Reports of the demise of the framework set out in Doré v. Barreau du Québec, 2012 SCC 12, [2012] 1 SCR 395 have been greatly exaggerated. Today, in Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest v. Northwest Territories (Education, Culture and Employment), 2023 SCC 31, the Supreme Court of Canada resoundingly restated Doré, now superpowered […] Read more

Earlier this year I mused about whether the UK government’s first use of the veto power in s. 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 was lawful. Today, the Outer House of the Court of Session (the first-instance judicial review court in Scotland) decided that it was: Re Scottish Minister’s Petition 2023 CSOH 89. The lynchpin […] Read more

In my last post in this series (see also here and here), I consider when “policy” can be taken into account by administrative decision-makers. In what circumstances can the “policy” memorialized in the instruments described in the previous post be taken into account by administrative decision-makers? The answer to this question is two-fold: it depends, […] Read more

My last post on “policy” was somewhat despairing. I will try to be more bullish in this one! To tentatively attempt a positive definition, I would say a “policy” is a posture adopted by a body on an issue which, in turn, shapes the position the body takes on other issues. This tentative definition avoids […] Read more

When a court finds in judicial review proceedings that a decision was unlawful, it must then turn its mind to the question of remedy. Of all the available remedies in the judicial armoury, the mandatory order is the most far-reaching and intrusive. Particular care is required before deploying it, as Lord Sales’s analysis in R […] Read more

“Policy” is one of the most poorly defined terms in the social sciences, as Professor Cairney has observed (The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making (2016), at p. 4). In law, the situation is little better. My focus here is on public administration, so I will confine my observations to the law of public administration — […] Read more

I have a new paper coming out next year in the Advocates’ Quarterly, entitled “Against ATCO: Text, Purpose & Context, not “Implied” and “Express” Powers“: It is often said that administrative bodies have no inherent jurisdiction, only those powers granted by the legislature. Questions about the scope of regulatory authority arise frequently and are often […] Read more

A fairly frequent problem in Canadian law is the application of regulatory statutes to individuals or businesses resident or established in another province. Think of a BC brokerage advising (badly) on mortgage transactions in Quebec, an Albertan providing inside information to a Manitoban in respect of stocks traded in Ontario or an online portal based in […] Read more

The vires of delegated legislation is a hot topic in Canadian administrative law. The Supreme Court of Canada recently granted leave to appeal in a pair of cases addressing the issue (I noted the appellate decisions here). Regular readers will know that Canadian courts have divided on the level of deference that is appropriate when […] Read more

With the Supreme Court of Canada set to hear the appeal in Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, 2022 ONCA 446 next week, courts and commentators alike continue to weigh in on the scope of rights of appeal that are limited to questions of law or jurisdiction. Slatter JA made a typically thoughtful contribution in […] Read more