ABLawg

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: Interim Measures in a Classic Church Property Dispute

Case Commented On: Bruderheim Community Church v Moravian Church in America (Canadian District), 2017 ABQB 355 (CanLII)

In this brief judgment, Justice Brian Burrows granted an interim injunction restraining the Board of Elders of the Moravian Church in America from interfering with the use of church land and buildings located in Bruderheim, Alberta by the local congregation, formerly known as the Bruderheim Moravian Church and now known as the Bruderheim Community Church. The application of the standard three-part test for an interim injunction is of interest for the “serious issue to be tried” that it discloses, as well as for the understanding of “irreparable harm” applied in the situation of a local congregation being evicted from its place of worship. In addition, this particular dispute appears to have all the elements of a classic church property dispute brought to the civil courts as a last resort as a result of an irreparable rift within a church over a matter of doctrine. The reason for the Bruderheim congregation’s disassociation was a decision by the Moravian Church, Northern Province that individuals were eligible to be clergy regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status.

Recommendations on Implementing the Oil Sands Emission Limit

By Nigel Bankes

On June 27, 2017

In Climate Change, Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Recommendations on Implementing the Oil Sands Emission Limit

Report Commented On: Oil Sands Advisory Group (OSAG), Recommendations on Implementation of the Oil Sands Emissions Limit Established by the Alberta Climate Leadership Plan, dated May 8, 2017, released to the public June 16, 2017 with related news release

One of the planks of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan (CLP) is the adoption of a 100 Megatonne (Mt) cap on greenhouse gas emissions for the oil sands sector. The government introduced and passed the Oil Sands Emissions Limit Act, SA 2016 c. O-7.5 (OSELA) to give effect to this commitment. I commented on the Act as it was introduced as Bill 25 here. While OSELA provides the necessary legal authorization for the cap, many of the details still need to be worked out and then implemented through the regulation-making power in s 3 of OSELA (and see in particular s 3(h)). Recognizing the need for advice on this set of issues Minister Phillips established the Oil Sands Advisory Group (OSAG) in July 2016. The terms of reference are available here along with two mandate letters from Premier Notley here and here.

@CanadaCreep and Privacy: Developing the Tort of Invasion of Privacy

By Emily Laidlaw

On June 26, 2017

In Human Rights, Privacy, Torts

By: Emily Laidlaw

PDF Version: @CanadaCreep and Privacy: Developing the Tort of Invasion of Privacy

As I prepared to write a blog post about the future of privacy the story broke of @CanadaCreep, the Twitter account with 17,000 followers that posted photos and videos of unsuspecting women around Calgary. The kicker was that the material focused on women’s breast, genital and buttocks regions, including upskirting videos (video up women’s skirts). A 42-year-old Calgary man was criminally charged for the upskirting videos, specifically voyeurism, distributing voyeuristic recordings, and possessing and accessing child pornography. However, there are currently no charges related to the other pictures, the bulk of them that focused on specific regions of the female body that were under layers of clothing and not visible to the public. This is unnerving and confusing, because while we expect to be viewed casually when we are out in public, we don’t expect specific body parts to be photographed and distributed to the world. It’s classically objectifying, but more than that, it communicates the message that the second women walk out the door their bodies aren’t theirs.

Charter Violations Inside Prisons: Irremediable in the Name of Protecting the Public?

By Amy Matychuk

On June 25, 2017

In Constitutional, Criminal

By: Amy Matychuk

PDF Version: Charter Violations Inside Prisons: Irremediable in the Name of Protecting the Public?

Case Commented On: R v Blanchard, 2017 ABQB 369 (CanLII)

The applicant in this case, Lance David Blanchard, is a nearly 60-year-old man who committed his first criminal offence (rape) in 1975. His other previous criminal convictions include multiple charges of unlawful confinement, assault (including with a weapon), and manslaughter. Most recently, he was convicted of aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful confinement, aggravated sexual assault, possession of a weapon, threatening to cause death or bodily harm, and breach of a recognizance. He has been designated a High Profile offender, and has been incarcerated at the Edmonton Remand Centre (ERC) since June 2014, in administrative segregation and protective custody. His most recent trial received attention from the media and the legal community because of the incarceration of the sexual assault complainant, “Angela Cardinal” (critiqued on ABlawg by Professor Alice Woolley here and here). Having been convicted in that trial, Mr. Blanchard then sought a stay or a sentence reduction because of the severely adverse conditions he experienced while awaiting trial at ERC.

Law and Morality: Reflections on the Angela Cardinal Case

By Alice Woolley

On June 24, 2017

In Ethics and the Legal Profession

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: Law and Morality: Reflections on the Angela Cardinal Case

What constrains lawyer conduct? I don’t mean in terms of positive law – i.e., the codes of conduct or the decisions of the court. I mean at its source – what is the bottom line restriction on a lawyer’s professional role? I’ve been thinking about this question a great deal following the story of Angela Cardinal– the sexual assault victim who was incarcerated for 5 nights to ensure her testimony in a preliminary inquiry (trial judgment here; media reports here and here). If what happened to Angela Cardinal was wrong (and I think it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t), and if what happened to her involved lawyers (which it did), then how can we identify the constraints on lawyer conduct so as to help them not to do such things?