PDF version: Access to Justice and Representation by Agents 

Case considered: R. v. Frick, 2010 ABPC 280

Cutbacks to legal aid are a harsh reality in Alberta and the rest of Canada. As noted on the website of Legal Aid Alberta (LAA), “as of April 6, 2010, LAA’s eligibility guidelines for full representation by a lawyer have decreased by 30%”. This is due in part to the fact that in this province at present, legal aid funding is highly dependent upon Alberta Law Foundation revenue, and this revenue has been adversely affected by the economic downturn. It is also due to government cuts to Legal Aid. Legal Aid has developed a bandaid of sorts through Legal Services Centres, which “provide clients access to legal information, referral and brief services (in family, criminal, civil and immigration matters) with legal advice in immigration and non-family civil matters.” However, these centres exist only in Calgary and Edmonton, deal only with certain legal matters at present, and perhaps most importantly, do not provide full legal representation. Attempts by lawyers such as Dugald Christie and the Canadian Bar Association to bring constitutional claims asserting rights to representation by paid legal counsel in certain circumstances have not been successful. In such a climate, it is not surprising that other actors - such as agents - have stepped into the fray to provide legal services. A recent Alberta Provincial Court case, R. v. Frick, shows that there are legislative and constitutional limits to the role that agents can play in filling the gaps in legal aid.

(more…)

PDF version: Damages for Mental Distress in Breach of Contract 

Case considered: J.O. v. Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School, 2010 ABQB 559 

In J.O. v. Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School, the court awarded the plaintiff damages for mental distress arising from breach of contract. The facts of this case can be found in Alice Woolley’s recent ABlawg post.

The contract in question was one between the student, J.O., and the school. Ultimately, the court grounded its decision on the breach of contract in administrative fairness, finding that, based on the Private Schools Regulation (Alta. Reg. 190/2000) and on case law, the duty of fairness was an implied term of the contract. Having determined that the procedure followed by the school “fell considerably short of meeting [the school’s] duty of fairness” (para. 34), the school was in breach of its contract. The court awarded the plaintiff damages in the amount of one school year’s tuition for breach of the contract of instruction, and in an interesting move, also granted her contractual damages for mental distress, arising from her expulsion.

(more…)

PDF version: What’s the next step when shallow rights become deep rights?

Cases considered: Talisman Energy Inc. v Energy Resources Conservation Board, 2010 ABCA 258; ERCB Decision 2009-050, Nexxtep Resources Ltd., Pool Delineation Application: Redesignation of the Lower Mannville C Pool to Rock Creek, Wilson Creek Field, August 7, 2009; ERCB letter decision, June 23, 2010, unpublished, available here.

The purpose of this note is to update readers on the developments in a set of facts that first came before the courts in 2007 and on which I blogged in July 2008.

The facts

The facts, as outlined in my earlier blog, were as follows:

“Nexxtep purchased certain petroleum and natural gas rights under Crown oil and gas leases from the base of the Mannville through the Rock Creek formation to the base of the Pekisko pursuant to a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) of March 2004 with Talisman. The assets included a horizontal well but not a more prolific vertical well which, at the time of the PSA, both parties assumed to be producing from above the base of the Mannville. Subsequent investigations by Nexxtep established that the vertical well was producing from the Rock Creek formation below the Mannville. When Nexxtep’s requests that Talisman shut in the vertical were unsuccessful, Nexxtep commenced an action [the QB action] and brought an application for an injunction requiring Talisman to shut in the vertical well below the Mannville. Talisman in turn sought an order for summary judgment and in the alternative security for costs.”

(more…)

PDF version: Public Rights Trump Private Privilege  

Case considered: J.O. v. Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School, 2010 ABQB 559

In December 2006 the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School expelled J.O. based on allegations that she had been seen having sex with her boyfriend in the women’s washroom at the Calgary Golf and Country Club. The allegations were “mistaken” (para. 41). J.O. was rather suffering the predictable consequences of teenage drinking and a long-car ride; she was drunk and sick, and her boyfriend was in the bathroom helping to clean her up.

(more…)

PDF version: Justice Received After Nineteen Years. Delay in Walsh Case: What’s to blame?

Case considered: Delorie Walsh v Mobil Oil Canada - Decision on Remedy, September 2, 2010

In a previous blog about the Walsh case, I commented on the delay in this case and how it is an extreme example of why this issue deters some people from making a human rights complaint. Now that Ms. Walsh has received the remedy award in her case-which is in itself interesting to analyze-it is also interesting to analyze what the causes of the delay in justice were.

(more…)

PDF version: Lucy the Elephant v. Edmonton (City) 

Case considered: Reece v. Edmonton (City), 2010 ABQB 538

Lucy is a 34 year old elephant who lives in the Edmonton Valley Zoo. In recent years Lucy has attracted significant media and celebrity attention, as animal welfare activists have campaigned for her transfer to a warmer climate (details on the campaign and Lucy herself are documented here). Activists insist that Lucy is in distress because of her living conditions in the Edmonton zoo. Media celebrities including William Shatner and Bob Barker have called upon the City of Edmonton to allow Lucy to move south. Lucy’s plight has attracted the attention of the local media as well (see “Free Lucy the elephant: protesters“, CBC News). The Valley Zoo insists Lucy is fine and cannot be safely moved.

In the Fall of 2009, ZooCheck Canada and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) retained Ontario lawyer Clayton Ruby to advise them on possible legal remedies for Lucy. In February 2010 ZooCheck, PETA, and a local Alberta resident (Tove Reece) filed an Originating Notice in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench seeking a judicial declaration that the City of Edmonton (as operator of the Valley Zoo) was contravening section 2 of the Animal Protection Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. A-41, in its treatment of Lucy at the Valley Zoo. Associate Chief Justice John Rooke heard the ZooCheck application along with the City’s motion to strike the proceeding under Rule 129 of the Alberta Rules of Court, Alta. Reg. 390/1968. In Reece v. Edmonton (City), 2010 ABQB 538 Justice Rooke grants the City’s motion to strike on the basis that the ZooCheck/PETA application is an abuse of process for two reasons: (1) the application does not conform with the legislative path for bringing this issue to the Court; (2) no individual can bring a civil action to enforce criminal law. Justice Rooke also makes some obiter statements on standing which I comment on below.

(more…)