Summaries Sunday: Maritime Law Book

Summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book. Every Sunday we present a precis of the latest summaries, a fuller version of which can be found on MLB-Slaw Selected Case Summaries at cases.slaw.ca.

This week’s summaries concern:
Coroner’s inquests / Right to counsel for child / Prisoner transfers / Bankruptcy and non-arms-length transactions / Sentencing / Right to counsel for adult / What constitutes a weapon / Summary judgments:

Silverfox v. Chief Coroner (Yuk.) 2013 YKCA 11
Coroners – Inquests and fatality inquiries
Silverfox died on December 2, 2008, after being held in a police cell used for holding intoxicated people, commonly called the “drunk tank”, for 13½ hours. A Coroner’s jury determined that Silverfox’s death was from natural causes and made several recommendations. 

New Brunswick (Minister of Social Development) v. R.A. et al. 2013 NBQB 217
Civil Rights – Right to counsel – Entitlement – Guardianship cases
R. A. was the biological father of a child. The Minister of Social Development initiated guardianship proceedings against both parents. The biological mother was offered and received state funded counsel. R.A. was denied state funded counsel through the Domestic Legal Aid Program. 

Divito v. Canada (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) et al. 2013 SCC 47
Civil Rights – Mobility rights – General – Prisoner transfers
Divito was extradited to the United States where he pleaded guilty to serious drug offences and was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. He applied for a transfer to Canada under the International Transfer of Offenders Act (ITOA), but the responsible Minister denied his request for a transfer. Divito applied for judicial review . . .

Piikani Energy Corp. (Bankrupt), Re 2013 ABCA 293
Bankruptcy – Setting aside transactions prior to bankruptcy – Fraudulent preferences – What constitutes a non-arm’s length transaction
A bankruptcy trustee applied to set aside pre-bankruptcy payments made by a corporate bankrupt to two individuals, L and M, as being fraudulent preferences (Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), s. 95). L was pre-paid for consulting services. . . .

R. v. Metron Construction Corp. 2013 ONCA 541
Criminal Law – General principles – Corporations – Sentencing
Three workers and a site supervisor employed by Metron Construction Corp. were killed when a swing stage collapsed as it descended from the exterior of the fourteenth floor of a high-rise construction site. Two others survived. . . .

R. v. Manchulenko (M.) 2013 ONCA 543
Civil Rights – Right to counsel – General – Denial of – Evidence taken inadmissible
The accused was acquitted on alcohol related driving charges after the trial judge excluded the evidence from the two breath tests (Charter, s. 24(2)), because of a breach of the accused’s right to counsel (Charter, s. 10(b)), prior to the first test. The accused exercised his right to counsel prior to the second test. The Crown appealed the acquittals. . . .

R. v. Dunn (C.) 2013 ONCA 539
Criminal Law – Weapons – What constitutes a weapon
The accused was found to be in possession of a Crosman Pro77 airgun that fired .177 calibre spherical BBs. He was charged with, inter alia, handling a firearm in a careless manner (Criminal Code, s. 86), carrying a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace (s. 88), and carrying a concealed weapon (s. 90). . . .

Coady v. Burton Canada Co. et al. 2013 NSCA 95
Practice – Judgments and orders – Summary judgments
The plaintiff, a 16 year old male, went to the Wentworth Valley Ski Resort to snowboard. Burton Canada Co., a manufacturer, distributor and retailer of snowboards, had a promotional booth at Wentworth, which was offering snowboarders trial runs on its snowboards and free high-caffeine energy drinks. The plaintiff took Burton up on its offer. After a few runs down the regular ski hills, the plaintiff decided to enter the “Terrain Park”. . . .