A university student- Mr. Wignall alleged he was a victim of discrimination based on his disability (deafness) when the Department of National Revenue included a portion of the student’s federal grant in the student’s taxable income for the year. A student who suffered from a condition of deafness was required to learn sign language interpretation, …Read more

M described himself as a “marijuana/freedom activist” helping to operate a co-operative, non-profit association seeking to minimize the harm caused by marijuana use. The police raided the organisation’s premises and seized 300 grams of marijuana. M was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking pursuant to section 4(2) Narcotics Control Act 1985 …Read more

The respondent Starson was a physicist who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had intermittently received treatment in various mental institutions in the United States and Canada. Historically, he had used medication to regulate the condition. However, the side effects dulled Starson’s mind, and he refused further treatment, despite being informed his condition would deteriorate …Read more

The applicant was a citizen of the Philippines who entered Canada in 1990 under the Foreign Domestic Program, later renamed the Live-In Caregiver Program. She remained legally employed as a caregiver until her employment authorization expired in 1998. Nonetheless, she continued to stay and work in Canada. In 1994, the applicant was diagnosed with kidney …Read more

In 1984 the Quebec government created a new social assistance scheme. Section 29(a) of the Regulation Respecting Social Aid (the Regulation), made under the 1984 Social Aid Act, set the base amount of welfare payable to persons under the age of 30 at roughly one third of the base amount payable to those 30 and …Read more

Montfort Hospital appealed the Healthcare Services Restructuring Committee’s (HSRC) decision to transfer services away from the hospital. Montfort was a full-service, general hospital in Ontario that operated, trained health-care professionals and provided services in French on a full-time basis, servicing a large francophone population in eastern Ontario. Exercising its authority under the Public Hospitals Act, …Read more

The applicant was an inmate of Warkworth prison and a long time heroin addict. While an inmate, the applicant sought to overcome this addiction. The Correctional Service of Canada had a 2-phase program to address addiction cases.  Phase I provided regular doses of methadone “only to those entering federal prison… already enrolled in a community …Read more

D was charged under s 271 of the Criminal Code with sexual assault. During the trial, D sought to introduce evidence of the complainant’s prior sexual activity pursuant to ss 276, 276.1 and 276.2 of the Criminal Code. Section 276 categorically prohibits evidence of a complainant’s sexual history when it is used to support one of …Read more

In the first case the complainant, M, was refused employment as a gardener-horticulturist, even though she had successfully completed her training, after a pre-employment medical examination revealed a weakness in her spinal column. M had never suffered any lower back pain and had no disability performing normal activities. In the second case the complainant, T, …Read more

The European Communities and their member States challenged Sections 55.2(1) and 55.2(2) of the Patent Act of Canada, which created exceptions to the exclusive rights of patent owners, as violating provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS” or “TRIPS Agreement”). Under Article 28.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, parties were to ensure patent owners the …Read more

Terrance Parker suffered from severe epilepsy since he was a young child. He could substantially reduce the incidence of seizures by smoking marihuana, but he had no legal source of marihuana. Parker was charged with cultivating marihuana under the Narcotic Control Act and with possession of marihuana under the new Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. …Read more

M was charged with sexual offenses. Following an adjournment of M’s trial his counsel sought full disclosure of all therapeutic records and notes relating to the complainant in possession of a counseling organization. An order for partial disclosure was made and M sought further disclosure of psychiatric records. However, in the interim Bill C-46 had …Read more

In June 1992 four police officers attended an apartment from which an unknown trouble call to the police had originated. An unknown trouble call is an emergency call to the police in which the line is disconnected before the caller speaks. Such calls are deemed by police policy to be the second highest priority distress …Read more

The complainant, a seventeen year old woman, was interviewed by E for a job in his van. The interview, continued in E’s trailer where he offered to display some of his products. The complainant purposely left the door of the trailer open, but E allegedly closed it in a way that made the complainant think …Read more

The appellant was schizophrenic and was arrested for attacking pedestrians on the street with a knife. Prior to the incident he had been hearing voices. The appellant was charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and possession of a weapon for purposes dangerous to the public peace. He was found not criminally responsible (“NCR”) …Read more

