ABLawg - - Page 160

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: The Unfortunate Incident of the TWU Intervention Decisions

Cases Commented On: Trinity Western University, et al. v Law Society of Upper Canada, SCC file no 37209; Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University, et al, SCC file no 37318

On July 27, 2017 Justice Wagner denied intervenor status to 17 of 26 applicants in the Trinity Western University cases before the Supreme Court, including the applications of all LGBTQ+ identifying groups. Following an immediate and negative public reaction, particularly on social media, Chief Justice McLachlin used her scheduling power to add a second day to the TWU hearings, and then extended intervention status to the 17 applicants whom Justice Wagner originally rejected (Both orders can be found here). Two days later, Justice Wagner gave an interview to the Globe and Mail explaining that he had “no intention to exclude” members of the LGBTQ+ community, and that he and the Chief Justice had decided together how best to proceed after “he was made aware of concerns on social media”. The Supreme Court also issued a News Release explaining what had occurred.

Abandonment Expenses are for the Joint Account

By Nigel Bankes

On September 6, 2017

In Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Abandonment Expenses are for the Joint Account

Case Commented On: Spyglass Resources Corp v Bonavista Energy Corporation, 2017 ABQB 504 (CanLII)

In this decision Justice Jones rejected a series of technical arguments raised by the receiver of Spyglass (Ernst and Young) to resist payment of abandonment costs. The receiver had argued that Bonavista had abandoned co-owned assets for its own account rather than the joint account and that Bonavista was not able to set-off revenues attributable to Spyglass’s interest against Spyglass’s share of abandonment obligations.

Squabble Over Alberta Dental Fees Highlights Broader Need to Rethink What is Publicly Insured

By Lorian Hardcastle

On September 5, 2017

In Health Law

By: Lorian Hardcastle

PDF Version: Squabble Over Alberta Dental Fees Highlights Broader Need to Rethink What is Publicly Insured

A 2016 government report revealed that dental procedures cost up to 44% more in Alberta than in neighbouring provinces. In addition, 62% of Albertans reported limiting dental visits due to cost concerns. The resulting fallout from this 2016 report led the Alberta Dental Association and College (ADAC) to respond with a new fee guide on August 17, 2017. When the ADAC stopped publishing its fee guide in 1997, Alberta became the only province without such a guide, which may have contributed to the current high cost of dental care. Although dentists are not bound by the fees listed in these guides, they can encourage price competition, improve transparency, and better inform patients. Alberta’s Minister of Health was “not satisfied” with the new guide, which proposed a 3% across-the-board reduction in dental fees. She stated that Albertans “deserve better” and has sent the ADAC back to the table to rethink the new fee guide.

In Defence of Lawyers Who Lose

By Alice Woolley

On August 29, 2017

In Ethics and the Legal Profession

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: In Defence of Lawyers Who Lose

Case Commented On: Engel v Edmonton Police Association, 2017 ABQB 495 (CanLII)

In September 2008 the Edmonton Police Association published an article on its website about cases brought to the Law Enforcement Review Board by Edmonton lawyer Tom Engel, his law firm, and the Edmonton Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association. The Law Enforcement Review Board is the independent quasi-judicial body charged with hearing appeals related to complaints from the public about police officers. The Police Association article claimed that Engel’s firm before the Board was “O for 28!”, that it had a “dismal record” and that in “more than a third of the cases” the firm “started something and failed to finish”: “After 28 incidents of cry wolf, when does someone call B.S.?” (at para 40). The article went on to ask whether this was “incompetence”, “extreme incompetence” or whether “something else was going on here” and queried, “when do these complaints and appeals become frivolous and vexatious?” (at para 41).

What Should Require Federal Impact Assessment? Proposed Triggers for a Credible Federal Impact Assessment Regime

By Sharon Mascher

On August 22, 2017

In Environmental

By: Sharon Mascher

PDF Version: What Should Require Federal Impact Assessment? Proposed Triggers for a Credible Federal Impact Assessment Regime

Document Commented On: Environmental and Regulatory Reviews Discussion Paper, Government of Canada, June 2017

On June 29, 2017, the Government of Canada released a Discussion Paper outlining a series of “system-wide changes” under consideration “to strengthen Canada’s environmental assessment and regulatory processes” (at 7). In earlier posts, I provide an overview of the Discussion Paper; Professor Bankes discusses the Discussion Paper’s response to the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board; and Professor Kwasniak considers how to fill the gaps in the Discussion Paper to regain public trust in federal assessment processes. Professor Kwasniak’s post focuses, in particular, on the core questions of what impacts should be assessed, to what end impacts should be assessed, and how assessments should figure in decision-making relating to project approval or disapproval. This post focuses on filling the gaps in the Discussion Paper relating to another core question—what should require federal impact assessment? The answer to this question is, of course, central to the Government of Canada’s commitment to deliver credible impact assessment and regulatory processes that both regain public trust and protect the environment.