Wednesday: What’s Hot on CanLII

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For the week of November 28 to December 4th:

1. Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp & Paper, Ltd. 2013 SCC 34
   

   [3] The legal issue at the heart of this case is the interpretation of the management rights clause of a collective agreement. This is a labour law issue with clear precedents and a history of respectful recognition of the ability of collective bargaining to responsibly address the safety concerns of the workplace — and the public.

2. Wilson (Re) 2013 CanLII 31599
   

   35. Wilson had the dubious distinction to have had the first positive test for Yohimbine in Canada. Chambers said that Yohimbine has potential performance enhancing characteristics to “pump a horse up” and to make the horse “go faster”. Yohimbine is a “reversal agent” designed to reverse sedation in horses. Chambers said that there are serious potential adverse side effects for the racehorse with the use of this drug.

   The Issue

   49. What is the appropriate penalty?

3. R. v. Brumble 2013 ONCJ 308
   

   2. In early August, 2012 a friend of Mr. Brumble’s offered, in a series of text messages, to hook Mr. Brumble up with a pretty girl with a long nose and six teeth for $1,800. She was a bit old for him, 38, but his friend said she rotated around men. It was the beginning of Mr. Brumble’s misfortune that his private communications were the object of police interception and it didn’t improve things that his code, like most codes used by gun and drug dealers, was rather transparent. The long-nosed girl with dental challenges was easily recognizable to the police as a deal for Mr. Brumble’s friend, Abadir Jimale to sell Mr. Brumble a .38 calibre revolver with six rounds of ammunition. Thus, it was not by sheer coincidence that Mr. Brumble found himself admiring his new girlfriend in the front seat of a van minutes after meeting her only to have the police crash the date and instantaneously place him in custody, where he has remained ever since.

The most-consulted French-language decision was Syndicat canadien des communications, de l’énergie et du papier, section locale 30 c. Pâtes & Papier Irving, Ltée 2013 CSC 34

[3] La question juridique au cœur du présent litige est celle de l’interprétation de la clause de la convention collective prévoyant les droits de la direction. C’est une question relevant du droit du travail qui a fait l’objet de précédents clairs et d’un historique de reconnaissance respectueuse que les négociations collectives peuvent traiter de manière responsable des enjeux de sécurité en milieux de travail — ainsi que de ceux relatifs à la sécurité du public.