Year: 2009 Page 5 of 24

Property as the Right to Use

On October 23, 2009

Case considered: Stout & Co. LLP v. Chez Outdoor Ltd. , 2009 ABQB 444

PDF version: Property as the Right to Use

The conception of property that a person has underlies the way in which that person thinks about property. Attempts to define the concept of property can be seen as a way to explain legal decision-making in property law. At the same time, the way in which we think about property can impact on such decisions. In this post, I will examine the decision of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Stout & Co. LLP v. Chez Outdoor Ltd. (“Stout“). I will consider whether the court is applying a definition of property that is similar to the view of Larissa Katz in her article, “Exclusion and Exclusivity in Property Law” (2008) 58 University of Toronto Law Journal 275. Katz views ownership as a coherent concept that focuses on the right to use and manage the property. I will begin with a brief overview of Katz’s theory, and then set out some important facts and issues in the Stout case. I will then discuss what I consider to be the main reasons for the decision in the case in the context of Katz’s article. I will save discussion of the implications of some things being property only in the context of specific legislation for the end.

Privacy and Video Surveillance on Campus

By Linda McKay-Panos

On October 19, 2009

In Privacy

PDF Version: Privacy and Video Surveillance on Campus

With thanks to Greg Hagen for his helpful suggestions on a draft of the blog.

Recently, I was walking across the campus at the University of Calgary and noticed that there was a display by an anti-abortion group (Campus Pro-Life Club). Because of a dispute over permission to have the display, the University had posted warning signs and barricades. One University sign indicated that the group was videotaping everyone who spoke to the display’s staffers and that this was contrary to the University’s Privacy Policy. Since I am aware that the University uses surveillance cameras, this incident caused me to wonder what rights students, staff and the public have with regard to video surveillance on campus, whether by the University or by others on campus.

Love is in the air at the Energy Resources Conservation Board: A comment on the Petro-Canada Sullivan Field Application

By Shaun Fluker

On October 14, 2009

In Administrative Law, Environmental

Cases Considered: Big Loop Cattle Co. v. Alberta (Energy Resources Conservation Board), 2009 ABCA 301;
Big Loop Cattle Co. v. Alberta (Energy Resources Conservation Board), 2009 ABCA 302;
Petro-Canada Sullivan Field Proceeding

PDF Version: Love is in the air at the Energy Resources Conservation Board: A comment on the Petro-Canada Sullivan Field Application

In separate decisions cited as Big Loop Cattle Co. v. Alberta (Energy Resources Conservation Board), Madam Justice Marina Paperny dismisses two applications by the Pekisko Group et. al. for leave to appeal an Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) ruling concerning the revelation of an ERCB employee involved in a personal relationship with a Petro-Canada employee during a Petro-Canada facility application hearing. Petro Canada proposes to drill sour gas wells along the front range of the Rocky Mountains west of Longview, Alberta, and the Pekisko Group among others opposes the development. In a strange twist, the ERCB ruled on its own partiality in March 2009 and the recent Alberta Court of Appeal decisions flow from that ruling.

Caveator Beware: Damages for Wrongfully Filing a Caveat Can Be Substantial

By Nickie Nikolaou

On October 9, 2009

In Property

Cases Considered: Frisgo Development Inc. v. Brower, 2009 ABQB 463

PDF Version: Caveator Beware: Damages for Wrongfully Filing a Caveat Can Be Substantial

There are very few cases dealing with damages for wrongfully filing a caveat under Alberta’s land titles system. While the facts of this case are peculiar, the award of $140,000 sends a clear message. All caveators should ensure that their caveat protects a valid interest in land when it is filed and at all times thereafter. This is particularly so when parties are engaged in negotiations which may have the effect of altering the nature of the initial property interest.

Unhappy differences arise in R. v. Cunningham

By Alice Woolley

On October 7, 2009

In Ethics and the Legal Profession, Supreme Court of Canada

Case considered: R. v. Cunningham, 2008 YKCA 7

PDF version: Unhappy differences arise in R. v. Cunningham

On November 17, 2009 the Supreme Court of Canada will hear argument in R. v. Cunningham, an appeal of a judgment by the Yukon Territory Court of Appeal released June 25, 2008. If the Court upholds the YKCA decision in Cunningham it would change the law in many other Canadian provinces, including Alberta (R. v. D.D.C., (1996) 43 Alta. L.R. (3d) 1 (C.A.), generally referred to as Ferguson), Saskatchewan (Mireau v. Canada et al., (1995) 128 Sask. R. 142 (C.A.)), Manitoba (R. v. M.B.D., 2003 MBCA 116) and Ontario (R. v. Chatwell, (1998) 38 O.R. (3d) 32 (C.A.)).