Alberta Law Review (ALR)
Not a member yet
2493 research outputs found
Sort by
Insurance Law Principles in an International Context: Compensating Losses Caused by Climate Change
Get PDFThis article examines the challenges of paying for loss caused by climate change. It discusses how weather-related harms might become uninsurable by private companies in the future as the adverse effects of climate change increase in severity. Additionally, this article recognizes the difficulty in imposing civil liability on wrongdoers for climate-related harms, and explores options for state-sponsored or state-subsidized insurance. Finally, the authors examine possibilities for an international insurance fund, but eventually conclude that such a fund would unlikely be endorsed at the international level and would not benefit Canadians
Progressive Homes Ltd. v. Lombard General Insurance Co. of Canada
Get PDFThe unanimous judicial decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Progressive Homes Ltd. v. Lombard General Insurance Co. of Canada resolves divergent appellate judicial holdings, in British Columbia on one hand and Ontario and Saskatchewan on the other hand, on the issue of an insurer’s duty to defend its insured general contractor in the ensuing litigation under commercial general liability (CGL) policies in cases of defective construction workmanship
One of These Families is Not Like the Others: The Legal Response to Non-Normative Queer Parenting in Canada
Get PDFA growing number of lesbians and gay men are choosing to become parents. In response, provincial parentage laws have become increasingly inclusive of same-sex parents, though the presumption underlying most of the reforms is that queer parenting will adhere to a nuclear family model. The effect of this preferencefor the nuclear family is that queer parents who engage in non-normative arrangements continue to find themselves outside the law. Perhaps most vulnerable are gay men, particularly in situations where they co-parent with a lesbian couple. This article uses the recent decisions of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Court of Appeal in D.W.H. v. D.J.R. to illustrate the challenges facing nonnormative queer families and gay male parents in particular. It argues that even in provinces with recentparentage law reforms, deviation from the nuclear family norm poses serious risks for queer parents
The Elusive Goal of Regulatory Independence and the National Energy Board: Is Regulatory Independence Achievable? What Does Regulatory "Independence" Mean? Should We Pursue It?
Get PDFThis article explores recent amendments to the National Energy Board Act that have fundamentally changed the National Energy Board’s role as a regulatory agency. Specifically, it examines the Board’s independence before and after the amendments, focusing on the controversy that gave rise to the Board’s independence and the controversy that in turn removed it. Though the independence of the Board must now be understood differently in light of the amendments, this article concludes that the Board still plays an important role in societal choices regarding pipeline projects
Corporate Governance after the Financial Crisis, P.M. Vasudev & Susan Watson, eds.
Get PDFNo abtract available
Potential for Genetic Discrimination in Access to Insurance: Is There a Dark Side to Increased Availability of Genetic Information?
Get PDFThis article addresses the reliance on genetic information as part of the private insurance industry’s practice of risk segmentation whereby underwritingdecisions are based on risk information about individuals and groups as compared to the general population. The author argues that there are a number of concerns regarding reliance on genetic information in insurance underwriting, including uncertainty about what constitutes genetic information and the predictive value thereof, possible conflicts with human rights values, potential reductions in access to insurance, and the legal and ethical obligations of individuals who undergo testing, health professionals, and insurers. This article reviews the solutions that have been adopted in other jurisdictions and concludes that the use of genetic information is consistent with standard insurance industry practices. However, it is recommended that a legislative framework be established in Canada to regulate the use of genetic information
Canada\u27s Next Step in Tobacco Control Laws: Is Plain Packaging Legislation a Viable Proposal?
No full textIt is widely accepted that tobacco consumption has a number of dangerous side effects. While the federal and provincial governments have introduced a number of laws in order to decrease the number of smokers in Canada, no law on the plain packaging of tobacco products has been introduced. This article explains what plain packaging is, and then goes on to analyze whether a plain packaging law would violate Canada’s constitutional laws from both a division of powers and a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms perspective
Initiating a Non-Anthropocentric Jurisprudence: The Rule of Law and Animal Vulnerability Under a Property Paradigm
Get PDFThis article discusses a recent Canadian entry to the accretion of legal texts which question, to various degrees, law’s anthropocentrism: the dissenting judgment of the Alberta Court of Appeal in Reece v. Edmonton (City of). Written by Chief Justice Catherine Fraser, the 162-paragraph dissent stands out in the Canadian landscape (and is impressive even in the international scene) given the existing Canadian law addressing animal issues that either regulate animals as objects and/or subordinate animal interests to human or corporate ones. This article argues that the dissent in Reece departs from the standard legal instrumentalist view of animals by providing a non-anthropocentric analysis of the animal interests at stake. The decision thus provides a new way of thinking about animals when compared to the existing Canadian jurisprudence. The dissent’s departure from the traditional anthropocentric legal view of animals is seen in three main ways: (1) the level of importance it assigns to the animal interest legally at issue by connecting it to the rule of law; (2) the respect it affords to critiques of animals’ current legal status (including the animal rights critique seeking to abolish the property status of animals and the default subordination of animal interests to human or corporate ones); and (3) the empathy and respect it gives to the individual animal at the heart of the legal dispute by recognizing her as a sentient and vulnerable being whose subjectivity matters. The cumulative effect is a judgment that not only provides the most sophisticated Canadian judicial analysis to date of the law’s relationship to animals, but impugns the traditional anthropocentric paradigm through which the law minimally responds to (some) animal suffering
The Evolution of International Investment Law and Its Application to the Energy Sector
Get PDFForeign investors in the energy sector have long sought to secure guarantees from the host state in order to reduce future risk. The international investment law regime has fundamentally altered the legal framework for investors and host states within the energy sector. This article explores the application of international investment law within the energy sector, describes some common categories of disputes that characterize the energy sector, identifies the main disciplines or standards in investment law, and discusses the remedies available to investors
Recent Judicial Developments of Interest to Energy Lawyers
Get PDFThis article summarizes a number of recent judgments in the energy sector. These cases relate to a number of specific topics including receivership, employment, the duty to consult, freehold leases, contracts, and regulation. For each case, some background information is given, followed by a brief explanation of the facts, a summary of the decision, and some commentary on the decision