Category: Administrative Law Page 26 of 43

Doctors Affected by Hospital Unit Closure Have Minimal Procedural Fairness Rights: Public Program Discretion Tops Individual Procedural Rights

On August 14, 2013

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Cases Considered: MacDonald v Alberta Health Services, 2013 ABQB 404.

It is tempting to view the Alberta Queen’s Bench decision in MacDonald v Alberta Health Services, 2013 ABQB 404 as a simple affirmation that there is no legal right to consultation on government decisions about public programs. See, for example, Canadian Assn of Regulated Importers v Canada (Attorney-General), [1993] 3 FC 199 (TD); rev’d [1994] 2 FC 247 (CA), where a change by the Minister to the distribution of import quota for hatching eggs and chicks affected traditional importers. But little reflection is needed to see that the procedural issues raised by Alberta Health Services’ (AHF) decision to close the obstetrics unit at the Banff Hospital are far more nuanced. The applicant, Dr. MacDonald, who with his wife and partner Dr. Fowke, performed all deliveries at the Hospital in 2012 seemed to be left wondering whether every arguably interested person except he and his partner were consulted and had some input into the closure decision.

Adapting and Using the Law in the Recovery from a Natural Disaster

By Jonnette Watson Hamilton

On July 8, 2013

In Administrative Law, Conferences

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Law on the Edge panel discussion commented on: “Law at the Limits: A Canterbury Tale: Adapting and Using the Law in the Recovery from a Natural Disaster”

The Canadian Law & Society Association and the Law & Society Association of Australia & New Zealand held their first joint conference, “Law on the Edge,” from July 1 – 4 in Vancouver in Allard Hall, UBC Law’s spectacular home. There were over 100 plenary and other panels and roughly 400 participants, mainly from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. One of the most interesting panel discussions that I attended was the “Law at the Limits: A Canterbury Tale: Adapting and Using the Law in the Recovery from a Natural Disaster” panel on July 2, with presentations by five professors from the School of Law at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Until this panel, I had not released the breadth of legal issues involved in recovering from natural disasters. The type of legal issues dealt with by panel members emphasized the systemic effects of natural disasters and recoveries, rather than the impact on individuals, such as the landlord/tenant, insurance, employment, credit/debt, mortgage, condo, and family issues being fielded by the volunteers with Calgary Legal Guidance, Pro Bono Law Alberta, Legal Aid Alberta, Pro Bono Students Canada and Student Legal Assistance in their Southern Alberta Flood Legal Help information and advice sessions. Nevertheless, the “Canterbury Tales” about price gouging, construction cartels, expropriation of condemned properties, unmediated discretion, volunteers’ liability, and other topics should be of broad interest to southern Albertans.

Hop(p)s and Water: A Nice Little Water Rights Decision Out of British Columbia

By Nigel Bankes

On May 31, 2013

In Administrative Law, Natural Resources

PDF version: Hop(p)s and Water: A Nice Little Water Rights Decision Out of British Columbia

Decision commented on: Carolyn Hopp v Assistant Regional Manager Water, 2012-WAT-033(a) (EAB).

The Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) of British Columbia is starting to build up a body of jurisprudence on water rights and especially water licensing decisions in the context of fully allocated or fully recorded streams.

Supreme Court Renders Leave to Appeal Decisions in Several Alberta Cases

By Jennifer Koshan

On April 15, 2013

In Aboriginal, Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Criminal, Supreme Court of Canada

PDF version: Supreme Court Renders Leave to Appeal Decisions in Several Alberta Cases

Cases considered: R v Mack, 2012 ABCA 42, leave to appeal granted, April 11, 2013 (SCC); Métis Nation of Alberta Region 1 v Joint Review Panel, 2012 ABCA 352, leave to appeal dismissed April 11, 2013 (SCC); Fitzpatrick v Alberta College of Physical Therapists, 2012 ABCA 207, leave to appeal dismissed April 11, 2013 (SCC)

On April 11, 2013 the Supreme Court of Canada handed down leave to appeal decisions in three cases from Alberta.

Duty to consult application is premature – what’s the big deal?

By Nigel Bankes

On December 4, 2012

In Aboriginal, Administrative Law, Energy

PDF version: Duty to consult application is premature – what’s the big deal?

Case and decision commented on: Metis Nation of Alberta Region 1 v Joint Review Panel, 2012 ABCA 352 and decision of the Joint Review Panel

In this decision Justice Slatter denied the application of the Metis Nation and of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) for leave to appeal the decision of the Joint Review Panel (JRP) constituted to deal with Shell’s Jackpine Mine Expansion Project application. In its decision the JRP concluded that it did not have jurisdiction to assess whether or not the Crown had fulfilled its duty to consult with respect to the Jackpine Mine Project. In the alternative, the JRP concluded that any application to assess whether or not the Crown had fulfilled its constitutional obligation was premature. The JRP is established by federal\provincial executive agreement and has the responsibility of discharging obligations under both the federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, SC 2012, c 19 and the responsibilities of the provincial Energy Resources Conservation Board under a number of statues including the Oil Sands Conservation Act, RSA 2000, c O-7 – all with respect to the Jackpine Mine expansion project.