SCC extends Charter-guaranteed presumption of innocence to inmate discipline proceedings
Winning lawyers Pierre Hawkins (left), public legal counsel of the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, and pro bono co-counsel Michelle Biddulph of Toronto’s Greenspan Humphrey Makepeace LLP, said the Supreme Court’s majority ruling on the presumption of innocence in inmate discipline proceedings in Saskatchewan means that the ‘beyond-a-reasonable doubt’ standard  ‘must apply to all inmate discipline that carries potential penalties of segregation or loss of earned remission.’
Winning lawyers Pierre Hawkins (left), public legal counsel of the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, and pro bono co-counsel Michelle Biddulph of Toronto’s Greenspan Humphrey Makepeace LLP, said the Supreme Court’s majority ruling on the presumption of innocence in inmate discipline proceedings in Saskatchewan means that the ‘beyond-a-reasonable doubt’ standard ‘must apply to all inmate discipline that carries potential penalties of segregation or loss of earned remission.’

Friday, March 14, 2025 @ 5:49 PM

Overruling its own 35-year-old precedent while expanding the Charter’s protections for the presumption of innocence into new legal territory, the Supreme Court of Canada split 6-3 to strike down a Saskatchewan regulation that authorized inmate segregation or loss of earned remission to be imposed on those found to have committed a prison disciplinary offence, based only on proof on a “balance of probabilities” standard rather than on the heightened standard of proof “beyond a reasonable doubt.” ... [read more]

Alberta’s top court to hear utilities’ challenge to performance-based regulation plan

Monday, March 17, 2025 @ 5:30 PM

Alberta’s top court is set to hear a challenge to a performance-based regulation (PBR) plan for electric utilities on the basis that it does not provide them with a reasonable opportunity to recover capital costs. ... [read more]

Federal Court allows judicial review, finds temporary foreign worker’s wage reduction was justified

Monday, March 17, 2025 @ 5:12 PM

In a case involving a company that reduced a temporary foreign worker’s hourly wage from $30 to $24, the Federal Court has found that a final determination by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) was unreasonable as failure to obtain consent for the reduction was the fault of the department. ... [read more]

Federal Court of Appeal decision keeps class action alive involving Indigenous women inmates

Monday, March 17, 2025 @ 4:37 PM

Indigenous female inmates in Canada’s federal prison system have gained a partial legal victory in their quest to certify a class action against the government over discrimination by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). ... [read more]

Ontario Place ruling raises ‘some very grave concerns,’ lawyer says Eric Gillespie

Monday, March 17, 2025 @ 4:17 PM

Ontario’s highest court has ruled against an advocacy group that launched a constitutional challenge of the provincial government’s redevelopment of Ontario Place, and a lawyer involved in the litigation is saying that the decision leaves businesses across the province — and country — vulnerable. ... [read more]