Canada Post Corporation (“Canada Post”) successfully appealed from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal (“WCAT”) that a worker (“Myatt”) had suffered a recurrence of a 1998 compensable stress injury and should be entitled to benefits on the basis that WCAT failed to defer to the decision of the Hearing Officer who had the advantage of hearing oral testimony in the matter

25. May 2004 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Benefits – Psychological injury – employment related – Test – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Evidenciary issues – Judicial review – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Canada Post Corp. v. Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal, [2004] N.S.J. No. 105, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, March 16, 2004, Roscoe, Chipman and ...

Loblaws Supermarkets Ltd. (“Loblaws”) brought an application for a judicial review seeking an Order in the nature of prohibition preventing the Coroner from proceeding with an inquest into the death of Patrick Shand Jr. on the basis of unreasonable delay in commencing the inquest. The court dismissed the application, holding that Loblaws had not established that it would suffer significant prejudice if the hearing proceeded and that the delay was not inordinate and did not constitute an abuse of process.

27. April 2004 0
Administrative law – Coroner’s inquest – Judicial review – Administrative tribunals – Delay – Stay of proceedings – Hearings – Unreasonable delay – Test Loblaws Supermarkets Ltd. v. Shand Inquest (Coroner of), [2004] O.J. No. 619, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, February 16, 2004, Swinton J. Patrick Shand Jr. died on September 14, 1999 while involved in ...

Ms. Neto successfully appealed a decision of the Consent and Capacity Board (the “Board”) that had determined that she was not capable of consenting to the administering of several medications to treat bipolar affective disorder

20. April 2004 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Consent and Capacity Board – Capacity – Test – Right to refuse medical treatment – Mental health – Consent to treatment – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation Neto v. Klukach, [2004] O.J. No. 394, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, February 10, 2004, Day J. Ms. Neto is a ...

A former school teacher (“Lurette”) who had been terminated from his employment after an investigation into a complaint alleging that he had engaged in sexual conduct with a student successfully applied for judicial review to quash the Board of Adjudication’s decision upholding the Province of New Brunswick’s decision to have him dismissed. Lurette alleged that the role of the Chair of the Board of Adjudication (“Poirier”) as an employee of the Service New Brunswick subsequent to the hearing but prior to the Board of Adjudication’s decision being rendered, created a reasonable apprehension of bias.

25. November 2003 0
Administrative law – Teachers – Disciplinary proceedings – Adjudication – Judicial review – Reasonable apprehension of bias – test – Procedural fairness – Natural justice Lurette v. New Brunswick (Minister of Education), [2003] N.B.J. No. 353, New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench, September 19, 2003, Young J. The court reviewed the principles of fundamental justice as including ...

An inmate at Springhill Penitentiary, with a 35-year history of smoking marijuana prior to his incarceration (“Patriquen”), brought a motion seeking an interlocutory injunction requiring Health Canada to provide him with marijuana in accordance with his recently granted exemption from the provisions of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, an exemption which allowed him to use cannabis to treat medical conditions. The Federal Court held that Patriquen failed to provide evidence illustrating that the injunction should be granted.

28. October 2003 0
Administrative law – Prisons – Use of narcotics – Medicinal use of marijuana – Judicial review – Evidence – Remedies – Injunctions – Test Patriquen v. Canada (Correctional Service), [2003] F.C.J. No. 1186, Federal Court, July 29, 2003, Blais J. Patriquen was incarcerated in September of 2002 after being charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose ...

The Respondent (“Starson”) was admitted to hospital after being found not criminally responsible for making death threats, whereupon the Ontario Review Board ordered his detention for 12 months. At that time, Starson refused medical treatment proposed by his psychiatrist for his bipolar disorder. The Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario (the “Board”) held that Starson lacked the capacity to refuse treatment. The Ontario Superior Court overturned the finding of incapacity and the Court of Appeal upheld this finding. The majority of the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, finding that the Board misapplied the statutory test for capacity and improperly allowed its own conception of Starson’s best interests to influence its finding. The Board’s finding of incapacity could not be upheld.

26. August 2003 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Consent and Capacity Board – Adult in need of protection – Mental health – Substitute decision maker – Right to refuse medical treatment – Capacity – Test – Judicial review – Standard of review – Reasonableness Starson v. Swayze, [2003] S.C.J. No. 33, Supreme Court of Canada, June ...

The applicants’ employer unsuccessfully sought an Order removing the arbitrator of a constructive dismissal claim and declaring void an arbitration between the applicant and the respondent employee on the grounds of reasonable apprehension of bias. The allegation of reasonable apprehension of bias was based on a lawyer in the arbitrator’s law firm obtaining information from a client and writing a letter on his behalf to a subsidiary of the parent corporation of a party to the arbitration. No reasonable apprehension of bias was found and the application was characterized as an opportunistic attack on the arbitration and attempt to derail the arbitration. Costs on a partial indemnity scale were awarded to the respondent to sanction the applicants’ conduct.

22. April 2003 0
Administrative law – Arbitration and award – Arbitrators – Judicial review – Reasonable apprehension of bias – Test A.T. Kearney Ltd. v. Harrison, [2003] O.J. No. 438, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, February 10, 2003, Lax J. Following a 26-day arbitration concerning a wrongful dismissal claim, the employer applied pursuant to the Arbitration Act, 1991 S.O. ...

The Petitioner sought leave under section 31 of the Commercial Arbitration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.55 to appeal the decision of an Arbitrator in a motor vehicle case who awarded court order interest to the Respondent motorist (“Lopatka”) after the initial award for damages had been made. The court refused to grant leave, holding that the merits of the appeal did not have sufficient substance to warrant leave and it was important that the principle of finality in arbitrations be maintained.

27. August 2002 0
Administrative law – Motor vehicle accidents – Arbitration and award – Arbitrators – Jurisdiction – Appeals – Leave to appeal – Test Maruna v. Lopatka, [2002] B.C.J. No. 1706, British Columbia Supreme Court, July 19, 2002, Brooke J. Lopatka was involved in four motor vehicle accidents. Pursuant to section 148 of the Regulations to the Insurance ...