ABLawg

By: Linda McKay-Panos

PDF Version: Accommodation is a Challenging Issue for Employers, Employees and Human Rights Commissions

Case commented on: Robinson v Edmonton (City), 2014 ABQB 29

It is perhaps only logical that since physical disability is the most common ground and employment is the most common area for discrimination claims in Alberta, accommodation would be a recurring issue in this context (see Alberta Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2012-13). Employers (as well as service providers, landlords, etc.) have a duty to accommodate employees who experience discrimination to the point of undue hardship.

The Utilities Commission and the Court are Powerless to Prevent Unjustly Discriminatory Rates; The Fat Lady is Singing – Loudly

By Nigel Bankes

On February 12, 2014

In Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Utilities Commission and the Court are Powerless to Prevent Unjustly Discriminatory Rates; The Fat Lady is Singing – Loudly

Case commented on: Williams Energy (Canada) Inc v Alberta Utilities Commission, 2014 ABCA 51

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the scheme of the Gas Utilities Act, RSA 2000, c. G-5 (GUA) reserves to the Lieutenant Governor in Council the exclusive authority to determine which gas utilities will be subject to regulation by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). Thus, while the AUC may make declaratory findings that an entity is a gas utility and that the utility is charging unjustly discriminatory rates, such declaratory findings are empty remedies for the customers of that utility unless and until the Lieutenant Governor in Council can be persuaded to make an Order in Council (OC) bringing that utility under full rate regulation.

The More Things Change…. A Post-McKercher Conflicts Case

By Alice Woolley

On February 11, 2014

In Ethics and the Legal Profession

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: The More Things Change…. A Post-McKercher Conflicts Case

Case Commented on: MTM Commercial Trust v Statesman Riverside Quays Ltd. 2014 ABQB 16

In his decision in MTM Commercial Trust v Statesman Riverside Quays Ltd. Justice Macleod determined whether Bennett Jones LLP could act for Matco Group, a client of many years, in a dispute with the Statesman Group, for whom Bennett Jones acted on a very limited retainer, and who had been advised that Bennett Jones would act for Matco in the event of a future dispute between the two clients. Somewhat surprisingly, Justice Macleod held that Bennett Jones could not represent Matco. In this comment I will suggest that this judgment supports the position I set out in an ABlawg post in 2011, that “in actual cases judges are less concerned with carefully articulating the applicable rules, and more concerned with reaching the right outcome on the facts, all things considered” (The Practice (not theory) of Conflicts of Interest; see also Conflicts of Interest and Good Judgment).

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Pushing Back, Lock[e], Stock and Barrel on the Availability of Summary Judgment in Oil and Gas Lease Cases

By Nigel Bankes

On February 10, 2014

In Civil Procedure: New Rules of Court, Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Pushing Back, Lock[e], Stock and Barrel on the Availability of Summary Judgment in Oil and Gas Lease Cases

Case commented on: P. Burns Resources Limited v Locke, Stock and Barrel Company Ltd., 2014 ABCA 40

This decision of the Court of Appeal confirms that it will be a rare case in which the lessor of an oil and gas lease will be able to obtain summary judgment on the validity of the lease during its secondary term, especially where the third proviso offers a number of circumstances in which “time shall not be counted” against the lessee. In this case the third proviso read as follows:

What is the Test for Leave to Appeal from the Decision of a Regulatory Tribunal in Alberta?

By Nigel Bankes

On February 7, 2014

In Administrative Law, Appellate Practice

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: What is the Test for Leave to Appeal from the Decision of a Regulatory Tribunal in Alberta?

Case commented on: Judd v Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, 2014 ABCA 41

The provincial legislature has chosen to “channel” judicial supervision of the decisions of Alberta’s energy regulators to the Alberta Court of Appeal. The legislature achieves this channeling through two linked provisions in the relevant legislation. The first is a strong privative clause which purports (I say purports because such a measure can never be completely successful for constitutional reasons: Crevier v Attorney General of Quebec, [1981] 2 SCR 220, Dunsmuir v New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9) to exclude ordinary judicial review applications. Then, having purported to close the door, the legislature cracks it open again with a provision that allows an aggrieved party to appeal the regulator’s decision on a point of law or jurisdiction, but only with leave. The leave application is heard by a single judge who is charged with assessing whether the matter should be heard by three of his or her colleagues on the merits of those alleged points of law or jurisdiction. The relevant provisions of the Energy Resources Conservation Act, RSA 2000, c E-10 in force at the time read as follows: