The appeal by a pipeline owner (“TransCanada”) from a decision of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (the “Board”) concluding that the Board had jurisdiction over the pipeline because the pipeline supplied gas to or for the public, was dismissed where the Court found that the Gas Utilities Act provided the Board with the power to conduct an investigation of any matter concerning a gas utility

27. May 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Energy and Utilities Board – Public interest – Powers to investigate – Natural resources – Natural gas – Distribution – Judicial review – Public utility – definition – Compliance with legislation – Jurisdiction of tribunal TransCanada Pipeline Ventures Ltd. v. Alberta (Energy and Utilities Board), [2008] A.J. ...

There is no unfettered right to possess firearms in Canada, notwithstanding the preamble of the British North America Act, 1867, which the applicant suggested incorporated the English Bill of Rights, 1689, allowing Protestant subjects to have firearms for their defence. There was a legislative history in Canada that heavily regulated gun ownership, and s.117.03 of the Criminal Code, allowing for seizure and destruction of an unlicensed firearm was intra vires the federal Parliament, as the regulation of the possession of a firearm was within the sphere of its criminal law power. This provision did not violate the applicant’s rights under ss.7 and 26 of the Charter, and there was no evidentiary basis that the applicant needed the firearm for his personal security. There was also no breach of the applicant’s fundamental justice, even if the 1689 Bill of Rights was part of the Canadian Constitution, s.26 of the Charter did not guarantee the rights therein.

22. April 2008 0
Administrative law – Firearms registration – Legislation – Criminal code – Ultra vires – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Right to bear arms Hudson v. Canada (Attorney General), [2007] S.J. No. 693, Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, December 12, 2007, N.G. Gabrielson J. The applicant, a doctor ...

A judge in chambers was not entitled to substitute his view of good business sense or to consider the weight to be given to evidence in setting aside a decision of an abritrator in a commercial dispute where the parties to the dispute had agreed in advance that the decision would be “final and binding”

22. April 2008 0
Administrative law – Arbitration and award – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Arbitration Board – Jurisdiction of court – Compliance with legislation – Evidence Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Hayes Forest Services Ltd., [2008] B.C.J. No. 108, British Columbia Court of Appeal, January 24, 2008, R.T.A. Low, P.D. Lowry and E.C. Chiasson JJ.A. Two companies, Weyerhaeuser Company ...

Duty of fairness in investigative stage is only limited, and investigating members authorized by the professional conduct committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants to investigate the complaint met their duty by advising the applicant accountant of the generalities of what was being investigated. There was no obligation to provide full particulars. However, the professional conduct committee’s recommendation to hold a hearing was subject to judicial review, prior to the hearing being held. The decision had a significant adverse effect on the applicant and, as the professional conduct committee owed a duty of fairness to the applicant accountant, that duty of fairness may be defeated if judicial review was unavailable. Finally, the professional conduct committee had jurisdiction to investigate matters not specified in the complaint because these matters were sufficiently closely related to the complaint, it was in the context of public interest, there was lack of precise technical knowledge on the part of the public, and the legislative powers to investigate a complaint given to the committee were broad.

22. April 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Institute of Chartered Accountants – Accountants – Disciplinary proceedings – Investigations – Procedural fairness – Bias – Evidence – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation  – Jurisdiction – Public interest Swanson v. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan, [2007] S.J. No. 701, Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, ...

An employee (“Dunsmuir”) who was dismissed from his employment at the Department of Justice of the Province of New Brunswick (the “Province”) was unsuccessful in appealing the dismissal. The pragmatic and functional approach was replaced with a standard of review analysis with only two standards of review (correctness and reasonableness) for courts reviewing decisions of administrative tribunals. No consideration needed to be given to a public law duty of procedural fairness because the employment relationship between Dunsmuir and the Province was governed by private law and contract law.

22. April 2008 0
Administrative law – Employment law – Terms of agreement – Termination of employment – Adjudications – Jurisdiction – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Labour and employment boards – Judicial review – Patent unreasonableness – Reasonableness simpliciter – Correctness – Procedural requirements and fairness – Privative clauses – Compliance with legislation Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, [2008] ...

An application for judicial review seeking a declaration that subsection 41(b.1) of the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations, SOR/2001-227 (“MMAR”) is invalid, and that the matter be referred back to the Minister of Health for reconsideration and that the Court retain supervisory jurisdiction over Health Canada’s implementation of a revised process for allowing a single designated producer of medical marijuana to produce for more than one medical user. The Court held that subsection 41(b.1) was a restriction on the Applicants’ Section 7 liberty and security rights in the Charter, that could not be saved by section 1. The matter was referred back to the Minister of Health for reconsideration consistent with the Court’s reasons, but the Court declined to retain supervisory jurisdiction.

25. March 2008 0
Administrative law – Medicinal use of marijuana – Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Life liberty or security of the person – Validity of legislation – Judicial review application – Standard of review – Correctness – Compliance with legislation – Legislation – Ultra vires Sfetkopoulos v. Canada (Attorney General), [2008] F.C.J. No. 6, Federal Court ...

The application by two students (“K.B.” and “T.M.”) for judicial review seeking to quash the decision of the respondent principal of Emery Collegiate (the “Principal”) to remove the students from Emery Collegiate and transfer them to another school was dismissed where the Court found that the Principal had jurisdiction to transfer the students to another school after a suspension had been imposed based on concerns for the safety of other students

25. March 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – School principal – Investigations – Schools – Powers – Suspension of students – Transfer of students – Judicial review – Jurisdiction – Standard of review – Correctness – Patent unreasonableness – Procedural requirements and fairness – Natural justice – Compliance with legislation – Charter of Rights and ...

The Court dismissed an appeal and petition filed in the Court in response to administrative action taken by the Respondent Commission on the basis that the appeal and petition were both premature. The Petitioner had failed to bring the proper administrative appeal as required by the legislation.

26. February 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Financial Services Commission – Judicial review – Discretion of delegated authority – Statutory powers – Compliance with legislation – Procedural requirements and fairness North York Community Credit Union v. British Columbia (Financial Institutions Commission), [2007] B.C.J. No. 2715, British Columbia Supreme Court, December 20, 2007, I.H. Pitfield ...

Two pharmacies (the “Pharmacies”) were unsuccessful in their appeal from a decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia refusing to grant an Order prohibiting the Duputy Minister of Health (the “Minister”) from relying on allegedly irrelvant considerations when reconsidering whether to terminate the Pharmacy Participation Agreements under which the Pharmacies had been permitted to dispense prescription drugs to customers through a government subsidy scheme known as PharmaCare

22. January 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Ministerial – Pharmacy Participation Agreements – Public interest – Pharmacists – Billing matters – Termination of contracts – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Procedural requirements and fairness – Evidence – Admissibility – Criminal conviction Delivery Drugs Ltd. (c.o.b. Gastown Pharmacy) v. British Columbia (Deputy Minister ...

A lawyer (Merchant) successfully obtained an order quashing a decision of the Law Society of Alberta (“Law Society”) disbarring him, on the basis that there was a reasonable apprehension of bias due to an ex parte communication between the chair of the hearing committee and a witness

22. January 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Law Societies – Barristers and solicitors – Disciplinary proceedings – Penalties and suspensions – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Bias – Reasonable apprehension of bias – test – Witnesses – Compliance with legislation – Remedies – Alternative remedies Merchant v. Law Society of Alberta, ...