A motion for an interlocutory injunction was brought to prevent the City of Toronto from enforcing its By-law that prohibited camping and erecting tents, structures, and shelters in City parks, City of Toronto Municipal Code, c. 608. The applicants did not challenge the validity of the By-law but sought an order to have it suspended …Read more

The applicants appealed a decision affirming the constitutionality of Brian’s Law (Mental Health Legislative Reform), 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 9. (“Brian’s Law”), which was enacted by the Ontario legislature in 2000. Brian’s Law amended the Mental Health Act (“MHA”), adding provisions that expanded criteria for involuntary committal in a psychiatric hospital and introduced community treatment …Read more

The applicants’ claim was based on s. 27(1)(b) of the Constitution – the right to sufficient food and water, which they submitted found further expression in the provisions of the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 (“WSA”). Their complaint argued that farm occupiers and labour tenants, especially the applicants, lacked “access to sufficient water, basic …Read more

The applicant, Mr. Slavko Krajnc, was a professional truck driver in Celje, Slovenia. On September 29, 2003, Krajnc was deemed to have “category III work-related disability” as a result of his epilepsy, which rendered him unable to work as a truck driver. Accordingly, he had the right to be assigned to a different, more suitable …Read more

After Plaintiff Gloria Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2009, she challenged the constitutionality of the Canadian Criminal Code Section 241(b), which prohibited assistance in dying. The trial court held that the law was unconstitutional and granted Taylor an exemption from the law. The Court of Appeal reversed, basing their decision on the …Read more

Three applicants, who were all current or former prostitutes, challenged the constitutionality of three provisions of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985. The three provisions outlawed “bawdy-houses” (also referred to as brothels), “living on the avails” (living off of a prostitutes profits), and public communication with prostitutes. Prostitution was legal in Canada, however, Parliament was allowed …Read more

Doctors Cuthbertson and Rubenfeld sought a declaration that the withdrawal of life support from a patient was not treatment requiring consent under the Health Care Consent Act (“HCCA”) where its continued provision is deemed futile. In 2010, following surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, Mr. Rasouli contracted an infection that caused severe brain damage. …Read more

The plaintiff, who had previously given birth via caesarean section, was due to give birth a second time. Her obstetrician recommended a vaginal birth. During labor, Cojocaru’s uterus ruptured, which restricted oxygen supply to the baby. The scar from the previous caesarean contributed to the rupture, and an emergency caesarean section was performed. The baby …Read more

The Respondent was charged with nine counts of aggravated sexual assault for not disclosing his HIV-positive status to nine Complainants before engaging in sexual intercourse with them. None of the Complainants tested positive for HIV. At trial, the Respondent was convicted on six counts and acquitted on three. He was acquitted on the basis of …Read more

Insite was a medical facility that supervised intravenous drug use. It was established in response to escalating intravenous drug use and a rise in HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C infections among the population of the downtown eastside (DTES) area of Vancouver. In 2003, pursuant to section 56 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (CDSA), which …Read more

A.C., a child and a Jehovah’s Witness, suffered from Crohn’s disease. She had signed an advance medical affidavit containing her instructions not to be given blood under any circumstances. At the age of 14, she was admitted to hospital and refused to consent to the receipt of blood. The Director of Child and Family Services …Read more

The Canadian Parliament enacted the Tobacco Act (the Act) and the Tobacco Products Information Regulations (the Regulations) in response to the decision of the Court in RJR-Macdonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311, which struck down a previous version of the Act. The new legislation permitted information and brand-preference advertising but prohibited …Read more

T and W applied for support pursuant to the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997 (‘the Act’). Their applications were denied by the Director of the Program and an internal review confirmed the Director’s decision. The Social Benefits Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) dismissed the appeals pursuant to s 5(2) of the Act based on its finding …Read more

Section 15 of the Health Insurance Act (HEIA) and s. 11 of the Hospital Insurance Act (HOIA) prohibited Quebec residents from taking out private health insurance for services covered by Quebec’s public health care plan. The two Appellants, Jacques Chaoulli and George Zeliotis, contested the validity of this prohibition.  They alleged that these prohibitions deprived …Read more

This case involved a challenge to the constitutionality of s. 43 of the Criminal Code, which excluded reasonable physical correction of children by parents and teachers from the definition of assault under the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s.265. The Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law (the Foundation) sought a declaration to …Read more

Connor Auton and his three co-petitioners were infant children suffering from autism. Applied Behavioral Analysis or Intensive Behavioral Intervention (ABA-IBI based therapy) was the only known, effective therapy for children with autism, although it remained a somewhat controversial and expensive treatment. Neither the Medicare Protection Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 286, nor the Canada Health Act, …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

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

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

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

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

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

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