corporate context and into the governance of religious organizations. Where governing members of religious organizations act oppressively, Alberta’s Religious Societies’ Land Act, RSA 2000, c […]
In Figueiras v Toronto (Police Services Board), 2015 ONCA 208, the scope of common law police powers were at issue in regards to their conduct with protesters during the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto. In what has been hailed a victory for G20 demonstrators, the Ontario Court of Appeal granted Mr. Figueiras’ appeal in holding […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will have an opportunity to bring some much-needed clarity to how analyses of unreasonable delay pursuant to section 11(b) of the Charter should be approached in its upcoming decisions in the appeals of both R v Williamson, 2014 ONCA 598 [Williamson], and R v Jordan, 2014 BCCA 241 [Jordan]. This piece will […]
In The Law Society of British Columbia v Zoraik, 2015 BCCA 137 [Zoraik], the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) held that Benchers of the Law Society of British Columbia (“LSBC”) failed to consider the Appellant’s Charter argument and whether it could refer a matter back to its Discipline Committee. As such, the BCCA referred […]
Pursuant to s. 11(b) of the Charter, “[a]ny person charged with an offence has the right…(b) to be tried within a reasonable time….” This case is concerned with whether or not Mr. Savdip Sanghera’s s. 11(b) Charter right was violated, and if so, whether or not such a delay was reasonable. On March 23, 2015, […]
The federal government has the right to destroy data collected for the highly contentious long-form gun registry, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") ruled late March. In a 5-4 decision, the majority in Quebec (AG) v Canada (AG), 2015 SCC 14, found that the federal government’s right to destroy data it collected is based on […]
This is the second of a two-part comment on the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decision in Loyola High School v Quebec (Attorney General) 2015 SCC 12 [Loyola]. It will summarize the judgment of Chief Justice McLachlin and Justice Moldaver, which partially concurred with the majority judgment of Justice Abella. As described in Part I, […]