ABLawg

By: Theresa Yurkewich

PDF Version: Adieu à la Langue Française

Case Commented On: Caron v Alberta, 2015 SCC 56

Introduction

Gilles Caron and Pierre Boutet, the appellants, were charged with traffic offences under section 34(2) of the Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation, Alta. Reg. 304/2002 and sections 160(1) and 115(2) of the Traffic Safety Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. T-6. Both pieces of legislation were written and published solely in English, as permitted by Alberta’s Languages Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. L-6. Mr. Caron and Mr. Boutet, however, argued that by enacting legislation solely in English, the Alberta legislature was acting contrary to the constitutional obligation of legislative bilingualism (i.e. the duty to enact in both English and French). Mr. Caron and Mr. Boutet, therefore, argued that both pieces of legislation should be held inoperative to the extent they violate this principle.

As framed by the Court, the issue presented was “whether the Languages Act is ultra vires or inoperative insofar as it abrogates a constitutional duty owed by Alberta to enact, print, and publish its laws in English and in French.” The trial judge at the Provincial Court of Alberta answered this question in the affirmative (2008 ABPC 232), but this decision was reversed by the Court of Queen’s Bench (2009 ABQB 745), and the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by the appellants (2014 ABCA 71).

ABlawg: The Year in Review, 2015

By Admin

On December 14, 2015

In Uncategorized

PDF Version: ABlawg: The Year in Review, 2015

It is that time of year again – time for ABlawg to put together a compilation of our highlights from the past year. It is also the 10^th anniversary of the Clawbies, and we have included a list of some of our favourite Canadian Law Blogs here as well.

The Next Shot in the Constitutional Debate Over Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Firearms Offences

By Erin Sheley

On December 10, 2015

In Constitutional, Criminal

By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: The Next Shot in the Constitutional Debate Over Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Firearms Offences

Case Commented On: R v Friesen, 2015 ABQB 717

The Court of Queen’s Bench has found a new constitutional limitation on Parliament’s attempt to impose mandatory minimum sentences for firearms offences. Just on the heels of R v Nur, 2015 SCC 15, where the Supreme Court struck down three- and five-year mandatory minimums for possession offences under section 95 of the Criminal Code, Mr. Justice Vital O. Ouellette has, in R v Friesen, 2015 ABQB 717, held an identical sentencing provision to be likewise unconstitutional for trafficking offences under section 99. This case suggests that Nur could have marked the beginning of widespread dismantling of the Criminal Code’s policy of gun-related mandatory minimums. In both Friesen and Nur the courts’ concerns are the same: the risk of discrepancy between the prototypical violent offenders targeted by the minimums and the potentially far less culpable parties who might be swept along by them.

Setting Aside Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Orders for Problems with Service: It Can’t Be Done

By Jonnette Watson Hamilton

On December 7, 2015

In Landlord/Tenant

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: Setting Aside Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Orders for Problems with Service: It Can’t Be Done

Case Commented On: Abougouche v Miller, 2015 ABQB 724 (CanLII)

As the recently-appointed Master in Chambers, James R. Farrington, clearly and concisely sets out in Abougouche v Miller, there is no way for a tenant to have an order made by the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) set aside if a tenant fails to appear at the hearing before a Tenancy Dispute Officer because the tenant did not receive actual notice of that hearing. The tenant cannot go back to the Tenancy Dispute Officer; that person only has the power to correct typographic, grammatical, arithmetic or other similar errors in their orders, clarify their orders, and deal with obvious errors or inadvertent omissions in their orders (Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Regulation (RTDRS Reg), Alta Reg 98/2006, section 19(1)). The tenant cannot apply to the only body with the power to cancel or vary an RTDRS order — the Court of Queen’s Bench (sections 23(1) and 25(1)(b) RTDRS Reg) — because new evidence is not permitted on appeals (section 25(1) RTDRS Reg) and evidence about service in technical compliance with the regulations but inappropriate nonetheless would be evidence that was not before the Tenancy Dispute Office, i.e., new evidence. So a tenant — even a tenant as apparently well-prepared with legal arguments as the self-represented tenant was in this case — has no opportunity to be heard on the merits. Worse, a tenant like Ms. Miller, who appears to have vacated the rented premises because of significant deficiencies, including internal flooding, seems to be set up by the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), SA 2004, c R-17.1. That Act allows her landlord to serve notice of a RTDRS hearing on her by posting it on the rented premises that she vacated, even if the landlord knows the tenant has vacated those premises, even if she vacated for good reasons, and even if the landlord is still in regular communication with the tenant by email and text messages about the deficiencies in the rented premises (section 57(3) RTA).

The Residential Tenancies Act and Domestic Violence: Facilitating Flight?

By Jennifer Koshan

On December 4, 2015

In Landlord/Tenant, Property, State Responses to Violence

By: Jennifer Koshan and Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: The Residential Tenancies Act and Domestic Violence: Facilitating Flight?

Legislation Commented On: Bill 204: Residential Tenancies (Safer Spaces for Victims of Domestic Violence) Amendment Act, 2015

Bill 204, the Residential Tenancies (Safer Spaces for Victims of Domestic Violence) Amendment Act, 2015, was introduced by Deborah Drever, Independent MLA for Calgary-Bow, to mark Family Violence Prevention Month on November 15, 2015. At that time, MLA Drever stated that “This bill seeks to empower and support survivors of violence by removing some of the barriers to leaving an unsafe home environment.” (Hansard, November 15, 2015). At Second Reading on November 16, 2015, MLAs from all parties expressed support for the Bill, which passed unanimously. Perhaps most powerful was the statement of the MLA for Lethbridge-East, Maria Fitzpatrick, who told her own story of domestic violence and the barriers to leaving her former spouse (Hansard, November 16, 2015). Amendments to the Bill were agreed to and introduced by the Committee of the Whole on November 30, 2015. This post will describe the ways in which Bill 204, as amended, proposes to revise the Residential Tenancies Act, SA 2004 cR-17.1, and will raise a number of issues that the Legislature may wish to consider before it passes the Bill in final form.