Robin Eldridge, John Warren, and Linda Warren were each born deaf. They alleged that the provincial government of British Columbia’s failure to provide funding for sign language interpreters for deaf persons when they received medical services violated the right to equality contained in s. 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.   Medical …Read more

Appellant, a federal public servant, filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) on September 29, 1989 regarding the government’s refusal to provide dental care insurance coverage for her same-sex partner and her partner’s child. She claimed discrimination pursuant to the Canadian Human Rights Act (“the Act”) on the grounds of sex, …Read more

Three doctors challenged the Medical Services Commission of British Columbia’s (“the Commission’s”) variable fee-for-service rates, which were based on province of residence and physician seniority. In 1994, the Commission enacted interim measures under which new billers (medical practitioners who applied to the Commission after February 11, 1994) were issued restricted billing numbers. New billers were …Read more

The respondent was five months pregnant with her fourth child and addicted to glue sniffing, which is known to be potentially damaging to the nervous system of a developing fetus. Two of her previous children were born permanently disabled as a result of her addiction and were permanent wards of the state. A judge of …Read more

The Ontario Government provides funding for both secular public and Roman Catholic separate schools in the province under the Education Act 1990 (Ont), but contributes nothing to the funding of private religious schools. Several parents who, in accordance with their religious beliefs, send their children to private religious schools sought declarations that the Government’s failure …Read more

Two prominent tobacco companies challenged the constitutionality of the Tobacco Products Control Act (the Act), which regulated the advertisement of tobacco products and their requisite health warnings. They also challenged an amendment to the Tobacco Products Control Regulations (the Regulations) which imposed a total advertising ban, prohibited the use of tobacco trade marks on non-tobacco …Read more

A railway company conducted two controlled burns to clear its railway right of way of dry grass and weeds but the consequent discharge of thick smoke adversely affected the health, property and activities of nearby residents. The company was charged with unlawfully discharging or permitting the discharge of a contaminant (smoke) into the natural environment …Read more

The appellant parents of a premature baby objected on religious grounds to their child being given a blood transfusion, despite medical opinion that such treatment might be necessary to save the baby’s life. The Provincial Court granted the respondent Society temporary wardship of the baby pursuant to the Child Welfare Act, and a blood transfusion …Read more

The appellants E and N, a homosexual couple who had lived together for 38 years and publicly represented themselves as partners, were denied a spousal allowance for N under section 19(1) of the federal Old Age Security Act 1985 (“Act”) solely on the basis that their relationship was of a homosexual nature and thus did …Read more

The plaintiff was infected with HIV through an artificial insemination (“AI”) procedure performed by the defendant physician in 1985, before the various methods of HIV transmission were widely known. The physician performed 35 AI procedures on the plaintiff between 1981 and January 1985. The physician did not warn the plaintiff about the possibility of HIV …Read more

The applicants, two tobacco companies in Canada, sought a stay in the form of interlocutory relief from compliance with the Tobacco Products Control Regulations, amendment until the Supreme Court renders its decision on the validity of the Tobacco Products Control Act (“the Act”). The Act came into force on January 1, 1989 with the purpose …Read more

Simon Thwaites filed a complaint against the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), alleging that it discriminated against him under the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) by restricting his employment because of his HIV-positive status. Thwaites enlisted in the CAF in 1980 and by 1986 had risen to the rank of master seaman, a position that primarily …Read more

Section 251(4) of the Criminal Code of Canada (the Code) permitted abortions to be performed only at accredited hospitals and then with approval from the performing hospital’s therapeutic abortion committee. Drs. Morgentaler, Smoling, and Scott had together established an abortion clinic in Toronto to perform abortions not approved by a therapeutic abortion committee.  Following public …Read more

The respondent, patient, had requested copies of her complete medical records from her physician, the appellant. The patient’s physician provided copies of all the records that she had prepared to the patient. However, she refused to provide copies of the medical reports and records, which she had received from other physicians who had treated the …Read more