Category Archives: Constitutional

R. v. Syncrude Canada: The Case of The 500 (or was that 1600) Dead Ducks

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In a Provincial Court appearance on September 14, 2009, Syncrude Canada pled not guilty to charges laid by Alberta Environment and Environment Canada in relation to the toxic substances in its Aurora Mines tailing pond that resulted in the death of 1600 migratory birds in 2008 (the number of birds was initially thought to be 500, but was revised upwards to 1600 after further investigation). ABlawg has followed this regulatory saga from its inception in January 2009 (see previous posts by myself (R. v. Syncrude Canada: The Case of The 500 Dead Ducks and Environmental Private Prosecution Update: John Custer v. Syncrude Canada) and Jocelyn Stacey (Lame duck constitutional arguments: a new twist on Syncrude’s Tailings Pond Debacle).

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Supreme Court of Canada undermines Trial Judges’ discretion under Charter s. 24(1)

Cases Considered: Bjelland v. The Queen, 2009 SCC 38

PDF Version: Supreme Court of Canada undermines Trial Judges’ discretion under Charter s. 24(1)

In Bjelland v. The Queen, 2009 SCC 38, the Supreme Court of Canada considered the question of whether faulty disclosure by the Crown could lead to the exclusion of the evidence concerned under s. 24(1) of the Charter. The majority, in a 4-3 decision, developed a test for the exclusion of evidence under s. 24(1) and applied it in a very restrictive way. This raises concerns about their respect for the discretion of trial judges as granted by s. 24(1) of the Charter.

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Post-Kapp Decision May Indicate the Way Discrimination will be Determined in Human Rights Cases

Case Considered: Van Der Smit v. Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission), 2009 ABQB 121

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In the past few years, the application to human rights legislation of precedents established under Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms s. 15(1), which set out how a court is to determine whether a claimant has experienced discrimination, was an issue in many Canadian jurisdictions, including Alberta. The issue became more important, when in R. v. Kapp, 2008 SCC 41, the Supreme Court of Canada appeared to re-state (and perhaps even re-formulate) the test from Law v. Canada, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 497, which had been the precedent courts relied on for several years. There are several posts written by ABlawg contributors about the Kapp decision and those which have followed. See, for example: Jonnette Watson Hamilton and Jennifer Koshan, The End of Law: A New Framework for Analyzing Section 15(1) Charter Challenges.

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Who is a Farm Worker? And Why Does It Matter?

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: Who is a Farm Worker? And Why Does it Matter?

Case Commented On: R v Northern Forage Inc., 2009 ABQB 439

Alberta marked its 5th annual Farm Workers Day on August 20, 2009. As in previous years, the event provided an opportunity to advocate for equal protection for farm workers under Alberta’s labour and employment laws. Farm workers are currently excluded from the following laws: (1) protections regarding wages, overtime, holidays, and hours of work (see Employment Standards Code, R.S.A. 2000, c.E-9, section 2(4)); (2) mandatory coverage for workers compensation (see Workers’ Compensation Regulation, Alta. Reg. 325/2002, Schedule A); (3) work-related health and safety protections (see Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. O-2, section 1(s)); and (4) protections related to the unionization of workers (see Labour Relations Code, R.S.A. 2000, c. L-1, section 4(2)(e)). This makes Alberta one of the most lax provinces in Canada in terms of farm worker protection. Groups such as the Alberta Federation of Labour have called for an end to such exclusions, and a recent inquest into the fatality of agricultural worker Kevan Chandler led Judge Peter Barley to recommend that “paid employees on farms should be covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act…” (at 7). Until the Alberta government amends the relevant legislation, however, questions may arise as to which workers are covered by the exclusions.

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Supreme Court grants leave to appeal in Caron

Case considered: R. v. Caron, 2009 ABCA 34, leave granted by SCC August 27, 2009

The Supreme Court of Canada has released its decision on the Alberta government’s leave to appeal application in R. v. Caron. Chief Justice McLachlin and Justices Abella and Rothstein granted the government’s leave application (without costs). As is typical in such matters, no reasons for decision were given. The case concerns an interim costs award that was granted to Caron to help fund his language rights challenge against Alberta legislation. As noted in a previous post, Caron was granted an interim costs award by Justice V.O. Ouellette of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in October 2007. This award was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in January 2009. In the meantime, Caron’s language rights challenge was successful after his Provincial Court trial, and this matter is now under appeal. Regardless of the outcome of the language rights challenge, the interim costs matter is a critical issue for access to justice. The Alberta Court of Appeal held that interim costs awards are available in quasi-criminal matters before provincial courts, and it is expected that this will be one of the government’s grounds for appeal. ABlawg will report on future developments in the case.