The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that while correctness is the appropriate standard of review for interpretation of the common law and statute, the palpable and overriding error standard applies to a lower court’s interpretation of a contract

26. July 2016 0
Administrative law – Contracts – Interpretation – Legislation – Statutory interpretation – Standard of review – Palpable and overriding error – Correctness Heritage Capital Corp. v. Equitable Trust Co., [2016] S.C.J. No. 19, 2016 SCC 19, Supreme Court of Canada, May 6, 2016, McLachlin C.J. and Abella, Cromwell, Moldaver, Karakatsanis, Wagner, Gascon, Côté and Brown ...

A driver (“Wilson”) was unsuccessful on his appeal from a finding of the British Columbia Court of Appeal reinstating a notice of driving prohibition on the basis of his roadside breath sample and a peace officer’s determination that he had reasonable grounds to believe that Wilson’s ability to drive was affected by alcohol

22. December 2015 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Superintendent of Motor Vehicles – Motor vehicles – Breathalyser test – Suspension of driver’s licence – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Evidence – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – Legislation – Federal vs. provincial legislation Wilson v. British Columbia (Superintendent of ...

The Association des parents de l’école Rose-des-vents (the “Association”) succeeded on its appeal from the judgment of the British Columbia Court of Appeal which had set aside the chambers judge’s order striking certain paragraphs of pleadings filed by the Minister of Education and the Attorney General for British Columbia. In addition, they were successful in restoring the declaration that educational services made available to the students at Rose-des-vents (“RDV”) were not equivalent to the facilities available to majority language students in the same area.

23. June 2015 0
Administrative law – Schools and school boards – Funding – Facilities – Parental rights – Discrimination – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Equality rights – Minority rights – Language rights – Remedies – Declaratory relief Association des parents de l’école Rose-des-vents v. British Columbia (Education), [2015] S.C.J. No. 21, 2015 SCC 21, Supreme Court ...

The appellant Loyola High School successfully appealed a decision of the respondent Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports. Loyola had been refused for an exemption so it had to implement a mandatory program on ethics and religious culture

26. May 2015 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Ministerial orders – Judicial review – Schools and school boards – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Freedom of Religion Loyola High School v. Quebec (Attorney General), [2015] S.C.J No. 12, 2015 SCC 12, Supreme Court of Canada, March 19, 2015, McLachlin C.J. and LeBel, Abella, Rothstein, ...

In overturning the Court of Appeal’s decision, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified that where a court reviews a decision of a specialized administrative tribunal (such as a human rights tribunal), the standard of review must be determined on the basis of administrative law principles, whether the review is conducted in the context of an application for judicial review or of a statutory appeal. The SCC also determined that while the correctness standard of review applied to one aspect of the tribunal’s decision (the scope of the state’s duty of religious neutrality), the reasonableness standard applied to the other aspects of the decision, including whether or not the complainant had been discriminated against. In her concurring judgment, Abella J. was concerned with the majority’s use of different standards of review for different aspects of the tribunal’s decision. She said that extricating the question of the state’s duty of religious neutrality from the other aspects of the tribunal’s decision regarding the discrimination analysis directly conflicts with the jurisprudence and creates another confusing caveat to the Dunsmuir framework.

26. May 2015 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Municipalities – By-laws – Human Rights – Discrimination – Religion – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Judicial review – Jurisdiction – Standard of review – Correctness – Reasonableness simpliciter – Remedies – Damages Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay (City), [2015] S.C.J. No. ...

BC Court of Appeal permitted the respondent leave to appeal a commercial arbitrator’s decision. The Arbitration Act only allows leave to appeal on questions of law, and the court determined that the question raised by the respondent was one of law, since it related to contractual interpretation and whether something was or reasonably ought to have been within the common knowledge of the parties at the time of the execution of the contract. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that contractual interpretation issues involving mixed fact and law, such as whether something was or reasonably ought to have been within the common knowledge of the parties at the time of the execution of the contract, are properly questions of fact. Accordingly, as the respondent’s appeal was based on a question of fact and not law, it should not have been granted leave. The appellant’s appeal was allowed.

23. September 2014 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Arbitration Board – Arbitration and award – Judicial review – Appeals – Leave to appeal – Test – Compliance with legislation – Jurisdiction of court – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Sattva Capital Corp. v. Creston Moly Corp., [2014] S.C.J. No. 53, 2014 SCC 53, Supreme ...

The Appellant federal public service employee unsuccessfully appealed a decision of the Federal Court of Canada relating to the Respondent federal public service disclosing her home contact information to the Respondent union representing her bargaining interests.

25. March 2014 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Labour and employment boards – Labour law – Collective agreements – Freedom of information and protection of privacy – Disclosure of records – Public bodies – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Judicial review – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – Costs Bernard v. Canada (Attorney ...

In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada considered the distinction between arbitrators and courts with respect to awarding interest

26. November 2013 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Arbitration Board – Jurisdiction – Natural resources – Forestry – Timber licences – Government – Expropriation – Interest – Compound vs. simple interest – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Interpretation British Columbia (Forests) v. Teal Cedar Products Ltd., [2013] S.C.J. No. 51, 2013 SCC 51, Supreme ...

An individual who was arrested for disruptive behaviour in an Ontario courtroom (“Penner”) succeeded on appeal in establishing that issue estoppel should not apply to preclude his civil claims against the police officers once his Police Services Act proceedings against them had been dismissed

21. May 2013 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Police Services Commission – Police – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming – Judicial review – Estoppel and res judicata – Compliance with legislation – Evidence Penner v. Niagara (Regional Police Services Board), 2013 SCJ No. 19, 2013 SCC 19, Supreme Court of Canada, April ...

Administrative tribunals do not have to consider and comment upon every issue raised by the parties in their reasons. For reviewing courts, the issue remains whether the decision, viewed as a whole in the context of the record, is reasonable.

27. December 2012 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Labour and employment boards – Labour law – Collective agreements – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Failure to provide reasons – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Construction Labour Relations v. Driver Iron Inc., [2012] S.C.J. No. 65, 2012 SCC 65, Supreme Court of Canada, ...