ABLawg

Written by: Linda McKay-Panos

PDF Version: Privacy Legislation Tangles with the Civil Litigation Process

Case commented on:Calgary Board of Education v Alberta (Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2014 ABQB 189

A recent Court of Queen’s Bench decision demonstrates the intricacies of public bodies holding personal information and seeking to use that information in unrelated legal proceedings.

Harold McBain was formerly employed by the Calgary Board of Education (CBE). He was the subject of harassment complaints in 2003, which were settled. In 2007, Mr. McBain was called as a witness in an unrelated proceeding at the Board of Reference (an appeal process that addresses terminations and suspensions of teachers). The CBE sought to use documents and information related to the 2003 harassment complaints in 2007 in order to attack Mr. McBain’s credibility. The Board of Reference ordered that these documents, which had been obtained by the CBE from one of its human resources employees, be fully disclosed to all other parties in the 2007 matter.

Round One of the Electricity Competition Playoffs Goes to the Market Surveillance Administrator: MSA 1; TAU 0. TAU Cannot Hijack the MSA’s Own Proceeding

By Nigel Bankes

On May 21, 2014

In Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Round One of the Electricity Competition Playoffs Goes to the Market Surveillance Administrator: MSA 1; TAU 0. TAU Cannot Hijack the MSA’s Own Proceeding

Decision commented on:AUC Decision 2014-135, TransAlta Corporation, TransAlta Energy Marketing Corp., TransAlta Generation Partnership, Mr. Nathan Kaiser and Mr. Scott Connelly; Complaints about the conduct of the Market Surveillance Administrator, May 15, 2014

Is it possible to ensure a competitive electricity market in Alberta? This is I think the broad issue that underlies the current proceedings before the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) involving the Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) and TransAlta (TAU). Several months ago the MSA filed with the AUC notice of a request to initiate a proceeding against TAU and two of its current or former employees, Kaiser and Connelly (K & C). In brief the MSA is charging these parties with unlawfully manipulating the price of electricity as set by Alberta’s power pool to the advantage of TAU in breach of the Electric Utilities Act, SA 2003, c E-5.1 and the Fair, Efficient and Open Competition Regulation, Alta Reg 159/2009. The MSA seeks to prosecute those charges before the AUC as contemplated by the Alberta Utilities Commission Act, SA 2007, c A-37.2 (AUCA). Days before the MSA took this action TAU, K and C seized the moment and filed their own complaints with the AUC under s.58 of the AUCA alleging that the MSA was abusing its position. To be clear, TAU and K and C knew what was in store for them. The MSA had informed TAU three years ago (March 2011) that it was commencing an investigation and it has spent the time in between diligently collecting information from TAU and building its case. The MSA provided TAU with the draft case against it in November 2013. It is fairly evident therefore that the preemptive filing by TAU, K and C was a strategic effort to seize the initiative, put the MSA on the defensive, and perhaps seek to have the complaints against the MSA heard before the MSA’s own case.

Federal Court of Appeal Clarifies Requirements for Family Status Discrimination

By Linda McKay-Panos

On May 20, 2014

In Human Rights

By: Linda McKay-Panos

PDF Version: Federal Court of Appeal Clarifies Requirements for Family Status Discrimination

Case commented on:Canada (Attorney General) v Johnstone, 2014 FCA 110 (Johnstone, 2014)

In an earlier post (see here) which discussed the case of three women who argued that they were discriminated against on the basis of family status, I included reference to another family status case where a new human rights hearing was ordered (see Johnstone v Canada (Attorney General), 2007 FC 36, [2007] FCJ No 43 (Johnstone); affirmed in 2008 FCA 101, [2008] FCT No 427 (Fed CA)). The Federal Human Rights Commission referred the matter to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT), and in 2013, both the CHRT and the Federal Court agreed that the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) had discriminated against Fiona Ann Johnstone on the ground of family status, by refusing to accommodate her childcare needs through work schedule changes. The CBSA appealed the matter to the Federal Court of Appeal. The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) intervened in the Johnstone case on appeal, arguing that discrimination on the basis of family status is closely related to sex discrimination because most caregivers in Canada continue to be women. (See LEAF Factum here).

Constraining a Landlord’s Ability to Terminate a Residential Tenancy by Raising the Rent

By Jonnette Watson Hamilton

On May 15, 2014

In Landlord/Tenant, Property

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: Constraining a Landlord’s Ability to Terminate a Residential Tenancy by Raising the Rent

Case commented on: Milner’s Aloha Mobile Home Park (1998) Ltd v Jenkins, 2014 ABQB 229 (CanLII)

This is an important decision for residential tenants, with potentially far-reaching impact. If a residential tenant is not in breach of his or her tenancy agreement, a landlord is unable to evict them except for a small number of reasons prescribed by the applicable legislation, either the Residential Tenancies Act, SA 2004, c R-17.1 or the Mobile Home Sites Tenancies Act, RSA 2000, c M-20. But because Alberta has no law limiting the amount by which landlords can increase rent, everyone knows that landlords can force tenants out by raising their rent beyond what they can afford or are willing to pay. This decision by Master Andrew Robertson calls into question that received wisdom. Indeed, by finding that the increase in rent in Milner’s Aloha Mobile Home Park (1998) Ltd v Jenkins was really a notice to terminate a periodic tenancy and of no effect as either a notice to terminate or a notice of a rent increase, Master Robertson’s decision potentially signals a significant shift in the power balance between landlords and residential tenants in Alberta.

The Constitutionality of the Exclusion of Farm Industries under the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Act

By Admin

On May 14, 2014

In Constitutional, Labour/Employment

By: Nelson Medeiros and Robin McIntyre

PDF Version: The Constitutionality of the Exclusion of Farm Industries under the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Act

Legislation Commented On: Workers’ Compensation Act, RSA 2000 c W-15

As part of the Constitutional Clinical Law class at the University of Calgary, we studied the constitutionality of the exclusion of farm workers from four statutes in Alberta; the Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSA 2000 c O-2 [OHSA], Labour Relations Code [LSC], RSA 200 c L-1, Employment Standards Code, RSA 2000 c E-9 [ESC], and the Workers’ Compensation Act, RSA 2000 c W-15 [WCA]. With respect to the WCA, we developed arguments as to why the exemption of the agricultural industries from mandatory inclusion under the Workers’ Compensation Act violates s. 7 and s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. For earlier posts on the constitutionality of the OHSA and LRC see here and here.