2012 Spring Edition

FOCUS ON ADMINISTRATIVE LAW Judicial review – different litigation, different strategies LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS Is your business ready for a labour disruption? Standards for judicial review continue to evolve PROFILE Litigation in the fast lane Download PDF

Ontario Court Finds Decision of Human Rights Tribunal to be Factually and Legally Flawed

The Ontario Divisional Court has recently found that a decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal was legally and factually unsupportable and that it was “simply not possible to logically follow the pathway taken by the adjudicator and to determine the reasonableness of the conclusions reached.” In Audmax v. Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and…

No Surplus Distribution Required on Partial Termination of Federally-Regulated Pension Plans

In its much anticipated decision in Cousins v. Canada (Attorney General) and Marine Atlantic Inc. (“Marine Atlantic”), the Federal Court of Appeal has concluded that the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (the “PBSA”) does not require a proportionate distribution of surplus on a partial termination of a defined benefit (DB) pension plan.  The Federal…

Supreme Court of Canada Issues Landmark Judicial Review Decision

On March 7th, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a very significant administrative law decision, Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9 (CanLII), in which it has addressed the thorny issue of how to determine the standard of review in a judicial review application. The decision also significantly reforms the law relating to the dismissal…