ABLawg - - Page 310

Case Commented on: Wright v College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (Appeals Committee), 2012 ABCA 267

In this recent case, the majority (Justice Frans Slatter, concurred with by Justice Keith Ritter) and the dissent (Justice Ronald Berger) of the Alberta Court of Appeal fundamentally disagreed on the approach to be taken when there are human rights principles at issue in professional discipline matters. Genevieve Wright and Mona Helmer were nurses who were disciplined by the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (“CARNA”) for stealing narcotics and for falsifying related records. Both argued that their addiction to narcotics amounted to a disability under the Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c A-25.5 (“AHRA”). Thus, they argued that their employer had a duty to accommodate such that a modified disciplinary procedure was required under the Health Professions Act, RSA 2000, c H-7 (“HPA”).

The Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) Litigant Case

By Jonnette Watson Hamilton

On October 30, 2012

In Civil Procedure, Family, Vexatious Litigants

PDF version: The Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) Litigant Case

Case Commented on: Meads v Meads, 2012 ABQB 571

This decision by Associate Chief Justice John D. Rooke was the subject of much media attention when it was released. That attention was well deserved. The lengthy and well-researched decision fills a gap in the jurisprudence and scholarship on vexatious litigants by shining a spotlight on and systematically examining a category of litigants for whom Justice Rooke coined the collective term “Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument” (OPCA) litigants. These litigants are distinguishable from the more usual types of vexatious litigants because they use a collection of techniques and arguments sold by people Justice Rooke called “gurus.” His decision is valuable for several reasons: it collects all of the reported Canadian decisions dealing with OPCA litigants, it describes the indicia by which OPCA litigants can be recognized, it describes the concepts they have relied upon and the arguments they have made and why those arguments have all failed in every Canadian court, and it discusses what judges, lawyers, and litigants can do when faced with OPCA litigants.

Manitoba Decision on the Assignment of a Royalty Interest

By Nigel Bankes

On October 26, 2012

In Oil & Gas

PDF version: Manitoba decision on the assignment of a royalty interest

Case Commented on: Campion et al v Radomski et al, 2012 MBQB 267

In this case the beneficiaries of the Milliken estate (the beneficiaries) sought to ignore an assignment of a royalty interest that Milliken had executed during his life in favour of the Manning interests. The parties entitled to the Manning royalty interest sued to enforce that assignment and in this case the court dismissed an application by the beneficiaries (the defendants) for summary judgement.

Natural Gas Storage Rights in Ontario: Questions of Jurisdiction and Interpretation

By Nigel Bankes

On October 25, 2012

In Energy, Oil & Gas

PDF version: Natural gas storage rights in Ontario: questions of jurisdiction and interpretation

Cases Commented On: Tribute Resources v 2195002 Ontario Inc, 2012 ONSC 25 (on the jurisdictional issue) and 2195002 Ontario Inc v Tribute Resources Inc, 2012 ONSC 5412 (on the interpretation issues)

These two decisions represent one example of the efforts of Ontario landowners who claim ownership of natural gas storage rights by virtue of owning the rights to petroleum and natural gas to assert those rights against working interest owners who claim to have acquired storage rights by various old instruments including petroleum and natural gas leases, unitization arrangements, and, in some cases, specific gas storage leases. The cases are part of a broader litigation strategy in which storage owners are trying to negotiate more favourable economic terms that afford them the right to participate in the value that the storage represents to Ontario utilities and generators.

Hockey Night in Alberta

By Jennifer Koshan

On October 19, 2012

In Labour/Employment

PDF version: Hockey Night in Alberta

Decision commented on: National Hockey League Players’ Association v Edmonton Oilers Hockey Corp, 2012 CanLII 58944 (AB LRB)

In the interests of full disclosure, I am a hockey fan, although I would prefer to play shinny or watch my son’s beer league playoffs rather than watch an NHL game. I have much more sympathy for agricultural workers who continue to be excluded from Alberta’s Labour Relations Code, RSA 2000, c L-1, and for the workers recently laid off by XL Foods, than I do for locked out NHL players (although I have even less sympathy for the owners). So it was with some interest but not a lot of sympathy for either side that I read the recent decision of the Alberta Labour Relations Board in National Hockey League Players’ Association v Edmonton Oilers Hockey Corp, 2012 CanLII 58944.

Addictions, Human Rights and Professional Discipline – Will the SCC Wade In?

The Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) Litigant Case

Manitoba Decision on the Assignment of a Royalty Interest

Natural Gas Storage Rights in Ontario: Questions of Jurisdiction and Interpretation

Hockey Night in Alberta