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.’
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
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]
