Canada Case Law

Din v. British Columbia (Attorney General)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Court is bound by Caldwell J.'s ratio that siblings who provide care or stand in a parent‑like relationship are not 'parents' under the FCA; accordingly the plaintiffs do not fall within the statutory categories entitled to bring an FCA claim. However, the Court declined to summarily dismiss or strike out the FCA pleadings because two genuine issues remain for trial—whether the exclusion of siblings violates s.15 of the Charter and, if standing is provided by a Charter remedy, whether the plaintiffs' alleged pecuniary losses are recoverable—and because s.6 does not render this action a nu…

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• Family compensation act
• Standing
• Section 15 charter equality
• Summary judgment (rule 9-6)
• Strike out (rule 9-5)
• Res judicata/issue estoppel

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R. v. Mare

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Ont. C.A. dismisses an appeal from drug convictions, upholding the trial judge’s s. 24(2) ruling after a serious but unintentional s. 10(b) breach.

• Section 8 charter (search and seizure)
• Section 10(b) charter (right to counsel)
• Section 24(2) charter (exclusion of evidence)
• Search warrant
• Strip search
• Police conduct

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Duska v. Canada

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal from an order striking his statement of claim without leave to amend and upheld costs against him.

• Motion to strike
• Exhaustion of administrative remedies
• Leave to amend
• Costs
• Admissibility of new evidence on appeal
• Judicial review vs action

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R. v. Sandeson

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The trial judge correctly applied the governing law, made credible factual findings entitled to deference, and the Crown proved on a balance of probabilities that exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry to locate and prevent imminent harm to the missing person; similarly, the record did not establish police/Crown conduct that irreparably prejudiced the accused's fair trial rights or otherwise warranted a stay under the residual category, so the appeal is dismissed and the conviction stands.

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• Warrantless search
• Exigent circumstances
• Section 8 charter
• Abuse of process
• Stay of proceedings
• Disclosure obligations

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Dorsey v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court held that a refusal to reclassify an inmate to lower security can be reviewed by habeas corpus because it may restrict residual liberty.

• Security classification
• Reclassification
• Prerogative writs
• Deprivation of liberty
• Judicial review
• Habeas-corpus

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R. v. Dalia

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Michael Dalia’s appeal, upholding the warrant, refusing relitigation of the cross-examination issue, and admitting the evidence despite a s. 10(b) delay.

• Search and seizure
• Judicial recusal
• Leave to cross-examine affiant
• Right to counsel (s.10(b))
• Exclusion of evidence (s.24(2))
• Warrant sufficiency (s.8)

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United States of America v. Alan

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

In this extradition case, the court dismissed Ms. Alan's abuse of process application and refused to stay proceedings, finding no proven state misconduct by U.S. authorities.

• Abuse of process
• Stay of proceedings
• Protective order breach
• Civil settlement vs criminal prosecution
• State misconduct
• Disclosure and record of the case (roc)

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Murphy v. Nova Scotia (Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner)

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The Court struck and dismissed the portions of the Statement of Claim against the Canadian Bar Association (Nova Scotia Branch) because the pleadings failed to establish a duty of care or reasonable foreseeability linking CBA-NS conduct to the alleged harms, and dismissed the portions against the Canadian Judicial Council because the CJC's complaint intake and review functions attract absolute judicial immunity under s.143 of the Judges Act and the asserted Charter and natural justice complaints belong in judicial review proceedings; thus the pleadings disclose no cause of action and are unsu…

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• Summary judgment
• Duty of care
• Judicial immunity
• Judicial review
• Procedural fairness
• Conflict of interest

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R. v. Watroba

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a s. 24(2) Charter application and admitted evidence from a search of the accused’s fanny pack, finding the breaches moderate and the evidence important.

• Section 8 charter search and seizure
• Section 9 arbitrary detention/arrest
• Section 10(b) right to counsel
• Section 24(2) exclusion of evidence
• Search incident to arrest
• Discoverability doctrine

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Fyfield v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court granted leave and judicial review of an immigration detention decision, finding the Immigration Division failed to properly consider changed circumstances, alternatives to detention, and detention conditions.

• Immigration detention
• Alternatives to detention
• Conditions of detention
• Reasonableness review
• Procedural fairness
• Vulnerable detainees

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