The Supreme Court of Canada holds that the Prime Minister’s office, the office of the Minister of Defence, and the office of the Minister of Transport are not “government institutions” and thus not subject to the Access to Information Act

28. June 2011 0
Administrative Law – Access to Information – Judicial review – Ministerial – Statutory interpretation Canada (Information Commissioner) v. Canada (Minister of National Defence), [2011] S.C.J. No. 25, 2011 SCC 25, Supreme Court of Canada, May 13, 2011, McLachlin C.J. and Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron, Rothstein and Cromwell JJ. The appellant, the Information Commissioner of ...

A former teacher (“Headrick”) applied for judicial review of a decision of the Ontario College of Teachers (the “College”) which had referred his application for a Certificate of Qualification and Registration (“Certificate”) to the College’s Disciplinary Committee

24. May 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Teachers – Restoration of membership – Teachers – Professional misconduct / conduct unbecoming – Disciplinary proceedings – Suspension – Public interest – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Procedural requirements and fairness – Standard of review – Correctness – Failure to provide reasons – ...

The Court quashed two decisions made by members of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal ordering a Tribunal inquiry into the respondents’ age discrimination complaints. The complaints had initially been refused an inquiry by the Human Rights Commissioner and the Court was of the view that had that decision been overturned, it would have undermined the legislative intention at the time the age discrimination was alleged as well as when the legislation was amended.

26. April 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Age – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Correctness – Labour law – Collective agreements – Statutory interpretation – Retrospective and retroactive operation University of Regina v. Kly, [2011] S.J. No. 141, ...

The Appellant (Celgene Corporation) unsuccessfully appealed a decision of the Respondent (the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board), which had decided it possessed the authority to require Celgene to provide certain pricing information

22. February 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Patented Medicine Prices Review Board – Consumer protection – Intellectual property – Patents – Legislation – Statutory interpretation – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Disclosure – Jurisdiction – Standard of review – Correctness Celgene Corp. v. Canada (Attorney General), [2011] S.C.J. No. 1, 2011 SCC ...

The application by the Children’s Aid Society of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (the “Society”) for an order quashing a written decision of the Child and Family Services Board (the “Board”) on the grounds that the Board lacked jurisdiction to conduct the review was allowed where the court held that the matters at issue were “before the court” and therefore the Board was statutorily prohibited from reviewing the complaint

25. January 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Child and Family Services Review Board – Judicial intervention – Protection matters – Children – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Jurisdiction – Failure to provide reasons – Natural justice – Standard of review – Correctness Children’s Aid Society of Waterloo v. D.D., ...

The appeal by an operator of a coal-fired electricity generator (“Milner”) from a decision of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (the “Board”) to refuse to investigate or hold a hearing arising from a complaint lodged by Milner was allowed where the complaint had arguable merit

28. September 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Utility and Review Board – Rules and by-laws – Natural resources – Electricity – Loss of electricity – Line Loss Rule – Judicial review – Investigations – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Complaints lacking merit – Definition Milner Power Inc. v. Alberta (Energy and Utilities ...

The proper approach to statutory interpretation is that the words of an Act are to be read in their entire context and in their ordinary sense harmoniously with the scheme of the Act, the object of the Act, and the intention of Parliament. The decision that the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (the “Commission”) made in this case was unreasonable on the basis that Commission, through the decision of the Internal Review Specialist, sought to discover the intention of the Commission, as opposed to the Legislature.

28. September 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers Compensation – Benefits – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Legislation – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Warford v. Weir’s Construction Ltd., [2010] N.J. No. 249, 2010 NLTD(G) 130, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, August 9, 2010, ...

The Attorney-General successfully appealed a decision made by the Military Police Complaints Commission to investigate the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, on the basis that such matters are beyond the jurisdiction of the Commission

24. November 2009 0
Administrative law – Military police – Disciplinary proceedings – Investigations – Public interest – Jurisdiction – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation Canada (Attorney General) v. Amnesty International Canada, [2009] F.C.J. No. 1096, 2009 FC 918, Federal Court, September 16, 2009, Harrington J. The Respondent, Amnesty International, submitted two complaints to the ...

Maximum penalty provisions in Section 162, Securities Act, RSBC 1996, c.418, are subject to the statutory interpretation presumption against retrospective operation of statutes. Imposition of the current maximum monetary penalty under this section is “punitive” in nature and cannot be imposed for violations of the Securities Act which occurred prior to the 2006 amendments which changed the maximum penalty. For such violations, the maximum penalty that can be imposed is that in force at the time.

24. March 2009 0
Administrative law – Stock brokers – Disciplinary proceedings – Penalties – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Securities Commission – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Legislation – Retrospective and retroactive operation Thow v. British Columbia (Securities Commission), [2009] B.C.J. No. 211, 2009 BCCA 46, British Columbia Court of Appeal, February 12, ...

City Council of Brampton was entitled to delegate to its Licensing Committee the power to make recommendations respecting a determination as to whether a “body rub parlour license” should be issued to the applicant. In making the recommendation, the Licensing Committee was required to hold a hearing. However, the City Council was entitled to accept such a recommendation without holding a further hearing in accordance with the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.22.

23. December 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Municipal councils – Rules and by-laws – Municipalities – Permits and licences – Planning and zoning – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Versions of legislation – Validity – Procedural requirements and fairness – Discretion of delegated authority 1673233 Ontario Inc. (c.o.b. Eurohaven ...