By: Jennifer Koshan
Case Commented On: Alberta Health Services v Johnston, 2023 ABKB 209 (CanLII)
PDF Version: Mind the Gap: A New Tort of Harassment in Alberta
The law of torts is as old as the mythical reasonable man, but courts continue to create new torts that respond to changing social circumstances and formally recognize novel legal wrongs. In recent years, courts in Canada have accepted new torts such as intrusion upon seclusion (Jones v Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32 (Can LII)), public disclosure of private facts (ES v Shillington, 2021 ABQB 739 (Can LII)), family violence (Ahluwalia v Ahluwalia, 2022 ONSC 1303 (CanLII)), and harassment (Alberta Health Services v Johnston, 2023 ABKB 209 (CanLII)). In the first three cases, courts focused on gaps in existing legal doctrine and remedies as the basis for creating the new torts. In the fourth case, Johnston, Justice Colin Feasby decided that a tort of harassment was worthy of recognition, in part to explain the use of an existing remedy – common law restraining orders. His analysis is the subject of this post; a subsequent post will discuss Ahluwalia’s creation of the tort of family violence, which was recently overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal (see 2023 ONCA 476 (CanLII)). Continue reading →
