Author Archives: Shaun Fluker

About Shaun Fluker

B.Comm. (Alberta), LL.B. (Victoria), LL.M. (Calgary). Associate Professor. Please click here for more information.

Occupier’s Liability Arises at the Garage Party

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Occupier’s Liability Arises at the Garage Party

Case Commented On: Motta v Clark, 2016 ABQB 211

This recent judgment written by Mr. Justice R.J. Hall caught my attention because the facts are a scenario with which I am familiar and I suspect other readers are as well: The impromptu garage party hosted by a neighbour. While some of us actually park vehicles in our garage, others turn their garage into a very comfortable social venue fully equipped with a state-of-the-art sound system, stocked beer and wine fridge, humidor, gas heating, and possibly even lounge chairs. In these households, the garage takes on the persona of a “man-cave”, where neighbours and friends get together for small talk in the surroundings of golf clubs, hockey nets, skis, bikes, tires, wrenches, air compressors, camping gear, dogs and a table saw. On the odd festive occasion, the garage becomes a sort of time vortex where you step in during the early evening and the next thing you remember is walking out the next morning. Motta v Clark tells the story of such a garage party gone wrong, and provides a word of caution for those who host such parties. It also reads like a tragedy of sorts, with the downfall of a friendship being played out in cross-examination before Justice Hall at the Court of Queen’s Bench.

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Does the Standard of Review Analysis Apply to a Vires Determination of Subordinate Legislation?

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Does the Standard of Review Analysis Apply to a Vires Determination of Subordinate Legislation?

Case Commented On: Sobeys West Inc v Alberta College of Pharmacists, 2016 ABQB 138

The substance of the dispute in this decision is whether a prohibition enacted by the Alberta College of Pharmacists is lawful. Specifically, in April 2014 the College voted to amend its Code of Ethics to prohibit pharmacists from providing inducements – such as loyalty program points or other forms of consumer purchase rewards – to a patient for the acquisition of a drug or a service from them. The College provides a description of the inducement issue and its rationale for the prohibition here. Sobeys challenges the lawfulness of this prohibition, and thus seeks judicial review. It seems that the standard of review to be applied in this case became a significant issue in the hearing, and this decision by the Honourable Mr. Justice V.O. Ouellette is the Court’s reasons for selecting correctness – notwithstanding that both Sobeys and the College had agreed the standard should be reasonableness. The decision illustrates, or perhaps exposes, some uncertainty in the application of administrative law principles to legislative acts by delegates of the Legislature, and unfortunately I am not sure the reasoning provided by Justice Ouellette is helpful in resolving this uncertainty.

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The Public Interest Exception to the Normal Costs Rule in Litigation

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: The Public Interest Exception to the Normal Costs Rule in Litigation

Case Commented On: Gendre v Fort Macleod, 2016 ABQB 111

This judgment by Madam Justice K.D. Nixon touches on the public interest exception to the normal rule in Canadian law that the unsuccessful party in litigation is liable to the successful party for either a portion of or all the successful party’s legal costs (commonly known as ‘costs follow the event’). The substantive matter in this case involved an application by the Mayor of Fort Macleod seeking to have the Court set aside bylaws and resolutions passed by the Council of the Town of Fort Macleod which removed the Mayor’s powers. The Mayor argued the passage of such bylaws and resolutions amounted to an abuse of process by the Council. Justice Nixon dismissed this judicial review application in Gendre v Fort Macleod, 2015 ABQB 623, and the media reported that the Council sought approximately $100,000 in legal costs against the Mayor. One of the arguments put forward by the Mayor in an attempt to shield himself from costs was that his action constituted public interest litigation.

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Chronicles of the Canadian High Court of Environmental Justice: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society v Maligne Tours

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Chronicles of the Canadian High Court of Environmental Justice: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society v Maligne Tours

Case Commented On: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society v Maligne Tours, 2016 FC 148

In a decision issued February 8, 2016, the Honourable Mr Justice James Russell denied an application by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Jasper Environmental Association for judicial review of a decision made by the Superintendent of Jasper National Park to approve in concept a new accommodation facility for the shores of Maligne Lake. The Applicants argued that the Superintendent acted unlawfully by making this decision outside of his authority and in contravention of the park management plan, and moreover that the decision is contrary to the overall first priority of maintaining or restoring ecological integrity in Canada’s national parks. The legality of the Superintendent’s decision in this matter rests on two determinations: (1) the legal status of the 2010 Jasper National Park Management Plan; and (2) whether the decision is in accordance with the legislated first priority of ecological integrity for the park.

This comment reviews the decision by Justice Russell in an imagined space. In a stunning political move, the Trudeau government has amended the Federal Courts Act, RSC 1985, c F-7 to establish the High Court of Environmental Justice. The mandate of this new Court is to hear de novo appeals from decisions by the Federal Court of Canada on environmental law issues. The Supreme Court Act, RSC 1985, c S-26 was also amended to remove any appellate jurisdiction by the Supreme Court of Canada over the High Court of Environmental Justice, with the exception of environmental cases where a constitutional issue is raised by a party. In announcing the creation of this new Court, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change stated that ABlawg has been selected as the Court’s official reporter.

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Habitat Protection for the Westslope Cutthroat Trout in Alberta

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Habitat Protection for the Westslope Cutthroat Trout in Alberta

Matter Commented On: Critical Habitat of the Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) Alberta Population Order, SOR/2014-241 (November 20, 2015)

On December 2, 2015, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada published a critical habitat protection order issued under sections 58(4) and (5) of the Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29 (SARA) covering identified critical habitat for the westslope cutthroat trout located on Alberta public lands. Over the last 12 months the Faculty’s Environmental Law Clinic assisted the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Timberwolf Wilderness Society in their efforts to see this Order issued by the Minister. This comment revisits the process that ultimately led to this Order and describes the Order itself. At the outset it is worth noting this is only the second critical habitat protection order issued to date under sections 58(4) and (5) of SARA, and the first such order to be applied on provincial lands.

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