Members of the public who are uninitiated with the legal system in Canada are often confused when they encounter administrative law for the first time. The widely-recognized strengths of administrative tribunals, their flexibility and expediency, is often only possible because they discard some elements of formality and rigid procedure.

The relationship between reviewing courts and administrative tribunals is also constantly evolving. The Supreme Court of Canada in National Corn Growers Assn. v. Canada (Import Tribunal) resisted in 1990 an approach where courts would substitute the opinion over that of an administrative tribunal’s interpretation of a legislative provision, preferring greater curial . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Le tribunal rejette la requête de l’accusé visant la constitution d’un jury adéquatement vacciné contre la COVID-19.

Intitulé : R. c. Bissonnette, 2021 QCCS 3856
Juridiction : Cour supérieure (C.S.), Montréal
Décision de : Juge Mario Longpré
Date : 13 septembre 2021

Résumé

PÉNAL (DROIT) — procédure . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Articling Student 2022-2023 (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Legal Assistant/Paralegal–Real Estate (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Senior Conveyancer (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Corporate Services LAA/Paralegal (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Senior

I am always on the lookout for innovative ways that libraries have found to create great stories about complex legal or historical issues that have many moving parts.

This one is quite remarkable: the Leddy Library at the University of Windsor has created a site that tells the story of the Missing Children of Indian Residential Schools using maps.

This intereactive visual representation of the residential school locations across Canada uses data from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report to document the experience:

“The recent discoveries of more than 1,700 unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools in

Periodically on Thursdays, we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

No Legal Way Out: R v Ryan, Domestic Abuse, and the Defence of Duress

Author: Nadia Verrelli and Lori Chambers
ISBN: 9780774838092
Publisher: UBC Press
Series: Landmark Cases in Canadian Law
Page Count: 208
Publication Date: August 2021
Regular Price: $27.95 (paperback) | Series subscriber price: $22.00

Excerpt: From the Introduction. . . . [more]

“Should they really be allowed to put up that building there?!” Land development is controversial, especially in areas that are growing quickly. As someone who is running for office in one such area, I have heard quite a bit about these issues from voters.

The issues are seldom black and white. Land-owners tout the economic and social benefits of building more of the homes and workplaces that the market demands. Local residents respond with their own compelling arguments, often involving the preservation of neighbourhood character, and avoiding undue strain on infrastructure and local services. In some cases, a proposal . . . [more]

In Canadian Thermo Windows Inc. v. Seangio, 2021 ONSC 6555, Justice Myers addresses the issue of procedure for starting a motion. In Canadian Thermo, the plaintiffs sued the defendants for defamation. The defendants sought the dismissal of the claim, under the Anti-SLAPP provisions of section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The defendants served a notice of motion for a long motion. The notice of motion did not indicate a date for a hearing. This was in contravention of subsection 137.2(3) of the Courts of Justice Act. Subsection 137.2(3) states that for an anti-SLAPP motion, . . . [more]

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 this last week:

1. Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 SCC 34

[1] While cast as a claim of right under s. 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, this appeal, fundamentally, concerns the exercise of provincial legislative authority over municipalities. The issue, simply put, is whether and how the Constitution of Canada restrains a provincial legislature from changing the conditions . . . [more]

If you’ve been following my work over at Law21, you’ll know that I’ve been immersed lately in lawyer competence: what its components are, what its less obvious elements include, and how we can go about building it. I’ve been fortunate to work with some Canadian law societies in making recommendations and helping develop frameworks to govern and guide developments in this area.

Whenever we talk about lawyer competence, we need to work out exactly what the threshold or minimum standard of that competence should be. One line of thinking in this regard is that the minimum standard . . . [more]

CALL/ACBD is accepting nominations for the 2022 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing.

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries has long had an annual award for excellent legal publishing. Some years ago, we renamed the award we present after Queens University Professor Hugh Lawford (1933-2009) to recognize his contributions to legal publishing in Canada. As a group of legal information specialists, our work depends on being able to access and share high-quality legal knowledge.

We value innovation and this award is open to legal content in all information formats. Slaw.ca was recognized with this award in 2009.

The . . . [more]

To be an effective advocate, you must not only be highly skilled in specific and substantive areas of the law, but you must also ensure that you are able to advocate your case competently and confidently. You must also be adept at making sound, strategic decisions and are able to think on your feet when called upon. These skills are not perfected overnight.

Over 40 years, Osgoode has trained more than 4,500 Canadian litigators on essential oral advocacy skills in our Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop (ITAW). However, effective oral advocacy is a skill that requires constant refinement and practice and . . . [more]