By: Deanne Sowter and Jennifer Koshan Case Commented On: KMN v SZM, 2024 BCCA 70 (CanLII), overturning 2023 BCSC 940 (CanLII) PDF Version: BC Court of Appeal Recognizes the Myth of False Allegations of Intimate Partner Violence We have both written previously on myths and stereotypes about intimate partner violence (IPV), one of the most common of which is that women make false or exaggerated claims of violence to gain an advantage in family law disputes (see here and here). In KMN v SZM, 2024 BCCA 70 (CanLII), the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) recognized the existence of this myth a ..read more

By: Nigel Bankes and Jennifer Koshan Decision Commented On: Dickson v Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, 2024 SCC 10 (CanLII) PDF Version: The Dickson Decision, UNDRIP, and the Federal UNDRIP Act This post is part of continuing ABlawg commentary on the approach of the courts to legislation implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). That commentary includes the decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Gitxaala v British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2023 BCSC 1680 (CanLII) (ABlawg post here) and, most importantly, the Supreme Court of Canada ..read more

By: Shaun Fluker, Drew Yewchuk, and Nigel Bankes Case Commented On: Yatar v TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, 2024 SCC 8 (CanLII)  PDF Version: Yatar v TD Insurance Meloche Monnex: Limited Statutory Rights of Appeal and The Availability of Judicial Review This post discusses the recent Supreme Court decision in Yatar v TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, 2024 SCC 8 (CanLII) (Yatar). The decision addresses the availability of judicial review of administrative decisions when the legislature has established a restricted statutory right of appeal for those same decisions. This unanimous decision is ..read more

By: Shaun Fluker and JD students with the Public Interest Law Clinic Legislation Commented On: Residential Tenancies Act, SA 2004, c R-17.1 PDF Version: Need for Law Reform: Residential Tenancies and Electronic Communication The Public Interest Law Clinic has an ongoing law reform project file on residential tenancies. During the Winter 2024 semester, the Clinic conducted legal research on electronic communication between landlords and tenants in residential tenancies. The Alberta Law Reform Institute  is in the preliminary stages of exploring a law reform project on the Residential Tenan ..read more

By: Nigel Bankes Matters commented on: Market Surveillance Administrator, “Advice to support more effective competition in the electricity market: Interim action and an Enhanced Energy Market for Alberta”, (21 December 2023, released 11 March 2024) (MSA Advice); Supply Cushion Regulation, Alta Reg 42/2024, and Market Power Mitigation Regulation, Alta Reg 43/2024. PDF Version: Some Quick Fixes for a Broken Market, And then the Possibility of an Enhanced Electricity Market for Alberta On March 11, 2024 Nathan Neudorf, Alberta’s Minister of Affordability and Utilities, issued a press release anno ..read more

By: Jennifer Koshan Matter Commented On: Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Study of Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct), 44th Parliament, 1st session PDF Version: Bill C-332 and the Criminalization of Coercive Control On February 26, 2024, I appeared before the federal Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST), which is currently studying Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct). After hearing from a number of witnesses speaking in favour of, and cautioning against, the criminalization ..read more

By: Shaun Fluker Report Commented On: First Report on the implementation of the Section 11 agreement for the conservation and recovery of the woodland caribou in Alberta (January 19, 2024) PDF Version: ‘Negative Population Growth’ for Boreal Caribou in Alberta In late January, Alberta issued the first Report on implementation of the Agreement for the conservation and recovery of the Woodland Caribou in Alberta, signed by Alberta and Canada under section 11 of the Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29 [SARA] in October 2020. Commentators have noted that the Report reveals little progress by A ..read more

By: Drew Yewchuk Decision Commented on: Alphabow Energy Ltd: Regulatory Appeals of AER Orders (Regulatory Appeals 1943516 and 1943521), 2024 ABAER 001 (Alphabow) PDF Version: Alphabow’s Regulatory Appeal: The AER Hearing Panel Misunderstood Their Job This is a comment on an Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) hearing panel decision following a regulatory appeal of enforcement action against a company that was failing to meet the AER’s expectations for regulatory compliance. Because of an administrative law mistake by the AER hearing panel, the decision is not what it should be. The AER’s handling o ..read more

By: Emily Laidlaw Matter Commented On: Bill C-63, An Act to enact the Online Harms Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts, 1st Sess, 44th Parl, 2024 (Online Harms Bill) PDF Version: The Online Harms Bill – Part 1 – Why We Need Legislation This is the first in a series of posts that will unpack the Online Harms Bill C-63. In this first post, I will explain how and why we got here, as there is ..read more

By: Nigel Bankes and Martin Olszynski Matter Commented On: Policy Guidance to the Alberta Utilities Commission, February 28, 2024 PDF Version: Premier Smith Converts a Legal Pause on Renewable Energy Projects Into a De Facto Moratorium of Uncertain Duration In August 2023, the Government of Alberta (GoA) stunned most commentators and the renewable energy sector in Alberta by announcing that it would be instructing the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to withhold approval of all new renewable energy projects in the province for seven months. We commented on that announcement here: “An Incredi ..read more