The Nova Scotia Supreme Court held that a regulation which sets a maximum value for milk quota was intra vires and valid as being a lawful exercise of statutory authority

25. January 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Dairy Farmers – Powers under legislation – Milk quotas – Legislation – Validity of legislation – Ultra vires – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation Taylor v. Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia, [2010] N.S.J. No. 624, 2010 NSSC 436, Nova Scotia Supreme Court, November 25, 2010, P.J. ...

The applicant suffers from a learning disability and alleged that Mount Saint Vincent University failed to provide her with adequate accommodations during an examination. The Human Rights Commission declined to refer the case to the Board of Inquiry and terminated the complaint. The application for judicial review was dismissed.

24. August 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Commission – Human rights complaints – Disability – Duty to accommodate – Students with special educational needs – Universities – Students – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Failure to provide reasons Green v. Nova Scotia (Human Rights Commission), [2010] N.S.J. No. 350, ...

The Applicant Nurse (MacNeil) unsuccessfully applied for judicial review in respect of the Respondent College’s decision not to refer his matter to the Fitness to Practice Committee

27. April 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Nurses – Policies – Nurses – Disciplinary proceedings – Competence – Public interest – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation MacNeil v. College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia, [2010] N.S.J. No. 136, 2010 NSSC 83, Nova Scotia Supreme Court, March 4, 2010, S.M. Hood ...

While the Assistance Appeal Board applied an erroneous analysis of a provision allowing an income support recipient to spend assets for specified purposes, the Court declined to set aside the Assistance Appeal Board’s decision finding, on a standard of review of correctness, that the Board’s conclusion was correct

28. July 2009 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Assistance Appeal Board – Ministerial orders – Benefits – Income assistance – Eligibilty – Basic need – definition – Judicial review – Interpretation of  legislation – Jurisdiction – Standard of review – Correctness Savary v. Nova Scotia (Community Services), [2009] N.S.J. No. 234, 2009 NSSC 123, Nova ...

The appeal by an injured worker (“Young”) from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) limiting his entitlement to extended earnings replacement benefits was dismissed where the Court found that the Tribunal had evidence upon which to conclude that Young was capable of working after his initial accident in 1997, despite later becoming unable to work because of disk herniation

26. May 2009 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers compensation – Benefits – Loss of earnings – Transferable skills – Test – Judicial review – Evidence – Compliance with legislation Young v. Nova Scotia (Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal), [2009] N.S.J. No. 157, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, April 15, 2009, J.W.S. ...

The Appellant Lienaux appealed a decision of the Respondent Barristers’ Society (the “Respondent”), which had found him guilty of conduct unbecoming of a barrister. The Appeal was dismissed because the Court of Appeal found the majority of the rulings of the Respondent were reasonable and the standard of review was reasonableness. Lienaux was successful on one ground of appeal as the Court of Appeal held the Respondent’s decision to prohibit him from representing himself was not reasonable.

24. March 2009 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Law Societies – Barristers and solicitors – Disciplinary proceedings – Self-representation – Judicial review – Fresh evidence – admissibility – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – Jurisdiction – Compliance with legislation Lienaux v. Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, [2009] N.S.J. No. 32, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, ...

Section 67(1), Public Utilities Act, R.S.N.S. 1989 c. 380, which prohibits the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board from setting a rate for low income consumers different from that chargeable to other consumers for the same circumstances and conditions respecting electrical service, was found not to discriminate by adverse effect based on the listed categories of sex, race, national or ethnic origin, age and disability in section 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the recognized analogous category of marital status. Poverty was not considered an analogous ground under section 15(1) Charter.

24. March 2009 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Poverty – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Utility services – Electricity rates – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation Boulter v. Nova Scotia Power Inc., [2009] N.S.J. No. 64, 2009 NSCA 17, Nova Scotia Court of ...

The court held that a section of a by-law, which authorized an animal control officer to destroy a dog based on his belief that it had attacked another animal, was ultra vires the Municipality. The court quashed a decision purportedly made by a municipal officer in reliance on the section, and also held that the officer owed a duty of fairness to the dog owner, that he had not discharged, and which provided a further basis on which to quash the decision.

24. February 2009 0
Administrative law – Municipalities – Animal control – By-laws – Validity – Ultra vires – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Procedural requirements and fairness – Remedies – Certiorari Rogier v. Halifax (Regional Municipality), [2009] N.S.J. No. 19, Nova Scotia Supreme Court, January 16, 2009, D.R. Beveridge J. The Applicant applied for judicial review ...

The Court of Appeal granted the Respondent College’s application to seal the appeal book in order to protect the privacy interests of the Appellant’s patients. The Court of Appeal also granted the Respondent College’s application for a publication ban on the names of the patients and their family members that were identified during the hearing of the appeal. The privacy interests in this case outweighed the negative effects of the sealing order and publication ban.

27. January 2009 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Physicians and Surgeons – Professional governance and discipline – Publication ban – Judicial review – Disclosure of third party records – Medical records – Confidentiality – Freedom of information and protection of privacy – Public interest Osif v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova ...

WCB was required to disclose to a newspaper, the Halifax Herald Ltd., names of the 25 employers with highest employee injury incidence and answer related questions. While such disclosure would reveal labour relations information, it would not reveal information supplied by the employers, or if it did, the information was not information supplied in confidence. Disclosure could not reasonably be expected to significantly harm the employers’ competitive position or result in similar information no longer being supplied to the WCB. The disclosure of employers’ names would not constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy of the injured workers and was, in all the circumstances, in the public interest.

23. December 2008 0
Administrative law – Workers Compensation Board – Disclosure of third party records – Confidentiality – Freedom of information and protection of privacy – Invasion of personal privacy – Personal information – definition – Judicial review – Disclosure – Compliance with legislation – Public interest Halifax Herald Ltd. v. Nova Scotia (Workers’ Compensation Board), [2008] N.S.J. ...