The Federal Court allowed an application for judicial review of a decision of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (the “Commission”), finding that the Commission’s investigation of the applicant’s complaint was less than thorough. There was no evidence that the Commission took into account the issue of racial profiling in its investigation of the Applicant’s complaint that, as a bank customer, he was discriminated against by the Respondent bank because of race and colour.

22. January 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Commission – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Race – Investigations – Judicial review – Evidence – Procedural requirements and fairness – Compliance with legislation Powell v. TD Canada Trust, [2007] F.C.J. No. 1579, Federal Court, November 23, 2007, Gibson, J. The Applicant is a ...

An appeal by the Employment Standards Branch from a judicial review decision holding that missing a statutory time limit to bring an Employment Standards Complaint was not a mandatory bar to the complaint was dismissed

22. January 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Employment Standards Branch – Limitations – Employment law – Termination of employment – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Jurisdiction of court – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Karbalaeiali v. Canada (Deputy Solicitor General, Employment Standards Branch), [2007] B.C.J. No. 2542, British Columbia Court of Appeal, ...

The widow of Edward Schulmeister (the “Petitioner”) was successful in obtaining judicial review of a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribual (“WCAT”) where the Court found that the WCAT’s decision was patently unreasonable pursuant to s. 58(3)(d) of the Administrative Tribunals Act, S.B.C. 2004, c. 45 as the Panel failed to take the requisite statutory requirements into account

26. December 2007 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Survivor benefits – Significant cause of death – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation Schulmeister v. British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal), [2007] B.C.J. No. 2321, British Columbia Supreme Court, October 29, 2007, C.E. Hinkson J. In 1994, Mr. Schulmeister was seriously injured ...

The Court of Appeal upheld the Utility and Review Board’s decision rejecting a licensed restaurant’s application to acquire unrestricted entertainment privileges. The legislation requires that the Board be satisfied that the operation of the premises to be licensed will not interfere with the quiet enjoyment of neighbouring properties, either public or private. The Board’s determination under this legislative provision was largely fact-driven. The Board’s finding that, on a balance of probabilities, permitting live entertainment on the premises would not be consistent with the quiet enjoyment provisions of the Regulations was reasonable. The Court of Appeal also held that even if the matter was a question of law, the Board’s decision satisfied the “correctness” standard.

27. November 2007 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Utility and Review Board – Jurisdiction – Judicial review – Permits and licences – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Correctness Whiskey’s Lounge Ltd. v. Nova Scotia (Utility and Review Board), [2007] N.S.J. No. 399, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, October 2, 2007, E.A. Roscoe, ...

Western Forest Products Inc. (“Western”) successfully appealed from a decision of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (“Sunshine”) acting as the Local Board of Health (“LBH”) whereby Western was required to stop certain forestry activities on the basis that LBH had reason to believe that the forestry activities resulted in a health hazard

27. November 2007 0
Administrative Law – Natural resources – Forestry – Timber licences – Environmental issues – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Correctness – Reasonableness simpliciter Western Forest Products Inc. v. Sunshine Coast (Regional District), [2007] B.C.J. No. 2204, British Columbia Supreme Court, October 9, 2007, G.B. Butler J Western sought to ...

The appeal by the Minister of Environment and Environmental Appeal Board from Sarg Oils’ successful application for judicial review of a decision of the Environmental Appeal Board was allowed where the Court found that the Board’s reasons did not disclose any reviewable error

23. October 2007 0
Administrative law – Environmental issues – Oil wells – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Environmental Appeal Board – Contaminated sites – remediation – Judicial review – Natural justice – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Sarg Oils Ltd. v. (Alberta) Environmental Appeal Board, [2007] A.J. No. 960, Alberta Court of Appeal, ...

The appeal by the Registrar of Mortgage Brokers from the decision of the Financial Services Tribunal that overturned the Registrar’s finding that a sub-mortgage broker (“Matick”) breached s. 17.3 of the Mortgage Brokers Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 313 by failing to disclose his wife’s position as an employee of T.D. Canada Trust, was dismissed

25. September 2007 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Registrar of Mortgage Brokers – Mortgage brokers – Disciplinary proceedings – Penalties and suspensions – Public interest – Judicial review – Disclosure – Evidence – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Correctness – Patent unreasonableness Registrar of Mortgage Brokers v. Financial Services Tribunal, [2007] B.C.J. No. 1670, ...

The Applicant applied for an order to cancel the revocation of his firearms licence by a firearms officer, arguing that the revocation was unreasonable because the officer’s investigation was procedurally flawed and violated the rules of natural justice. The Court dismissed the application, finding that there was no obligation under the Firearms Act for the officer to disclose the case against the Applicant and to provide him with an opportunity to be heard before the officer made his decision.

28. August 2007 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Firearms Officer – Firearms – licences – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Natural justice – Bias – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter McDonald (Re), [2007] B.C.J. No. 1318, British Columbia Provincial Court, June 13, 2007, A.E. Rounthwaite The Applicant applied for ...

The Alberta Court of Appeal held that the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission (“WCA”) was patently unreasonable in its finding as to when a worker’s accident ceased to be the cause of the worker’s injury. Workers’ Compensation Policy ADJ-39 is properly interpreted as to only require a disability to be the result of an emotional reaction, not that the injury be an emotional reaction. WCA’s analysis was unreasonable because it limited coverage by relying on factors that the Policy requires to be used to extend coverage.

28. August 2007 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers compensation – Psychological injury – employment related – Test – Benefits – Judicial review – Evidence – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Correctness Shuchuk v. Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board, Appeals Commission), [2007] A.J. No. 725, Alberta Court of Appeal, July 10, ...

When assessing WCB spousal survivorship pension entitlement, the Workers’ Compensation Board has jurisdiction to determine whether a person was an “employee” under the Government Employees Compensation Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. G-5 (the “GECA”)

28. August 2007 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers compensation – Benefits – Worker – definition – Judicial review – Jurisdiction – Compliance with legislation – Privative clauses – Standard of review – Correctness Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. Luo, [2007] B.C.J. No. 1478, British Columbia Supreme Court, July 4, 2007, Meiklem J. An ...