Category: Constitutional Page 67 of 74

Case Considered: Tsuu T’ina Nation v. Frasier, 2009 ABCA 140

PDF version: Rule of Law, Deference and Contempt: Another Chapter in the Black Bear Crossing Dispute

The dispute between the three remaining residents of Black Bear Crossing (BBC) and the Tsuu T’ina Nation was back before the courts on April 6, 2009. On that date, the Alberta Court of Appeal (Justices Peter Martin, Frans Slatter and Sal LoVecchio) heard an appeal by the Tsuu T’ina Nation of the finding of contempt made against it on November 7, 2008 by Justice Jo’Ann Strekaf. The contempt order related to the failure of the Tsuu T’ina Nation to comply with earlier orders requiring it to maintain utilities and water service at BBC while the three residents – Fred Frasier, Florence Peshee and Regina Noel – remained there pending the resolution of their claims for band membership (see my earlier post “Litigation by installments”: Further Developments in the Black Bear Crossing Dispute). While the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in eight short paragraphs, its judgment is replete with lofty legal concepts such as the rule of law and deference that call out to be unpacked.

New Legislation on Film and Video Classification Garners Little Attention

By Linda McKay-Panos

On April 14, 2009

In Constitutional, Human Rights

Legislation Considered: Film and Video Classification Act, S.A. 2008 c. F-11.5

PDF Version: New Legislation on Film and Video Classification Garners Little Attention

Without much attention or fanfare, the Film and Video Classification Act (“FVCA“), S.A. 2008 c. F-11.5 received royal assent on December 2, 2008. It is awaiting proclamation. It is perhaps ironic that the media did not pay much attention to legislation that will certainly affect some of them. It is clear that the legislation that the FVCA will replace is sorely out of date and needs to be brought into the 21st century (e.g., the Amusements Act, R.S.A. 2000, c.A-40, referred to “moving picture machines” and “travelling picture shows”). However, some of the amendments seem to create potential difficulties in implementation. Three aspects of the new legislation merit discussion.

Freedom of Expression, Universities and Anti-Choice Protests

By Jennifer Koshan

On April 3, 2009

In Constitutional, Human Rights

PDF version: Freedom of Expression, Universities and Anti-Choice Protests

Anti-abortion protestors were back in force at the University of Calgary the last week of March following news that on March 16, they pleaded not guilty to trespassing charges laid against them in relation to a similar incident in November, 2008. One might reasonably think that the freedom to express anti-choice views deserves protection on a university campus, a center of academic debate on a range of controversial subjects. Or one might reasonably think that the University of Calgary was justified in advising the Campus Pro-Life group that they could mount their protest, provided they turned their signs – depicting graphic images of the Rwandan genocide, the Holocaust, the Ku Klux Klan and aborted fetuses – inward. But the University is making a different argument, namely that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to universities. I think that view is itself subject to debate.

Assisted Human Reproduction in Canada: It’s a Gnarly World Out There

By Brian Seaman

On March 29, 2009

In Constitutional, Health Law

Considered: Assisted Human Reproduction Act, S.C. 2004, c.2.

PDF Version: Assisted human reproduction in Canada: it’s a gnarly world out there

When 60-year-old Ranjit Hayer of Calgary gave birth via caesarean section to twin boys at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital in early February of 2009, the news spread quickly around the world. She became one of a small but growing number of women who, subsequent to having undergone assisted human reproductive treatments, successfully give birth at ages late in the menopausal cycle, or in a handful of even more extreme examples, after menopause has ended. Indeed, in what is probably the most extreme example of a successful post-menopausal pregnancy to date, a 70-year-old woman in India is reported to have given birth in July of 2008 to twins (see here).

TransCanada’s Alberta Pipeline System now under federal regulatory authority

By Nigel Bankes

On March 23, 2009

In Constitutional, Energy, Natural Resources, Oil & Gas

Cases Considered: National Energy Board, Reasons for Decision, TransCanada PipeLines Limited, GH-5-2008, Jurisdiction and Facilities, February 2008 (posted to the NEB website February 26, 2009)

PDF Version: TransCanada’s Alberta Pipeline System now under federal regulatory authority

It’s official. The intra-provincial natural gas transmission system (the Alberta System), originally built by Alberta Gas Trunk Line Limited, latterly known as NOVA, and part of the TransCanada PipeLines (TCPL) empire since 1998, will henceforward be regulated by the National Energy Board rather than the provincial regulators, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) (for pipeline construction etc) and the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) (for tolls and tariffs etc).