Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. In the early days of Confederation, the constitutional seedling needed protection from winds and rains (centripetal forces drawing Canadian attention back across the seas or immediately to the south) which might have stunted or bent its growth. Next, the sapling needed protection from provincial governments with many of the [...]

Health care undertakings by a province are potentially immune from criminal law. That is the conclusion reached by a 2-1 majority in PHS Community Services Society v. Canada (Attorney General), 2010 BCCA 15 [PHS]. The case concerned Insite, a Vancouver clinic which provides a safe place for addicts to use drugs, and the applicability of [...]

There’s nothing sexier than a good, old-fashioned division of powers case. OK, that’s not true; however, the cases are important because they spell out who has to obey which laws. The Court’s recent decision in Consolidated Fastfrate Inc. v. Western Canada Council of Teamsters (2009 SCC 53) involves a narrow interpretation of the Court’s past [...]

Two appeals heard by the Supreme Court last week and now under reserve give the justices an opportunity to revisit an issue dear to many law students’ hearts (at least, the ones who sleep with a copy of Peter Hogg’s Constitutional Law of Canada under their pillows): interjurisdictional immunity. The cases, Attorney General of Quebec [...]