ABLawg - - Page 106

Case Commented On: R v JNS, 2019 ABQB 557 (Can LII)

In July 2019, the Honourable Mr. Justice Steven N. Mandziuk of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (ABQB) heard an application for a mistrial and his recusal as the presiding judge over a criminal matter. The Applicant, JNS, sought the remedy due to Justice Mandziuk presiding over both his child support case and his criminal trial. Justice Mandziuk declared that there was no evidence or appearance of judicial bias and dismissed the application.

Bill C-77 and the Quiet Revolution in Military Justice

By Jeffrey Westman

On July 26, 2019

In Uncategorized

By: Jeffrey N. Westman

PDF Version: Bill C-77 and the Quiet Revolution in Military Justice

Statute Commented On: Bill C-77, An Act to amend the National Defence Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, SC 2019, c 15

The Governor General might be forgiven for having a touch of writer’s cramp at dinner time on June 21, 2019. In the Upper Chamber that day, Her Excellency gave Royal Assent to 20 bills. Bills C-48 and C-69 got plenty of media attention, but Bill C-77 seemed to pass without much fanfare despite its significance for the future of military justice in Canada.

Open Access: A Request to the Alberta Court of Appeal

By Admin

On July 25, 2019

In Constitutional, Environmental

By: Admin

PDF Version: Open Access: A Request to the Alberta Court of Appeal

Matter Commented On: Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (Alberta)

There is considerable public interest in questions as to the validity of the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, SC 2018, c 12, s 186 (GGPPA) and the References that have been made to different provincial Courts of Appeal. We now have judgments rendered by both the Saskatchewan and Ontario Courts of Appeal upholding the federal government’s GHG pricing regime: Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2019 SKCA 40 (CanLII) and Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2019 ONCA 544 (CanLII). Appeals are pending in each of these cases.

The Bill 12 “Turn off the Taps” Litigation: Justice Hall Orders a Stay in BC’s Action

By Nigel Bankes

On July 23, 2019

In Administrative Law, Constitutional

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Bill 12 “Turn off the Taps” Litigation: Justice Hall Orders a Stay in BC’s Action

Case Commented On: British Columbia (Attorney General) v Alberta (Attorney General), 2019 ABQB 550

This decision concerns Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act, SA 2018, c P-21.5 also known as the “Turn Off the Taps” legislation. I commented on Bill 12 here and commented on the decision of the Kenney Government to bring this legislation into force here. The decision to bring the legislation into force prompted the Attorney General of British Columbia (AGBC) to renew its application to the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench to have the legislation declared unconstitutional. The Attorney General Alberta (AGAB) responded by bringing an application to strike BC’s application on the basis that the AGBC had no standing to sue for a declaration as to the constitutional invalidity of Alberta legislation. This is Justice Robert Hall’s decision on that application.

Material and Cultural Causes of Delay

By Drew Yewchuk

On July 18, 2019

In Civil Procedure, Constitutional

By: Drew Yewchuk

PDF Version: Material and Cultural Causes of Delay

Case Commented On: R v King, 2019 ABQB 467

This is the seventh instalment in my long-running series of blog posts covering Alberta decisions dealing with the fallout of R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27, released almost three years ago. This post starts with a discussion of the recent R v King, 2019 ABQB 467, which covers one of the two live issues about Jordan that will be going up before the SCC: whether or not the time between when an application or case is heard and when it is decided (often called ‘judicial delay’; I will refer to it as ‘judicial decision-making time’) is excluded from the delay calculation. This issue will be before the Supreme Court as part of R v KGK, 2019 MBCA 9, on September 25, 2019. (The second issue is how the timelines apply to minors, an issue in the appeal of R v KJM, 2018 ABCA 278, which the SCC heard in February 2019). The second part of the blog post discusses some longer-term impacts of Jordan, and some of the limitations of the decision.

Application for Mistrial and Judicial Recusal Denied

Bill C-77 and the Quiet Revolution in Military Justice

Open Access: A Request to the Alberta Court of Appeal

The Bill 12 “Turn off the Taps” Litigation: Justice Hall Orders a Stay in BC’s Action

Material and Cultural Causes of Delay