Law Times

PAGE 14 CaseLawLaw FEDERAL COURT Citizenship QUALIFICATIONS Citizenship judge failed to indicate method and criterion used Appellant sought revision of de- cision that granted citizenship to respondent. Appellant claimed that judge erred in considering that respondent fulfi lled his obligation of residence. Appeal allowed. Court affi rmed that citizenship judge failed to indi- cate method and criterion used to determine whether respond- ent had fulfi lled obligation to reside. Court reversed decision on the grounds that decision was not suffi ciently motivated and lacked transparency. Canada (Ministre de la Citoyen- nete et de L'immigration) v. Baron (Apr. 20, 2011, F.C., Bedard J., File No. T-1500-10) Reasons in French. 203 A.C.W.S. (3d) 14 (12 pp.). Human Rights Legislation JUDICIAL REVIEW Employee failed to establish either incompetence or miscarriage of justice Application by employee for judicial review of decision of Canadian Human Rights Tri- bunal awarding employee mod- est damages and costs. Em- ployee was federal civil servant who applied for administrative position with Royal Canadian Mounted Police ("RCMP"). Employee was initially told she was successful candidate. Em- ployee authorized RCMP to access her personnel leave fi le, which documented signifi cant leave due to two motor vehicle accidents. Employee was then informed she was no longer being considered for position. Employee suff ered panic attack and went on long-term disabil- ity. Employee fi led complaint of discrimination. RCMP admit- ted liability and off ered employ- ee position. Employee accepted position and was awarded $4,000 for damages plus $5,814 for costs. Application dismissed. Employee failed to establish any reviewable errors. Allega- tion that tribunal unreasonably refused to postpone hearing could not be considered due to lack of evidence. Employee could have brought motion for order compelling tribunal to produce transcript but failed to do so. Tribunal had not erred in focusing on remedy rather than conducting complete hearing. Employee had not raised any concerns at hearing while repre- sented by counsel. More im- portantly, RCMP had admitted liability so there was no need to address liability. Employee pro- vided no evidence in support of allegation that her counsel was incompetent. Employee failed to establish either incompetence or miscarriage of justice. Tribu- nal provided clear and intelli- gible reasons for its assessment of damages and its decision was reasonable. Berberi v. Canada (Human Rights Tribunal) (Apr. 21, 2011, F.C., Heneghan J., File No. T-1433-09) 203 A.C.W.S. (3d) 143 (22 pp.). Immigration EXCLUSION AND EXPULSION Plaintiff could not show that there was any serious question to be raised Plaintiff came to Canada from Senegal in 2006 on student September 12, 2011 • Law timeS Follow on www.twitter.com/lawtimes COURT DECISIONS Untitled-3 1 CaseLaw is a weekly summary of notable civil and criminal court decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada and all Ontario courts. CaseLaw is a weekly summary of notable unreported civil and criminal court decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada and all Ontario courts. Single or multiple copies of the full text of any case digested in this issue can be obtained by: 5/5/10 3:55:30 PM These cases may be found online in BestCase and other electronic resources from Canada Law Book. To subscribe, please call 1-800-565-6967. i) completing and mailing in the order form in this issue; or ii) calling CaseLaw's photocopy department at (905) 841-6472 in Toronto, (800) 263-3269 in Ontario and Quebec, or (800) 263-2037 in other provinces; or iii) faxing a copy of the completed order form to (905) 841-5085. visa and stayed illegally when visa expired in 2007. Plaintiff was ordered to be deported in 2011. Plaintiff brought present proceedings to have deporta- tion order suspended. Action dismissed. Plaintiff could not show that there was any serious question to be raised and this by itself was suffi cient to dismiss action. Th ere was no irreparable prejudice that would result from deportation. Given absence of any serious question or preju- dice balance of inconvenience weighed in favour of Minister. Ibrahima v. Canada (Ministre de la Securite Publique et de la Protec- tion Civile) (May 25, 2011, F.C., Shore J., File No. IMM-3266-11) Reasons in French. 203 A.C.W.S. (3d) 146 (16 pp.). OFFENCES Conditions of release were insufficient to minimize danger to acceptable degree Defendant who was not a Can- adian citizen had been convicted 11 separate times for criminal off ences in Canada since 2001 including several violent of- fences. Following end of most recent prison term Canada Bor- der Services Agency detained defendant given his risk to soci- ety. Shortly after this his release was ordered subject to strict conditions. Minister brought ex parte motion to have release sus- pended until full hearing could be held. Motion allowed. De- fendant posed danger to pub- lic safety. Conditions of release were insuffi cient to minimize danger to acceptable degree. Given nature of crimes commit- ted by defendant and high risk of re-off ending his liberation would cause irreparable preju- dice in matter of public interest. Balance of inconvenience could only weigh in favour of Minister in the circumstances. Canada (Ministre de la securite publique et de la protection civile) v. Sako (May 25, 2011, F.C., Shore J., File No. IMM-3224- 11) Reasons in French. 203 A.C.W.S. (3d) 149 (12 pp.). Prisons INMATES' RIGHTS Not unreasonable to assume that publication of bulletin could stir up bad feelings in inmates Prisoner applied for judicial re- view of warden's decision not to distribute bulletin. Warden did not approve bulletin for distri- bution because he found it to be "inaccurate" and "inciteful". Th roughout grievance process prisoner edited and re-submitted bulletin. Prisoner argued he was denied freedom of expression. Application dismissed. Warden's decision was reasonable and it did not limit prisoner's freedom of expression. Th ere was distinc- tion between freedom to express one's thoughts and freedom to publish. Warden was obliged to maintain security at institution and it was not unreasonable for him to assume that publication of bulletin could stir up bad feelings in inmates. Although language was terse, warden's decision was clear and capable, not vague. Although decision should have been rendered on revised bulletin, it was not for court to determine whether or not it was suitable for publica- tion. Matter was moot as pris- oner was no longer at institu- tion. Although unsuccessful, prisoner was forced into judicial review because no decision was made with respect to revised bulletin. Prisoner awarded costs of $350. Spidel v. Canada (Attorney Gen- eral) (Apr. 29, 2011, F.C., Har- rington J., File No. T-1300-10) 95 W.C.B. (2d) 159 (13 pp.). ONTARIO CIVIL CASES Civil Procedure DISCOVERY Information sought only relevant to merits of claim, not to certification motion Motion by plaintiff for disclo- sure of information on motion for certifi cation of proposed class under Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (Ont.). Plaintiff com- menced action against city for various relief because on-street parking machines use by city allegedly malfunctioned dur- ing winter ice storms. Parking machines were owned by cor- poration owned by city. Plaintiff sought production of informa- tion from manufacturer and corporation. Motion dismissed. Information sought was not rel- evant to certifi cation motion. Information sought was only relevant to merits of claim. Arenson v. Toronto (City) (May 31, 2011, Ont. S.C.J., Perell J., File No. 08-CV-348329CP) 203 A.C.W.S. (3d) 16 (5 pp.). Coroners INQUEST Balance of convenience was in favour of completing inquest Application to stay inquest pending determination of judi- cial review of decision by cor- oner refusing to expand scope of inquest or to grant leave for certain witnesses to be called. Mother and her two children died in fi re in their home. Apart- ment that deceased lived in was owned and operated by com- munity housing corporation. Fire was determined to have been caused by children who were playing with lighter. Moth- Baxter_LT_May2_11 2.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 4/27/11 2:57:54 PM

• Cover
• Rights Probes
• Echlins Legacy
• Focus On Human Rights Law