Suggested Court Cases:

CASE 1

Bell Canada - v. - Canadian Telephone Employees Association, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Femmes Action and Canadian Human Rights Commission 
Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada granted December 2001

Previous Decisions on this case:

NATURE OF THE CASE
Administrative law - Judicial review - Administrative tribunals - Institutional independence - Reasonable apprehension of bias - Circumstances which deprive administrative tribunal of appearance of institutional independence - Whether Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has the requisite institutional independence and freedom from institutional bias despite being bound to interpret the Canadian Human Rights Act in accordance with guidelines issued by the Canadian Human Rights Commission - Whether Tribunal members have security of tenure necessary to ensure an independent and impartial tribunal - Whether Tribunal forms part of federal executive

NOTE: the same issues come up in another case which will be heard at the same time: Government of the Northwest Territories - v. - Public Service Alliance of Canada and Canadian Human Rights Commission 

Previous decision on this case:


CASE 2

Ernest Lionel Joseph Blais - v. - Her Majesty the Queen (Man.) (Criminal) 
Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada granted November 2001

Previous decisions on this case:

  • Court of Appeal of Manitoba - April 11, 2001 
  • Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba - September 9, 1998 
  • Provincial Court of Manitoba - August 22, 1996 


NATURE OF THE CASE
Criminal law - Constitutional law - Native law - Métis - Hunting rights -Métis convicted of hunting on unoccupied Crown land in an area where hunting was prohibited - Whether Applicant, as a Métis person, falls within the constitutional meaning of the term "Indian" under s. 13 of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (NRTA)- Whether s. 26 of Manitoba's Wildlife Act is inapplicable in respect to the Applicant, and of no force or effect to the extent that it infringes or limits the Applicant's right to hunt under s. 13 of the NRTA - Whether evidence of the hunting customs and practices of Manitoba Métis before 1930 should be weighed and considered when considering the meaning of the term "Indian" under s. 13 of the NRTA - Whether weight should have been placed lack of evidence of the hunting practices of the Applicant and his direct ancestors - Whether weight should have been placed on geographical location of where the alleged offence took place and on the lack of evidence of Métis hunting in that area of Manitoba.

ALSO: Her Majesty the Queen - v. - Steve Powley and Roddy Charles Powley (Ont.) (Criminal) 

Application for leave to appeal to Supreme court of Canada granted October 2001

Previous decisions on this case:

NATURE OF THE CASE
Criminal law - Constitutional law - Native law - Métis -Hunting rights - Two members of Sault Ste. Marie Métis community charged with unlawfully hunting moose contrary to Game and Fish Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. G.1 - Interpretation of Constitution Act, 1982, s. 35, in respect of Métis - Extent to which analysis of aboriginal rights jurisprudence applies to the Métis -Definition of Métis community - Aboriginal rights enjoyed by Métis community - Definition of the Métis individuals eligible to assert Métis community rights.
 
 

CASE 3

The Chippewas of Sarnia Band - v. - Attorney General of Canada, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, Canadian National Railway Company, Dow Chemical Canada Inc. and Union Gas Ltd., The Corporation of the City of Sarnia, Amoco Canada Resources Ltd. and Amoco Canada Petroleum Company Ltd., Ontario Hydro Networks Company Inc., Union Gas Limited, Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc., The Bank of Montreal, The Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canada Trustco Mortgage Company individually and as class representatives (Ont.) (Civil) 
Application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada is still pending

Previous decisions on this case:

NATURE OF THE CASE
Native law - Reserves - Surrender - Part of reserve purportedly sold in 1839 and Crown patent issued in 1853 - Procedure for surrender not followed - Whether Applicant unlawfully dispossessed of its original treaty-protected reserve by unilateral prerogative Crown act - Whether Applicant has constitutional aboriginal and treaty rights in the lands - Whether constitutional remedies available where aboriginal and treaty rights in lands are "existing" within the meaning of s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 and yet the lands are in the factual possession of innocent third parties - Whether judge-made equitable doctrines are capable of operating to extinguish unsurrendered, treaty-protected aboriginal title - Legal status of the surrender provisions in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the enactment of the Quebec Act of 1774. 
 
 

CASE 4

James Chamberlain, Murray Warren, Diane Wilcott, Blaine Cook, by his Guardian Ad Litem, Sue Cook and Rosamund Elwin - v. - The Board of Trustees of School District # 36 (Surrey) (B.C.) (Civil) 
Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada granted October 2001

Previous decisions on this case:

NATURE OF THE CASE
Administrative law - Jurisdiction - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Equality rights- Freedom of religion - School Board refused approval of books depicting positive representations of same-sex parents for use as learning resources in kindergarten and grade one classrooms - What is the correct interpretation to be given to the statutory requirement that schools be conducted on "strictly secular and non-sectarian principles" - Whether religious views of some trustees and some parents condemning homosexuality were a legitimate basis for the School Board's decision, having regard for the requirements of the School Act - Whether the resolution infringes freedom of religion and expression and the guarantee of equality under the Charter and whether the Court of Appeal erred in failing to consider the Charter issues - School Board Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.416, ss.76(1)and (2).
 
 

CASE 5

David Albert Siemens, Eloisa Ester Siemens and Sie-Cor Properties Inc. o/a The Winkler Inn - v. - The Attorney General of Manitoba and The Government of Manitoba (Man.) (Civil) 

Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada granted September 2001

Previous decisions on this case:

  • Court of Appeal of Manitoba - December 13, 2000 
  • Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba - September 8, 2000 
NATURE OF THE CASE
Canadian Charter - Constitutional law - Division of powers - Statutes - Interpretation -Whether Gaming Control Local Option (VLT) Act within jurisdiction of Legislature pursuant to s. 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867 - Whether Act violates ss. 2(b), 7 or 15 of the Charter
 
 

CASE 6

Mervyn Allen Buhay - v. - Her Majesty the Queen (Man.) (Criminal) 
Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada granted September 2001

Previous decision on this case:

  • Court of Appeal of Manitoba - April 24, 2001
NATURE OF THE CASE
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Criminal law - Search and seizure - Whether the court of appeal erred in not finding that the security guards at the Winnipeg bus depot were agents of the state - Whether the court of appeal erred in holding that the police officers did not violate the Applicant's expectation of privacy by not obtaining a search warrant prior to seizure