Andrea Lynn Bourke

The moving party, a self-represented litigant subject to a vexatious litigant order, sought to abandon her appeal of an order dismissing her application for relief from candidacy ineligibility under the Canada Elections Act, and sought costs of the appeal against the Chief Electoral Officer.

The appeal was rendered moot after Elections Canada reinterpreted s. 65(i) of the Act and removed the moving party from the ineligibility list.

The court addressed whether a grant of leave under s. 140 of the Courts of Justice Act to commence a proceeding extends to appeals, holding that it does not and a fresh grant of leave is required.

Despite the moving party's failure to obtain leave, the court granted leave in the exceptional circumstances.

However, costs were declined, as the Agency's prior interpretation was reasonable and its proactive reinterpretation advanced Charter values.

The appellants appealed the dismissal of their application to set aside a NAFTA Chapter 11 arbitration award.

They argued the tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction by misapplying the causation standard and that the award violated public policy.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming the narrow scope of judicial review for arbitration awards under the Commercial Arbitration Code.

The court held that the tribunal acted within its jurisdiction and that the award did not conflict with Canadian public policy, which requires a very high standard for intervention.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation challenged the constitutionality of section 91(1) of the Canada Elections Act, which prohibited making or publishing false statements about political figures with the intent to affect election results.

The provision was amended in 2018 to remove the word 'knowingly'.

The applicant argued this amendment rendered the provision an unjustifiable infringement on freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the Charter.

The court held that the removal of 'knowingly' was a substantive change, meaning the offence no longer required proof that the statement was known to be false.

Without this knowledge element, the provision failed the minimal impairment test under section 1 of the Charter.

Consequently, section 91(1) of the Canada Elections Act was declared to be of no force or effect.

The appellant, Dr. Lynn Gehl, appealed a Superior Court decision dismissing her application for registration as an "Indian" under the Indian Act.

Dr. Gehl's entitlement to status turned on the 1985 amendments to the Act, which restored status to individuals whose ancestors had been unjustly deprived of it.

The central issue was whether the Registrar's Policy, which imposed strict evidentiary requirements for proving paternity, unreasonably denied Dr. Gehl registration when the identity of her paternal grandfather was unknown.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and granted a declaration that Dr. Gehl was entitled to be registered under section 6(2) of the Indian Act.