In an important decision regarding the law of contractual interpretation, Shewchuk v. Blackmont Capital Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal considered when the subsequent conduct of parties can be considered in interpreting a contract made between those parties…
Tag: Evidence
Supreme Court Affirms Supremacy of Solicitor-Client Privilege
In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. University of Calgary, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (with two justices partially concurring) affirmed that the University of Calgary was justified in its refusal to produce certain documents over which it had claimed solicitor-client privilege to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (Commissioner). The…
Supreme Court of Canada on Prima Facie Discrimination and a Plaintiff’s Burden of Proof
The Supreme Court of Canada recently overturned a decision of the Québec Human Rights Tribunal (“Tribunal”) which found that Bombardier had discriminated against a pilot, Mr. Latif, by refusing to provide him with training on certain Bombardier aircraft after U.S. authorities denied his security clearance. The unanimous Court found that there was insufficient evidence to…
Raising the Bar – Tenth Edition
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” Albert Camus Dear Readers, Welcome to Fall 2015! We are excited to bring you this latest edition of RTB as you get ready for the changing of the season. In this edition, we have a very interesting collection of decisions that you need to…
Court of Appeal Holds that Non-Party and Participant Experts Need Not Comply with Rule 53.03
Cases dealing with expert evidence have recently been considered by appellate courts. We have discussed two of those cases in our FTR Nows, Court of Appeal Holds that Counsel May Review Draft Expert Witness Reports and SCC Clarifies Test for Qualifying as an Expert Witness. In Westerhof v Gee Estate, the Court of Appeal for…
SCC Clarifies Test for Qualifying as an Expert Witness
Expert evidence has been a hot topic in Canadian law recently. Following this trend, in White Burgess Langille Inman v. Abbott and Haliburton Co., the Supreme Court of Canada considered the duty owed by an expert witness to the court to be independent, impartial and unbiased. The Court clarified that where an expert is “unable”…
Court of Appeal Holds that Counsel May Review Draft Expert Witness Reports
The Court of Appeal for Ontario has clarified the law in deciding that it is appropriate for counsel to review and discuss draft reports of expert witnesses. In so doing, the Court rejected the reasoning in an earlier trial court decision. In Moore v. Getahun, the Court of Appeal concluded that the practice of counsel…
Supreme Court Weighs in on Summary Judgment
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered two companion decisions in which it clarified the scope and process of summary judgment motions. In the unanimous decision, the Supreme Court provides some much needed guidance to the legal profession on the proper use of summary judgment motions in what the Supreme Court recognizes is a changing…
SCC establishes framework for “preferability” analysis under CPA s. 5(1)(d)
The Supreme Court of Canada released a significant decision with respect to the s. 5(1)(d) “preferable procedure” criterion for certification of a proposed class action under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (“CPA”). The OSC investigated allegations that the appellant implemented measures that reduced, but failed to negate, harm associated with certain market timing activities engaged in by…
Raising the Bar – Seventh Edition
We are very pleased to bring you the final issue of Raising the Bar for 2013. We wish you all the best for the new year and we look forward to keeping you up to date on the latest legal developments in 2014. In this issue, we shine a light on the law of relevance,…