ABLawg

By: Nicholas Konstantinov

PDF Version: The Applicability of Charter Protection to Traffic Safety Laws

Case Commented On: Sahaluk v Alberta (Transportation Safety Board), 2017 ABCA 153 (CanLII)

In Sahaluk v Alberta (Transportation Safety Board), Mr. Justice Slatter, writing for the majority (Madam Justice Bielby concurring; Madam Justice Paperny dissenting), examined the constitutionality of Alberta’s recent amendment to the Traffic Safety Act, RSA 2000, c. T-6 (the ‘Act’), specifically section 88.1. The amendment eclipsed previous provincial administrative licence suspension regimes for impaired driving in its manner and degree of punishment, raising inquiries into whether the province overstepped its legislative power and whether it complied with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Using evidence pertaining to the objectives and effects of the amended licence suspension scheme, Justice Slatter allowed the appeal of the chamber’s judge’s decision upholding the law, and declared that while section 88.1 was valid on federalism grounds, it was in violation of sections 7 and 11 of the Charter.

The Incarcerated Complainant: Submissions to the Minister of Justice

By Alice Woolley

On June 15, 2017

In Criminal, Ethics and the Legal Profession

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: The Incarcerated Complainant: Submissions to the Minister of Justice

Matter Commented On: Investigation by Roberta Campbell of the Incarceration of the Complainant in R v Blanchard, 2016 ABQB 706 (CanLII)

On June 14, 2017, I sent the following letter to Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, Chief Judge Terence Matchett of the Alberta Provincial Court and to the Law Society of Alberta. The letter concerns the conduct of Crown counsel, duty counsel and the judge in the preliminary inquiry into the matter of R v Blanchard, 2016 ABQB 706 (CanLII). It should be noted that the final assessment of the conduct of counsel and the judge in this matter depends on a full review and investigation by those parties; this letter comments only on the transcript and other written materials (as listed in the letter).

The NEB Modernization Report

By Nigel Bankes

On June 14, 2017

In Aboriginal, Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The NEB Modernization Report

Report commented on: Forward, Together: Enabling Canada’s Clean, Safe and Secure Energy Future, Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board, May 2017, and Volume II, Annexes.

This post provides a summary of and preliminary comments on the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board (NEB), which was released in May 2017. The Report begins with an overview of “What the Panel Heard” and then articulates a set of five principles which underlie the Panel’s recommendations. The Panel follows this with a statement of the Panel’s vision for Canada’s regulator of energy infrastructure and then a set of recommendations focused around six key themes for realizing the Panel’s vision. These recommendations constitute the meat of the report. The six key themes are: (1) mandate, (2) relationships with Indigenous Peoples, (3) governance and decision-making, (4) public participation, (5) Î-kanatak Askiy Operations (keeping the land pure), and (6) respect for landowners.

Does a US Entity Have a Cause of Action (Cognizable by the Federal Court) where a Downstream Road/Dyke in Canada Serves to Prevent Dispersion of the Natural Flow of a Transboundary Stream? Answer: No

By Nigel Bankes

On June 12, 2017

In Federal Court, International Law, Water Law

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Does a US Entity Have a Cause of Action (Cognizable by the Federal Court) where a Downstream Road/Dyke in Canada Serves to Prevent Dispersion of the Natural Flow of a Transboundary Stream? Answer: No

Case Commented On: Pembina County Water Resource District v Manitoba (Government), 2017 FCA 92 (CanLII)

The Pembina River is transboundary stream. Its geography is as follows (at para 6 of the judgement):

The Pembina River originates in Manitoba and crosses into North Dakota. It then flows eastwards through North Dakota before joining the Red River, which flows northward back into Canada. Within North Dakota, part of the river is “perched” meaning that it is elevated above the level of the surrounding prairie. When the river overflows these elevated banks, as the appellants allege happens “virtually every year,” the water should naturally disperse.

The gravamen of the plaintiffs’ claim was that (at paras 5 and 6):

…. in the relevant areas of southern Manitoba, there is a 99 foot wide road allowance running parallel to the international border. In or around 1940, a raised road was constructed within this allowance. The road [blocks] the flood waters of the Pembina River from crossing into Canada.

Preliminary Skirmishing in Ongoing Compulsory Unitization Hearings for the Hebron Field

By Nigel Bankes

On June 9, 2017

In Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Preliminary Skirmishing in Ongoing Compulsory Unitization Hearings for the Hebron Field

Case Commented On: ExxonMobil Canada Properties v Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, 2017 NLTD(G) 80 (CanLII)

In this decision Justice Burrage dismissed an application for leave to appeal an interlocutory decision of the Oil and Gas Committee established under the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, SC 1987. c. 3 (the “Federal Accord Act”) in which one of the parties responding to the application of the Chief Conservation Officer (the “CCO”) of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (the “C-NLOPB”) for a unitization order pursuant to the Accord Acts sought to compel production of a legal opinion prepared for one of the other parties.

The Applicability of Charter Protection to Traffic Safety Laws

The Incarcerated Complainant: Submissions to the Minister of Justice

The NEB Modernization Report

Does a US Entity Have a Cause of Action (Cognizable by the Federal Court) where a Downstream Road/Dyke in Canada Serves to Prevent Dispersion of the Natural Flow of a Transboundary Stream? Answer: No

Preliminary Skirmishing in Ongoing Compulsory Unitization Hearings for the Hebron Field