Monthly Archives: February 2010

ABlawg at Two: Assessing Our Impact

February 26, 2010 is the second anniversary of ABlawg. To mark this occasion, we are interested in hearing from our readers about the impact and usefulness of ABlawg.Here are some of the questions on which we would appreciate receiving feedback:

• Are you a subscriber to ABlawg?
• How often do you read ABLawg?
• Have you used ABlawg posts in your work? How?
• Are you aware of ABlawg posts that have been cited by a court, in a legal argument, in an academic article or in another blog post? Please provide details.
• Has ABlawg assisted you in understanding the law in a particular area?
• Have you posted a comment to an ABlawg post? Why or why not?
• How does ABlawg compare with other blogs that you may subscribe to?
• What can we do to improve ABlawg?

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Court of Appeal Decision on Privacy Process Likely to Have Significant Impact on Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner

Case considered: Alberta Teachers’ Association v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2010 ABCA 26

PDF version:  Court of Appeal Decision on Privacy Process Likely to Have Significant Impact on Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner

In a rare move, the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner, Frank Work, issued a strongly worded news release in response to the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Alberta Teachers’ Association v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) (“ATA“). See January 29, 2010, “Commissioner Work expresses Grave Concern over Recent Court of Appeal Ruling.” Mr. Work said, “This decision may have dire implications for every tribunal in this province which has stipulated timelines. There should be a lot of concern on that front.” What prompted this comment?

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MiningWatch Canada v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans): Hoisted on one’s own petard?*

Case considered: MiningWatch Canada v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans), 2010 SCC 2

PDF version: MiningWatch Canada v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans): Hoisted on one’s own petard?

Ecojustice, on behalf of its client MiningWatch Canada, declared victory on January 21, 2010 with the release of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in MiningWatch Canada v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans). In brief, Justice Rothstein for a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the track of environmental assessment conducted by a federal responsible authority pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, S.C. 1992, c. 37 flows directly from the scope of the project as proposed by a project proponent. The decision confirms that tracking an environmental assessment sequentially precedes project scoping under Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and is of obvious significance in the conduct of federal environmental assessment on projects in Alberta on a go forward basis.

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The Availability of Relief from Forfeiture for Non-Payment of a Life Insurance Premium

Case considered: Community Credit Union Ltd. v. Transamerica Life Canada, 2009 ABQB 704

PDF version:   The Availability of Relief from Forfeiture for Non-Payment of a Life Insurance Premium

This is a well-researched and clearly written decision by Justice Keith Yamauchi on an unresolved issue in insurance law. The question is whether relief from forfeiture is available when a life insurance policy lapses for non-payment of premiums. Since 1994, the usual approach of the courts confronted by this question has been to merely assume relief from forfeiture was available and decide on the easier basis that, even if it was available, it was not appropriate to grant it on the facts of the case before them. In this decision, however, Justice Yamauchi decided the legal point and determined that relief from forfeiture was not available. This decision has several points of interest from a property law perspective, which is the perspective I am adopting for these comments. The aspects of this decision that interest me the most are two. The first is the perceived tension between statutorily regulated life insurance contracts and the body of law known as equity, also known as the classic tension between certainty and justice in the individual case. The second is the sharp line drawn, obliterated, and then re-drawn between property and contract.

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The Mackenzie Gas Project and Shale Gas

Matter considered: Alternatives North, Notice of Motion, Mackenzie Gas Project, asking the National Energy Board to order the proponent to provide the Board with an update on the North American gas market

PDF version:   The Mackenzie Gas Project and Shale Gas

The Joint Review Panel issued its assessment of the Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP) at the end of 2009 and attention now turns to the National Energy Board (NEB) which must decide whether (subject to the approval of the Governor in Council) to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the pipeline.

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