Federal Court of Appeal Rejects Another Attempted Appeal of the TMX Leave Decision

Posted on October 23, 2019 by David V Wright

By: David V. Wright, Martin Olszynski, and Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Federal Court of Appeal Rejects Another Attempted Appeal of the TMX Leave Decision

Case Commented On: Raincoast Conservation Foundation v Canada (Attorney General), 2019 FCA 259

The FCA has released another ruling in relation to its earlier leave decision on the consolidated TMX legal challenges (Raincoast Conservation Foundation v Canada (Attorney General), 2019 FCA 224 (Can LII); for our post on that decision see here). In this latest ruling the panel (including Justice David Stratas – who had authored the original decision) dismissed an attempted appeal (at para 4) brought by two NGOs. The panel reiterated Justice Stratas’ previous conclusion in Ignace v Canada (Attorney General), 2019 FCA 239 (for our post on that decision see here) that “appeals cannot be brought from this Court to this Court” and again pointing to the lack of any statutory basis for the FCA to hear such an appeal (at paras 7-9). Continue reading →

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Canadian Cannabis Regulation Part II: Edibles, Extracts, and Topicals

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Lorian Hardcastle

By: Lorian Hardcastle

PDF Version: Canadian Cannabis Regulation Part II: Edibles, Extracts, and Topicals

Legislation Commented On: Cannabis Regulations, SOR/2018-144

In October 2018, the federal government legalized the sale and possession of recreational dried cannabis, cannabis oil, and fresh cannabis, plants, and seeds. Effective October 17, 2019, these legal changes were extended to four additional categories of products: edible cannabis (including food and beverages), cannabis extracts for ingestion (typically in capsule form), cannabis extracts for inhalation, and topical cannabis (products for external use on skin, hair, and nails). Continue reading →

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Judges, Parliament, Brexit and Constitutional Change: Echoes of Stockdale v Hansard (1839)

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Lyndsay Campbell

By: Lyndsay Campbell

PDF Version: Judges, Parliament, Brexit and Constitutional Change: Echoes of Stockade v Hansard (1839)

Matter Commented On: R (on the application of Miller) v The Prime Minister; Cherry et al vAdvocate General for Scotland, [2019] UKSC 41, available here: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2019-0192-judgment.pdf.

In making its recent decision to nullify Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom waded into deep constitutional water, raising the question of constitutional precedent and arguments about the propriety of judicial intervention in “political” matters. This comment describes the Miller decision and considers it against the backdrop of another huge constitutional controversy that began to unfold in London in 1838.

Continue reading →

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Clare’s Law: Unintended Consequences for Domestic Violence Victims?

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Jennifer Koshan

By: Jennifer Koshan and Wanda Wiegers

PDF Version: Clare’s Law: Unintended Consequences for Domestic Violence Victims?

Bill Commented On: Bill 17, Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act

On Wednesday the Alberta government introduced Bill 17, the Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act. Plans for this law were announced during the spring 2019 election campaign by the United Conservative Party (UCP). Given that the UCP voted against several measures to combat violence against women introduced by the previous NDP government, it is worth exploring why this government might prioritize such a law and what its impacts – both intended and unintended – might be. Continue reading →

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Everything You Wish You Didn’t Need to Know About the Alberta Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Martin Olszynski

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: Everything You Wish You Didn’t Need to Know About the Alberta Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns

Matter Commented On: The Alberta Inquiry, OC 125/2019

“Good faith” in this context…means carrying out the statute according to its intent and for its purpose; it means good faith in acting with a rational appreciation of that intent and purpose and not with an improper intent and for an alien purpose; it does not mean for the purposes of punishing a person for exercising an unchal­lengeable right; it does not mean arbitrarily and illegally attempting to divest a citizen of an incident of his civil status.

Roncarelli v Duplessis, [1959] SCR 121, 1959 CanLII 50 (SCC) at 143 (per Rand J) Continue reading →

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