In many ways, to ask a question is to answer it. That is to say, by framing a problem in one way instead of another, an adjudicator sets out on a line of inquiry that from the outset cannot be ideologically neutral, conditions the scope of possible answers, and defines the realm of possible results. [...]

Appeal Watch is a new feature that profiles cases that have been recently granted or denied leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada. SCC Refuses to Revisit Murder Mens Rea Standard In the years following the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the courts in Canada used their new-found power [...]

If you’ve read a newspaper in the past two months, you’ll know that Canada’s right-to-die debate has come back to life. Leading the revival is B.C. resident Gloria Taylor, a 63-year-old grandmother—and reported motorcycle enthusiast—who was diagnosed with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease) in 2009. As is often the case for people suffering from this [...]

A unique feature of the Global Occupy Movement which dominated headlines during the fall months was its ability to harness new forms of online social media to raise awareness, voice political critiques, and to provide some unity to an otherwise disjointed protest. It is perhaps by virtue of this virtual existence that the movement gained [...]

Section 7: Life, Liberty and Security of the Person in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side The claimants in (case) having failed to establish that the criminal prohibitions on possession and trafficking in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, S.C. 1996, c. 19 (CDSA) are constitutionally invalid, as discussed in a previous post, made three Charter claims, [...]

Anti-gay demonstrator Bill Whatcott will soon learn what the Supreme Court of Canada has to say about the offensive flyers he dumped on Western Canada in the early 2000s. Whatcott spammed “hundreds of thousands” of Saskatchewanites until four people filed human rights complaints against him, claiming he had violated the Province’s hate laws. He responded [...]

Facts and Judicial History
 Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) has long been known for its rather unique neighbourhood makeup. 4,600 intravenous drug users, nearly half of all of those in the city are crammed into just a few city blocks that are littered with evidence of the bleak existence of its inhabitants. 

By the early [...]

On October 17, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada released its landmark decision in Crookes v. Newton, 2011 SCC 47, affirming 2009 BCCA 392 and 2008 BCSC 1424. At issue was whether creating an internet hyperlink to defamatory material constitutes “publication” of the material for the purposes of defamation law. The case challenged the Court [...]

Before being born again, Bill Whatcott had it rough: by 14 he was living on the streets, selling himself to older men to survive, sniffing glue to get by. His religious rebirth transformed him into an outspoken member of the Christian Truth Activists. The religious teachings he chooses to preach in this new life do [...]

In April, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) handed down its latest pronouncement on the relationship between the Charter’s guarantee to freedom of association and the collective bargaining process in Ontario (AG) v. Fraser (Fraser). In Fraser, a majority of the Court determined that Ontario’s Agricultural Employees’ Protection Act (AEPA) is consistent with the Charter’s s. 2(d) guarantee [...]