Category Archives: Constitutional

Psychological Stress and Workers’ Compensation in Alberta

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Cases commented on: Martin v Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board), 2012 ABCA 248, appeal heard December 10, 2013 (SCC); Ashraf v SNC Lavalin ATP Inc., 2013 ABQB 688

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of Canada heard argument in an Alberta case involving the interplay between federal and provincial legislation providing for the compensation of workers injured in workplace activities.  Workers’ Compensation Commissions from British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia intervened in the case. The Court, which reserved judgment after its hearing, offers the following description of the case on its website:

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The Captive Audience Doctrine: Protecting the Unwilling Listener’s Right to Privacy from Unwanted Speech

PDF Version: The Captive Audience Doctrine: Protecting the Unwilling Listener’s Right to Privacy from Unwanted Speech

Matter commented on: Section 2(b) of the Charter and the Captive Audience Doctrine

Consider the following scenarios:

  • Your lunch on an outdoor patio on Stephen Avenue Mall is interrupted by someone with a bullhorn blaring religious commandments, telling you that if you don’t follow their God, you are going to Hell;
  • You have given up taking your Sunday afternoon naps because a protest group has set up in a neighbouring park and conducts its meetings with the use of amplification which can be heard in your living room;
  • While you wait in line in a government building to pay an invoice, you have no choice but to endure a prayer service being conducted by a grassroots religious organization in the lobby of the building;
  • You are walking to work and someone confronts you, asking you to join their charitable cause.  You decline but the person follows you for several blocks, pressing you to change your mind and once that becomes futile, starts yelling at you.

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Alberta’s Alcohol-Related Administrative Licence Suspension Regime: The Constitutional Challenge and the Challenge to the Evidence

PDF Version: Alberta’s Alcohol-Related Administrative Licence Suspension Regime: The Constitutional Challenge and the Challenge to the Evidence

Case commented on:  Sahaluk v Alberta (Transportation Safety Board), 2013 ABQB 683

Several applicants are challenging the constitutionality of Alberta’s Alcohol-Related Administrative Licence Suspension Regime, which requires those charged with impaired driving-related offences to surrender their drivers’ licences to police and suspends them from driving until the charges are disposed of (when a conviction may result in further driving prohibitions under the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, with no credit given for the provincial suspension). This regime is found in section 88.1 of the Traffic Safety Act, RSA 2000, c T-6, which is being challenged on the basis that it violates the applicants’ rights under sections 7, 8 and 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and is in pith and substance criminal law and therefore ultra vires the Province of Alberta. In this preliminary application, the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Services sought an order striking out parts of three affidavits filed on behalf of the applicants on the basis that they contained “frivolous, irrelevant or improper information” contrary to rule 3.68(4) of the Alberta Rules of Court, Alta. Reg. 124/2010.

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Supreme Court of Canada Expresses Its Opinion on Alberta Privacy Case

PDF Version: Supreme Court of Canada Expresses Its Opinion on Alberta Privacy Case

Case commented on: Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner v United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, 2013 SCC 62 (“AIPC v UFCW”)

This case out of Alberta has been the subject of other ABlawg posts (see here and here), and now the Supreme Court of Canada has made its views known on the constitutionality of Alberta’s privacy legislation. Clearly, the issues that were addressed were of interest across Canada as there were several interveners in the case, including the Attorneys General of Canada and Ontario, the Privacy Commissioners of Canada, Ontario and British Columbia, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and labour and business groups.

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Blind Justice? Accommodating Offenders with Disabilities

PDF Version: Blind Justice? Accommodating Offenders with Disabilities

Case commented on: R v Myette, 2013 ABCA 371

To what degree should courts accommodate the circumstances of persons with disabilities whose crimes attract jail sentences? The Alberta Court of Appeal recently divided on this issue in R v Myette, 2013 ABCA 371. At the original sentencing hearing, Judge Heather Lamoureux found that a jail sentence would be “unduly harsh” in light of Myette’s visual impairment, and ordered a suspended sentence of 18 months for sexual assault and common assault (2013 ABPC 89 at para 16). A majority of the Court of Appeal (Justices Constance Hunt and Jack Watson) found her approach to be erroneous, and substituted a sentence of 90 days in jail, to be served intermittently on weekends.  Justice Peter Martin, writing in dissent, would have dismissed the Crown’s appeal. This post will review the various decisions in this case with a focus on whether sentencing decisions are the proper forum for accommodating the circumstances of offenders with disabilities.

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