Category Archives: Human Rights

A Superior Court’s Inherent Jurisdiction to Infringe the Charter Right to a Jury Trial?

By: Admin

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Case Commented On: R v Boisjoli, 2018 ABQB 410 (CanLII)

The decision of Justice Eldon J. Simpson in R v Boisjoli is unusual. On April 5, 2018, the Crown and the accused, Mr. Boisjoli, appeared before Justice Simpson to select jurors for a trial scheduled for the week of April 9. The charge (or one of the charges) was one of intimidation of a justice system participant, contrary to section 423.1 of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46. However, no jury was selected on April 5. Instead, Justice Simpson, by his own motion and under the claimed authority of the court’s inherent jurisdiction, ordered that Mr. Boisjoli’s trial go ahead as a trial by judge alone. Justice Simpson’s order was made because of the anticipated behavior of Mr. Boisjoli, i.e. that he intended to “artificially frustrate the jury selection process” (at para 24) and “disrupt and sabotage” the jury trial (at para 37). There was only a brief mention of Mr. Boisjoli’s Charter right to a trial by jury, and no Charter analysis. Instead, Justice Simpson relied upon an analogy to a section in the Criminal Code that equated an accused’s non-appearance with a waiver of a jury trial.

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The Balance of Confidentiality

By: Anoushka Pamela Gandy

PDF Version: The Balance of Confidentiality

Case Commented On: Campbell v Alberta (Chief Electoral Officer), 2018 ABQB 248

Campbell involves an appeal from a decision of the Chief Electoral Officer of Alberta to sanction Jarrett Campbell and Jaskaran Sandhu during the provincial election held on May 5, 2015. The Chief Electoral Officer applied to the Court of Queen’s Bench for guidance regarding what should be contained in a Certified Record produced by the Electoral Officer under Alberta’s Elections Act, RSA 2000, c E-1 [Elections Act]. The main issue before the court was whether the Chief Electoral Officer was able to redact information that is confidential and irrelevant to the appeal (Campbell, at para 2).

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ABCA Agrees that Long Term Disability Plan was Bona Fide

By: Linda McKay-Panos

PDF Version: ABCA Agrees that Long Term Disability Plan was Bona Fide

Case Commented On: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 1007 v Epcor Utilities Inc., 2017 ABCA 314 (CanLII)

In two earlier rather complex decisions (Epcor Utilities Inc. v International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 1007 (McGowan Grievance) (2015), 22 CCPB (2d) 57, 2015 CanLII 62763 (AB GAA), application for judicial review dismissed; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1007 v Epcor Utilities Inc., 2016 ABQB 574 (CanLII)), Epcor Utilities Inc.’s long term disability plan was held at first glance to discriminate based on age, but was defended because it was a legitimate and genuine (bona fide) pension plan. In an earlier post, I described the lower court’s focus on statutory interpretation of subsection 7(2) of the Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c A-25.5 (AHRA).

After an appeal by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1007 (IBEW), the ABCA (per Justices Ronald Berger, Frans Slatter and Jo’Anne Strekaf) upheld the ABQB’s ruling. Continue reading →

Age Discrimination and Ameliorative Program Protections to be Broadened Under Alberta Human Rights Act

By: Jennifer Koshan

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Legislation Commented On: Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Alberta Human Rights Act

On November 1, 2017, Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Alberta Human Rights Act, had first reading in the Alberta Legislature. As I noted in a post in February 2017, Bill 23 was spurred by a Charter challenge commenced by elder advocate Ruth Adria. She argued that the exclusion of protections against age discrimination in respect of services available to the public and tenancies in sections 4 and 5 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c A-25.5 (AHRA), violated her constitutional equality rights. The Alberta government did not fight the challenge, and consented to an order requiring age discrimination to be added to the AHRA by January 2018. The government then undertook consultations on the apparently thorny issue of how the amendments would affect adult-only condominiums, cooperatives, and apartments. Bill 23 attempts a compromise, and if passed, it will allow some exceptions to the new prohibitions against age discrimination in this context. But there are apparent gaps and uncertainties in the Bill that the government may wish to address, as I will elaborate upon here. Bill 23 will also add to the AHRA a new provision, section 10.1, protecting ameliorative policies and programs, which also merits some commentary. Continue reading →

Buterman’s Appeal on the Issue of Settlements Dismissed: Was that Reasonable?

By: Linda McKay-Panos

PDF Version: Buterman’s Appeal on the Issue of Settlements Dismissed: Was that Reasonable?

Cases Commented On: Buterman v St. Albert Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 734, 2017 ABCA 196 (CanLII) (Buterman, ABCA); Buterman v Board of Trustees of the Greater St. Albert Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 734, 2016 ABQB 159 (CanLII) (Buterman, ABQB 2016)

Jan Buterman wants to have a public airing on the merits of his human rights complaint, but he seems to have been stymied again. The current matter involves two appeals of decisions of the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal (AHRT) on preliminary matters. Hearings on procedural aspects of Buterman’s case have been going on for eight years. The last two cases deal with procedural aspects of the case, and also focus on the standard of review of the procedural decisions made by the AHRT. Continue reading →