Category Archives: application of the Charter

The Google decision – lessons to learn for future cyber-speech litigants: Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc., 2017 SCC 34

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A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the Internet giant, Google, has delivered some very important lessons for future litigants in the field of cyber-speech. In Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc., 2017 SCC 34, the Court has delivered two two principal lessons:

1. If you are going to allege constitutional values or arguments, such as the importance of freedom of expression, ensure that you develop a full evidentiary record in support of your position;

2. The Court may well understand that there is a distinction between those who provide technology such as search engines and those who use it for the purposes of breaking the law.

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Limiting Charter Damages – Ernst v. Alberta Energy Regulator, 2017 SCC 1

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In its first decision of the year, Ernst v. Alberta Energy Regulator, 2017 SCC 1, the Court released its reasons for dismissing the appeal of Jessica Ernst, an Albertan who was suing, amongst others, the Alberta Energy Regulator for breaching her Charter-protected freedom of expression and seeking Charter damages for that alleged breach. At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the immunity clause in s. 43 of the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Act had the effect of barring her claim for Charter damages. In a strange 4:1:4 split, a majority of the Court held that it did.
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Strata Corporations are not “government” for the purposes of the Charter

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A recent decision on the Supreme Court of British Columbia has dismissed a strata property owner’s constitutional challenges to certain provisions of the Strata Property Act. In The Owners, Strata Plan NW 499 v. Louis, 2015 BCSC 1487, Mr. Justice Armstrong held that, although creatures of statute, strata corporations were not “government” for the purposes of the Charter and therefore, the disgruntled Mr. Louis’ constitutional arguments were not supportable
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