British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

Acting on a pro bono basis for the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association as intervener before the Supreme Court of Canada in John Howard Society of Saskatchewan v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General), a constitutional challenge of certain provisions applicable to the adjudication of disciplinary offences in Saskatchewan correctional facilities.

Association for the rights of household and farm workers

Acting for the plaintiff Association for the rights of household and farm workers in seeking authorization to institute (certification) a class action that would challenge the constitutionality of “closed” work permits issued by the government of Canada, which restrict the ability of migrant workers to change employers and makes them vulnerable to several forms of exploitation, abuse, and human and labour rights violations, and to seek compensation on behalf of these migrants.

Coherence over Deference: Regulations Are Subject to Same Standards of Judicial Review as Other Administrative Decisions

Nov. 15, 2024 - In the companion cases of Auer v Auer (Auer) and TransAlta Generation Partnership v Alberta (TransAlta), the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) unanimously confirmed that regulations and other forms of subordinate legislation (regulations) are subject to the robust...

Striking the Balance of Power: Supreme Court Confirms Government Has No Absolute Immunity from Charter Damages When Adopting Unconstitutional Legislation

July 26, 2024 - In its recent decision, Canada (Attorney General) v Power (Power), a divided Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) confirmed that a government can incur liability for damages under section 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) when Parliament or a...

Updated “Ineligibility and Suspension Policy”: Are You at Risk of Losing Your Right to Contract with the Canadian Government?

June 19, 2024 - The new policy provides for increased flexibility in the assessment of a supplier’s conduct, but targets a much broader range of situations triggering ineligibility Introduction The Government of Canada recently updated its “Ineligibility and Suspension Policy” (Policy). This...

Supreme Court of Canada Reprimands Québec Court of Appeal’s Use of “Secret Trial”

June 11, 2024 - In a unanimous decision recently released in Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v Named Person, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) allowed, in part, the appeal from the Court of Appeal of Québec (QCA), which had sealed virtually all the information in the QCA’s records in order to protect the...

The Power and Peril of IP Addresses: The Supreme Court of Canada Weighs in on the Changing Landscape of Online Privacy

Mar. 22, 2024 - The Supreme Court of Canada recently delivered a landmark decision on the privacy rights of Internet users. In R v Bykovets, police investigating an alleged online fraud requested and obtained a suspect’s Internet Protocol (IP) address from a third-party payment processor without a...