Alberta Law Review (ALR)
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Calculations of Conscience: The Costs and Benefits of Religious and Conscientious Freedom
Get PDFThis article examines the Supreme Court of Canada’s cost-benefit analysis of freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed by s. 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Alberta v. Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony. The article finds that while the Supreme Court’s reasoning was ultimately flawed, its use of cost-benefit analysis may be a positive development in the freedom of religion framework. The article also looks at the Court’s treatment of the freedom of conscience guarantee in relation to freedom of religion. The article suggests that this treatment may foreshadow a more uniform approach to the broader freedom of conscience and religion than was provided for in previous decisions
Film as a Complement to the Written Text: Reflections on Using The Sterilization of Leilani Muir to Teach Muir v. Alberta
Get PDFIn this article the authors look at their experiences teaching the trespass torts to law students using a documentary film about Muir v. Alberta. The case was brought by Leilani Muir against the government of Alberta for battery and false imprisonment and for sterilizing her without her knowledge or consent. The documentary follows Muir’s court case, and interweaves her personal story with the larger social history of the eugenics movement and the development of The Sexual Sterilization Act. The authors begin with a description of the Muir documentary and a discussion of the ways in which the texts, written and filmic, work together in the context of telling Muir’s story. The authors then discuss film as a medium for telling legal stories. Finally, the authors reflect on their classroom experiences with the various Muir texts, and the ways in which the film assists them in teaching both the particular case and torts more generally. The authors suggest that complementing case reports with documentaries about them, or events related to the case, helps to provide alternative and sometimes counter stories to the official account
Recent Regulatory and Legislative Developments of Interest to Energy Lawyers
Get PDFThe purpose of this article is to highlight and discuss legislative and regulatory developments relevant to energy lawyers, including electricity matters, and related jurisprudence that have arisen during the 12-month period from May 2010 to April 2011. This article focuses primarily on decisions before the relevant courts and tribunals in the areas of facilities, tolls and tariffs, the duty to consult, jurisdictional issues, review and variance decisions, surface rights, and standing decisions. In addition, this paper highlights developments in legislation, policy, and guidelines
Recent Judicial Developments of Interest to Energy Lawyers
Get PDFThis article provides an overview of recent judicial developments of interest to energy lawyers. The authors summarize and provide commentary on recent Canadian case law in the areas of: Aboriginal law, conflict of laws, contracts, environmental law, securities law, taxation, joint operators, bankruptcy law, freehold leases, administrative law, and rights of first refusal
New and Emerging Issues Arising out of the Bankruptcy or Insolvency of Energy Companies: The Impact of the Latest Recession
Get PDFThis article highlights new and emerging bankruptcy and insolvency issues that arose out of the latest recessionary period, which led or contributed to the insolvencies of several global energy companies. Through an analysis of a sample of decisions arising out these proceedings, the article posits that the potential exists for further arguments regarding priority disputes, distributions, and set-off in future insolvencies involving energy companies
Justice for All Shapes and Sizes: Combatting Weight Discrimination in Canada
Get PDFDiscrimination based on weight is widespread in society, but has only been addressed in limited ways by Canadian law. In recent cases, discrimination has been prohibited where an individual’s obesity can be characterized as a real or perceived disability. The author suggests that this is not enough, and that what is needed is for body size to be its own prohibited category of discrimination under the Charter. For reasons of immutability and historical disadvantage, weight should be accepted as an analogous ground under s. 15
Growing Resolve: A Review of An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy in Canada by Paul Muldoon, Alastair Lucas, Robert Gibson, and Peter Pickfield
Get PDFIn 2005, commenting on a government review of the main federal toxic substances control legislation, Jason Unger aptly described the general public’s usual role in Canadian environmental law: “[They are] left to wander a maze of legislative and non-legislative instruments, each with varying amounts of transparency, to determine whether standards for a particular substance exists, what the standards are, whether they are being met and whether they can take legal action to enforce them.” Explaining our system of pollution control and resource management law to the general public — where it came from, why it was chosen, in what way it (even remotely) seems rational, how it works, what flaws it has, how to use it, and how one might improve it — is a daunting task indeed. Nevertheless, authors Paul Muldoon, Alastair Lucas, Robert Gibson, and Peter Pickfield set out in An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy in Canada to provide a primer on these issues for interested students and members of the public
Courting Confusion? Three Recent Alberta Cases on Equality Rights Post-Kapp
Get PDFThis article examines current confusion surrounding how courts are to analyze challenges brought under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The authors begin with a review of the 2008 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Kapp, which gave s. 15(2) independent status to shield ameliorative laws, programs, and activities from the finding of discrimination, but left the application of s. 15(1) unclear. The authors then articulate how three recent Alberta cases on equality post-Kapp illustrate the new uncertainty surrounding how courts are to address equality rights. Through an analysis of the Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Ermineskin Band and Nation v. Canada, and subsequent decisions of the Alberta Court of Appeal in Morrow v. Zhang and Cunningham v. Alberta (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development), this article explores the Supreme Court’s failure to adequately guide lower courts and tribunals on how to apply s. 15 post-Kapp. For example, a framework for reconciling the new role of s. 15(2) and claims of under-inclusive ameliorative programs has yet to be developed. Further, the authors argue that the guidance that has been delivered has improperly narrowed the definition of discrimination to stereotyping and prejudice
What Happens When Developers Can\u27t Develop: Can and Should Resource Developers be Compensated When They Can\u27t Develop Their Assets?
No full textThis article considers the question of whether resource developers are entitled to compensation when their ability to exercise proprietary rights is effectively sterilized by government action, a phenomenon known as "de facto expropriation." It sets out the legal principles that have been applied by courts in Canada, the U.K., the U.S., and Australia. It discusses how courts have considered entitlement to compensation in this context, and how the quantum of compensation can be determined. It concludes that, absent some overriding public interest, the law supports compensating a party whose rights have been confiscated
Recent Regulatory and Legislative Developments of Interest to Energy Lawyers
Get PDFThis article identifies recent regulatory and legislative developments of interest to oil and gas lawyers. The authors survey a variety of subject areas, examining decisions of key regulatory agencies such as the National Energy Board, the Ontario Energy Board, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, the Alberta Surface Rights Board, and the Alberta Utilities Commission, as well as related court decisions. In addition, the authors review a variety of key policy and legislative changes from the federal and provincial levels