Ten months ago, the two Simons sat at the back of the Supreme Court of Canada and watched the argument in Crookes v. Newton, one of a number of Internet defamation cases coming from British Columbia. The decision was handed down this morning as 2011 SCC 47, (October 19, 2011). Among the intervenors were Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Samuelson-Glushko, Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, NetCoalition, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, Canadian Newspaper Association, Ad IDEM/Canadian Media Lawyers Association, Magazines Canada, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Writers’ Union of Canada, Professional Writers Association of Canada, PEN Canada and Canadian . . . [more]

Bill C-11, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, received second reading in the House of Commons on 18 October 2011. Discussions focussed on balance, openness to listening to interest groups, and specific provisions and scenarios covered and not covered by the bill. If you want a quick catch-up on copyright reform in Canada, take a look at Hansard. . . . [more]

The Federal Courts Rules Committee has asked that the Discussion Paper on a possible global review of the Federal Courts Rules should receive wide distribution to members of the public and the profession. The final version of the paper has been posted in both official languages on the web sites of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

For Slaw readers the most interesting issue under discussion is

advancements in information technology are encouraging more and more litigants to become actively involved in the litigation process, even if they do not ultimately seek to represent themselves before the

For the record here is the Prime Minister’s announcement of Justice Andromache Karakatsanis and Justice Michael J. Moldaver as the Government’s nominees for the Supreme Court of Canada. Both nominees have agreed to appear at an ad hoc parliamentary committee to answer questions of Members of Parliament on October 19. Blatchford’s reaction in the National Post is here, the Post’s editorial reaction and CTV’s story.

Justice Moldaver’s CV and Justice Karakatsanis’ CV

  . . . [more]

In 2008 Parliament passed the Statutes Repeal Act, aimed at clearing out those portions of federal legislation that have passed, assented to, but not declared in force for, effectively, a decade. That Act was itself proclaimed in force in June of 2010.

Under its provisions, each year the Minister of Justice is to draw up a list of appropriate candidates and present it to the Senate and Commons within five days of the first sitting in the calendar year. Specifically, a target is any statutory provisions that

2….
(a) was assented to nine years or more before the December

In the latest chapter of the online defamation case by UofO law professor, Joanne St. Lewis, the plaintiff proceeded recently with a motion to compel a response from undertakings and refusals. These motions are rather commonplace in civil litigation, except that the defendant, Denis Rancourt, sought to have a blogger accompany him to report on the proceedings.

The undertakings and refusals emerged from the cross examination of an affidavit, submitted to oppose a motion by the plaintiff to abridge the time for mediation and require the parties to use an experienced private mediator rather than a roster mediator.

Counsel . . . [more]

The OIPC BC released Guidelines for Social Media Background Checks yesterday. The Guidelines were developed “to help organizations and public bodies navigate social media background checks and privacy laws.”

The Guidelines outline the privacy risks associated with the use of social media to screen and monitor current and prospective employees, volunteers and candidates, including:

The collection of potentially inaccurate personal information;

The collection of too much or irrelevant personal information;

The inadvertent collection of third-party personal information; and

The overreliance on consent for the collection of personal information that may not be reasonable in the circumstances.

The Guidelines also provide . . . [more]

A video has come to light in which Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, responded to a question by saying that “all these concerns about privacy tend to be old people issues”.

While it may be that some younger people may be a bit more permissive with their information than older generations, it does not mean that younger people are not concerned about privacy, or are not exercising control over their personal information.

His comment has lead to a strongly worded rebuke by Ann Cavoukian, the Ontario Privacy Commissioner.

From her article:

Here we go again. Once more, the chief

This past weekend, the State of California passed legislation banning minors from using tanning beds. This law will take effect on January 1, 2012. This is the most restrictive law on the use of indoor tanning beds in the United States (other states have some restrictions on the use, but no outright ban). Law-makers cite health concerns associated with this activity to justify the legislation.

Prior to this law, minors between the ages of 14 and 17 had to get parental consent before being able to use tanning beds, with the activity prohibited for those under the age of 14. . . . [more]

Does the Air Canada labour dispute really put Canada’s ‘fragile economy’ in jeopardy?

Listening to the radio this morning and seeing this Government of Canada news release, a reasonable Canadian citizen could think that the only thing keeping Canada’s economy healthy is uninterrupted air travel. The other side of the coin is that over 65 percent of the Air Canada flight attendant members of CUPE rejected the most recent contract offer on October 9.

Regardless of your opinion on the particulars of this current labour dispute, my question is this:

Does the threat of back to work legislation from . . . [more]

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Sierra Club Canada v. Ontario was recently made available online. The decision is important for examining the level of deference by the judiciary in applying judicial review where matters extend into public policy relating to the precautionary principle in environmental law.

Background

The Detroit International Crossing Project (DICP) would add a much needed additional crossing to the Windsor-Detroit border, connecting the American interstates with the new Windsor-Essex Parkway and the 400 series highways in Ontario. Although the Windsor-Detroit crossings were only operating at 66% capacity in 2004, a significant increase in travel . . . [more]

The Supreme Court of Canada begins another season of hearings on Tuesday, October 11, 2011. If you click on the name of any upcoming case, you can find a summary of the issues as well as copies of factums that were filed by the parties with the Court’s Registry.

The Sept. 30, 2011 issue of The Lawyers Weekly presents some of the big cases that will be heard this fall:

“Veiled witnesses, copyright wars and hate speech are some of the hot-button issues facing the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in the busy fall session starting next month.”