ABLawg

Canada Study Permit Litigation – Critical Analysis of Inconsistent Jurisprudence on Financial Requirement

On July 12, 2022

By: Gideon Christian

Case Commented On: Ocran v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 175 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Canada Study Permit Litigation – Critical Analysis of Inconsistent Jurisprudence on Financial Requirement

Early this year, Justice Little of the Federal Court released the much-awaited decision in Ocran v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 175 (CanLII). I am not aware of any study permit judicial review litigation that attracted the attention of Canadian immigration lawyers as much as Ocran. The notoriety of this judicial review litigation was based on the fact that it was a test case that the Department of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sought to use to obtain judicial approval for its use of the controversial Chinook software in processing of immigration applications. That approval never came. But the fixation on Chinook software caused many immigration lawyers to miss a very important and controversial judicial pronouncement in Ocran relating to the financial requirement for Canadian study permit applications.

The Importance of Move-In Inspection Reports to the Return of Security Deposits in Residential Tenancies

By Jonnette Watson Hamilton

On July 8, 2022

In Landlord/Tenant

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

Case Commented On: Safri v Maclean, 2022 ABPC 113 (CanLII)

PDF Version: The Importance of Move-In Inspection Reports to the Return of Security Deposits in Residential Tenancies

The judgment of Judge Jasmine Sihra of the Northern Region Provincial Court is a good reminder to both landlords and tenants that a move-in inspection report is required by section 19(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, SA 2004, c R-17.1 (RTA). Not only is it mandatory, but a landlord cannot deduct from a tenant’s security deposit without a move-in inspection report (section 46(5) RTA). That does not mean a landlord cannot sue a tenant for damage to the rental premises that goes beyond normal wear and tear. They can. But Judge Sihra’s decision in Safri v Maclean illustrates that it is much harder for a landlord to win if they do not have a move-in inspection report.

An Example of How Government Delays Access to Information Requests: Pretending to not Understand Them

By Drew Yewchuk

On June 24, 2022

In Privacy

By: Drew Yewchuk

Decision Commented On: Re Health, 2022 CanLII 51351 (AB OIPC) (Order F2022-25)

PDF Version: An Example of How Government Delays Access to Information Requests: Pretending to not Understand Them

Re Health, Order F2022-25 is a decision from an adjudicator at the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) ordering Alberta Health to respond to an access request that Alberta Health had wrongly refused to process. The conduct of Alberta Health described in the decision is a good illustration of the strategies used by public bodies in Alberta to defeat access requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, c F-25 (FOIP)

The Alberta Sovereignty Act and the Rule of Law

By Martin Olszynski

On June 22, 2022

In Constitutional, Rule of Law

By: Martin Olszynski, Jonnette Watson Hamilton, and Shaun Fluker

Matter Commented On: The Alberta Sovereignty Act and the Free Alberta Strategy

PDF Version: The Alberta Sovereignty Act and the Rule of Law

Last week, United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership hopeful Danielle Smith announced that, upon her election as Premier, she would introduce the Alberta Sovereignty Act, legislation described as the “cornerstone” of the Free Alberta Strategy (Strategy), published back in the fall of 2021 (see story here). Briefly, this law would purport to grant the Alberta Legislature the power “to refuse enforcement of any specific Act of Parliament or federal court ruling that Alberta’s elected body deemed to be a federal intrusion into an area of provincial jurisdiction” (Strategy at 22). Legal academics have dismissed the idea as one that would clearly offend Canada’s constitutional order, but to date mainstream media commentary has failed to acknowledge the fundamentally unlawful and undemocratic nature of this proposal.

Anti-SLAPP Legislation in Ontario Developing into a Procedural Framework Post-Pointes Protection

By Shaun Fluker

On June 15, 2022

In Civil Procedure, Vexatious Litigants

By: Shaun Fluker

Case Commented On: Dent-X Canada v Houde, 2022 ONCA 414 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Anti-SLAPP Legislation in Ontario Developing into a Procedural Framework Post-Pointes Protection

This very short post has a simple purpose: to make the point that Alberta is falling behind Ontario (and British Columbia) in the development of anti-SLAPP procedures. Anti-SLAPP legislation provides a procedural mechanism for persons to seek and obtain summary dismissal of litigation solely intended to strategically suppress expression on matters related to the public interest.