A former student of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario brought an application for judicial review of a decision of the Appeal Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (“ICAO”) which allowed an appeal from the sanction imposed by the Discipline Committee and ruled that the student’s name was to be disclosed in the publication reporting the sanction and that his discipline file was not to be sealed. The court held that the decision of the Appeal Committee was reasonable and the application was therefore dismissed.

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Accountants – Disciplinary proceedings – Suspensions – Penalties – Publication ban – Judicial review – Jurisdiction of tribunal – Disclosure – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter John Doe v. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, [2005] O.J. No. 3013, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, July 14, 2005, P.T. Matlow, E.M. Macdonald and ...

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (the “LCBO”) appealed the decision of the Ontario Divisional Court overturning the decision of an Administrative Tribunal refusing to issue a witness summons requested by a liquor licensee, Lifford Wine Agencies (“Lifford”), on a motion to stay a hearing before the Tribunal in which the possible revocation of Lifford’s licence was at issue. Lifford asserted that its right to a fair hearing was irreparably compromised by interference with witnesses it proposed to call to give evidence in support of its defence to allegations that it violated provisions of the Ontario Liquor Licence Act and applied for a motion to stay the hearing. During an adjournment in the stay motion, the LCBO engaged the services of a private investigator. The investigator interviewed most of the witnesses summoned by Lifford. Lifford sought the issuance of a summons to require the investigator to provide evidence before the Tribunal on the stay motion and to produce transcripts or other recordings of the interviews. The Tribunal declined to issue a summons on the basis that the investigator’s proposed evidence was irrelevant to the subject matter of the stay motion. On judicial review, the Divisional Court overturned the ruling and this decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Liquor Licensing Board – Permits & licences – Stay of proceedings – Appeals – Hearings – Judicial review application – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Witness tampering – Natural justice – Evidence – Privilege Ontario (Liquor Control Board) v. Lifford Wine Agencies, [2005] O.J. No. 3042, Ontario ...

The Consumers’ Association of Canada (Manitoba) Inc. and the Manitoba Society of Seniors (the “Applicants”) applied for judicial review of an Order made by the Public Utilities Board of Manitoba (the “Board”) with respect to an ex parte Order of the Board that permitted Centra Gas Manitoba Inc. (“Centra”) to increase its natural gas rates by approximately 10% effective February 1, 2005 without any notice to or input from Centra’s customers. The court held that there was no evidence presented to the Board that supported the exceptional requirements necessary to justify of an ex parte hearing. The Board therefore should not have heard Centra’s interim application on an ex parte basis and the Applicants were entitled to an Order quashing the interim rate increase ordered by the Board following the ex parte hearing.

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Natural resources – Natural gas – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Energy and Utilities Board – Rate increases – Appeals – Hearings – Procedural requirements and fairness – Ex parte orders – Evidence – Interpretation of legislation – Judicial review – Standard of review – Correctness Consumers’ Assn. of Canada (Manitoba) Inc. v. Manitoba (Public ...

The Workers’ Compensation Board appealed the decision of the Appeals Commission (the “AC”) which determined that while the deceased was a director of the lumber corporation at the time of the accident, at the time of his death he was engaged in the activities of a “worker”. The court confirmed the AC’s decision and dismissed the appeal.

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Benefits – Worker – Definition – Director of corporation – Interpretation of legislation – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Appeals – Judicial review – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board, Appeals Commission), [2005] A.J. No. 894, Alberta Court of ...

The Applicant both appealed and applied for judicial review of a decision of the Appeals Commission of the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (the “AC”) upholding a decision of the Claims Services Review Committee (the “CSRC”) which denied the Applicant further benefits for a work related injury. The appeal was dismissed, and a judicial review of the decision of the AC was denied on the basis that even though the AC had erred in holding that it could not review jurisdictional issues regarding the CSRC, the de novo hearing before the AC was an adequate alternative remedy to sending the matter back to the CSRC for a rehearing and the decision of the AC that the Applicant was not entitled to further benefits was reasonable.

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Benefits – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Appeals – Jurisdiction to hear – Judicial review – Judicial review application – Natural justice – Remedies – Alternative remedies Martinson v. Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission), [2005] A.J. No. 896, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, July 15, 2005, Macklin ...

The BC Public School Employers’ Association (“BCPSEA”) was unsuccessful in appealing from an arbitrator’s decision to the effect that the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (“BCTF”) was justified in taking a grievance from the decision of the School Boards to advise teachers that they were not to post materials on teacher bulletin boards or to distribute documents to parents regarding issues of class size that were the subject of collective bargaining negotiations between the BCTF and the BCPSEA

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Schools and school boards – Powers – Teachers – Labour law – Arbitration – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Labour and employment boards – Charter of Rights – Freedom of expression – Remedies – Charter relief British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association v. British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, [2005] B.C.J. No. 1719, British Columbia Court of Appeal, ...

A dentist (“Dr. Sigesmund”) with a practice restricted to the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders was partially successful in his appeal from a decision of the Discipline Committee of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (the “College”) where he was originally found guilty of multiple counts of professional misconduct

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Dentists – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Dental Surgeons – Judicial review – Witnesses – Bias – Evidence – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Sigesmund v. Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, [2005] O.J. No. 3267, Ontario Superior Court of ...

A father in persistent arrears of a child support order (“G.B.I.”) was unsuccessful in his application for judicial review of a decision by the Director of Maintenance Enforcement (the “Director”), suspending his passport. G.B.I. was also unsuccessful in seeking an order in the nature of mandamus directing the Director to request termination of the licence denial application that was outstanding against him.

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Family Maintenance Enforcement – Suspension of licence for arrears – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Jurisdiction – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter G.B.I. v. British Columbia (Director of Maintenance Enforcement), [2005] B.C.J. No. 1753, British Columbia Supreme Court, August 4, 2005, Ralph J. In 1998, ...

DRL Vacations Ltd. (“DRL”) was unsuccessful in seeking judicial review of the decision of the Halifax Port Authority to select a vendor other than DRL to operate a retail market catering outlet for the passengers and crew of cruise ships entering the Port of Halifax

27. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Administrative tribunals – Definition – Judicial review – Jurisdiction of Federal court – Port Authority – Vendor selection process DRL Vacations Ltd. v. Halifax Port Authority, [2005] F.C.J. No. 1060, Federal Court, June 15, 2005, Mactavish J. DRL submitted that although the HPA had formulated a process entitled a “Request for Proposals”, ...

The Court granted an order of mandamus and certiorari to the petitioner employee, finding that the respondent employer failed to comply with a direction of the Public Service Appeal Board concerning its competition process and that the respondent employer had no right to make appointments by lateral transfers in the absence of compliance with the direction of the Appeal Board

24. September 2005 0
Administrative law – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Procedural requirements – Remedies – Mandamus – Certiorari Gowman v. Land and Water British Columbia Inc., [2002] B.C.J. No. 2406, British Columbia Supreme Court, October 22, 2002, Owen-Flood J. The respondent posted a competition for seven “Land and Water Manager” positions. The petitioner applied to the ...