ABLawg

On March 27, 2008 the Supreme Court of Canada denied Henderson leave to appeal. This result is not surprising given that the Alberta Court of Appeal characterized the issue in Henderson as seemingly straightforward statutory interpretation. However, the denial of leave is disappointing as the case is now an opportunity lost for judicial consideration into the merits of an administrative decision-maker impeaching its own decision.

For the original post on Henderson, click here.

Provincial Court Judges’ Professional Allowances and Judicial Independence

By Alastair Lucas, Q.C.

On April 2, 2008

In Constitutional, Provincial Court

Cases Considered: Reilly v The Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta, 2008 ABCA 72,

PDF Version: Provincial Court Judges’ Professional Allowances and Judicial Independence

Provincial Court Judge John Reilly requested the approval of the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta to use his professional allowance to attend a conference in Caux, Switzerland. The Caux conference’s focus was “Peace – Building Initiatives” and would also be attended by an Elder and three Chiefs of the Stoney Reserve. Judge Reilly’s jurisdiction includes the Stoney Reserve and he has long been interested in the administration of justice to Aboriginal peoples and the Stoney Nation in particular. All of this he set out in his request to the Chief Judge, relying upon the professional allowance established through the Provincial Court Judges and Masters in Chambers Compensation Regulation, A.R. 176/98 (“Compensation Regulation”), which reads:

Just a Bump on the Road to Socio-Ecological Ruin: Federal Court Finds Error in Kearl Oil Sands Project Environmental Assessment

By Shaun Fluker

On March 26, 2008

In Administrative Law, Environmental, Natural Resources

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Just a Bump on the Road to Socio-Ecological Ruin: Federal Court Finds Error in Kearl Oil Sands Project Environmental Assessment

Case Commented On: Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development v Canada (Attorney General), 2008 FC 302

In late 2006, media attention in Alberta was directed to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, home to the Alberta oil sands and boom town Fort McMurray as the modern rendition of the 1800s frontier gold rush. Apparently, the Municipality was about to cook the goose that had laid the golden egg.

Andriet v. County of Strathcona No. 20: Court of Appeal Conjures a Creative Accretion Approach

By Arlene Kwasniak

On March 26, 2008

In Property, Water Law

Cases Considered: Andriet v. County of Strathcona No. 20, 2008 ABCA 27

PDF Version: Andriet v. County of Strathcona No. 20: Court of Appeal Conjures a Creative Accretion Approach

In this important reserved judgment, the Alberta Court of Appeal applied a creative approach to attempt to reconcile uncertainties relating to common law accretion with a Torrens Land Titles system, and in doing so once again found for private ownership of accreted lands over Crown ownership of exposed beds and shores.

The Federal Government’s Climate Change Policy and the Role of Carbon Capture and Storage

By Nigel Bankes

On March 24, 2008

In Carbon Capture and Storage, Climate Change, Natural Resources

PDF Version: The Federal Government’s Climate Change Policy and the Role of Carbon Capture and Storage

In April 2007 the federal government introduced a new greenhouse gas policy, Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions. On March 10, 2008, it tabled a series of additional documents: (1) Taking Action to Fight Climate Change, (2) Regulatory Framework for Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions, (3) Canada’s Offset System for Greenhouse Gases, (4) Canada’s Credit for Early Action Program, and (5) Detailed Emissions and Economic Modelling (all available here). These documents provide further guidance and detail on the implementation of the April 2007 proposals. Further details will be provided when the promised regulations appear in draft form but that will not happen before the fall of 2008.

Supreme Court denies leave to appeal in Real Estate Council of Alberta v. Henderson

Provincial Court Judges’ Professional Allowances and Judicial Independence

Just a Bump on the Road to Socio-Ecological Ruin: Federal Court Finds Error in Kearl Oil Sands Project Environmental Assessment

Andriet v. County of Strathcona No. 20: Court of Appeal Conjures a Creative Accretion Approach

The Federal Government’s Climate Change Policy and the Role of Carbon Capture and Storage