Introduction  A perennial criticism of the Canadian judiciary is its excessive activism. Many think that the courts have helped fashion Canada into a nanny state and the Supreme Court of Canada is the most interventionist of the nanny courts. The recent case of Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v Wall deals with whether a court […]

“Location is not the litmus test for determining the expectation of privacy.” R v Patrick, 2009 SCC 17, para 6 Introduction In Canada, our home is our castle, at least in legal terms.  We enjoy the greatest constitutional protection of privacy in our homes.  What happens when our private personal information from our homes is […]

Introduction  Vancouver, British Columbia consistently ranks as one of the most livable cities in the world. However, its Downtown Eastside (DTES) community of approximately 18,000 crammed into a few square blocks of social housing units, derelict buildings and temporary shelters – all in the shadow of an affluent downtown – is a glaring exception to […]

This conduct establishes Canadian participation in state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice.  Interrogation of a youth, to elicit statements about the most serious criminal charges while detained in these conditions and without access to counsel, and while knowing that the fruits of the interrogations would be shared with the U.S. prosecutors, offends […]

“That when a government violates a Canadian, any Canadian’s fundamental rights, and allows them to be tortured, there are consequences and we all must pay  . . .  the question is what the Government of Canada did or didn’t do and that as a deterrent, as taking responsibility, and that as actually avoiding what could […]