Commentary on developments in administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative action by common law courts.
My bedtime reading at the moment is Stephen Bown, The Company: the Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire. Bown recounts how the Hudson’s Bay Company contributed to the founding of what is now Canada. Originally a trading company based out of London (England), from where it spread its tentacles all over the northern […] Read more
I have posted “Canadian Labour Law after Vavilov” to SSRN. It will be published in 2021 in the Canadian Journal of Labour and Employment Law: Canada’s doctrine of deference to administrative decision-makers was built on foundations provided by labour relations arbitrators and tribunals. With Vavilov, however, those foundations have shifted. In the formative years of […] Read more
In association with the Centre for Public Law and the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue Join some of Canada’s leading experts for a day-long conference analyzing the implications of the key decision of Vavilov for various areas of administrative decision-making. We will celebrate Vavilov’s first birthday on December 18. The conference will be remote, on […] Read more
In R. v. Sullivan, 2020 ONCA 333, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered the effect of declarations of unconstitutionality. This is a difficult area, with stare decisis and res judicata complicating the analysis but I think the Court of Appeal’s analysis is vitiated by a misconception as to the nature of declaratory relief. The basic […] Read more
I have posted the text of my Hugh Ketcheson QC Memorial Lecture, “Unresolved Issues after Vavilov“, to SSRN: In its decision in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov the Supreme Court of Canada fundamentally altered Canadian administrative law. For the most part, the Court’s analysis was comprehensible and comprehensive. But on a number of key […] Read more
This week, I am giving the Hugh Ketcheson Memorial Lecture in Saskatchewan (remotely) on the topic of “Unresolved Issues After Vavilov” (see my earlier collection of posts). The last part is on the constitutional foundations of Vavilov. Here is a draft: In Dunsmuir v New Brunswick, Bastarache and LeBel JJ framed their rearticulation of the […] Read more
The Immigration and Refugee Board is Canada’s largest administrative tribunal. It makes tens of thousands of determinations each year in refugee and immigration matters where the stakes are as high as they can be in administrative adjudication. Ensuring consistent decision-making in a high-volume tribunal, with members spread out across the country, is a significant challenge. […] Read more
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Ontario. The Premier will give a press conference this afternoon. Portentously, it is Friday the 13th. At issue is the province’s recently published plan for the tightening and loosening of restrictions on economic activity. Ontario’s COVID hotspots — Toronto, Peel and Ottawa — had been operating under increased […] Read more
The Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium is a series of seminars with world-leading experts on public law, who will discuss their scholarship in depth in sessions chaired by Professor Paul Daly, the University Research Chair in Administrative Law & Governance. Attendance is open to students, faculty members and invitees from the public and private sector. […] Read more
I have posted “Vavilov at One” to SSRN. It is a comprehensive review of the first year of the roll-out of the framework established in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65. Here is the abstract: A year ago, in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, the Supreme Court of Canada fundamentally reshaped […] Read more