Jean-François Morin

Following the 44th general federal election, Candidate Alejandra Bravo applied for a judicial recount in the electoral district of Davenport.

During the recount, disputes arose regarding whether to open envelopes containing spoiled and unused ballots for several polling stations.

The court issued extemporaneous rulings, allowing some envelopes to be opened where there were significant discrepancies or confusion on the Statements of the Vote, while declining others where the evidence of unreliability was insufficient.

Ultimately, Candidate Bravo terminated the recount pursuant to section 307 of the Canada Elections Act, and the original election results were confirmed.

The applicant, a candidate in the 44th General Election, applied for a judicial recount under section 301 of the Canada Elections Act after losing by 76 votes.

The court found that the threshold for a recount is low and based on a benchmark of accuracy.

Evidence showed numerous errors on the Statements of the Vote, including uncounted unused ballots and numbers that did not balance.

The court granted the application and ordered a judicial recount.

The appellants appealed a decision dismissing their action to recover the proceeds of a life insurance policy.

The insured signed an application and paid a deposit, but the initial premium was not fully paid until a month later, after the insured's health had deteriorated and he was hospitalized for what was later diagnosed as lung cancer.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that under art. 2516 of the Civil Code of Lower Canada, the insurance never came into effect because the insurability of the risk had changed before the initial premium was paid.

The Court also found no evidence that the insurer waived the application of art. 2516.

The appellant appealed a conviction for contempt of court arising from statements made at trial questioning the impartiality of the trial judge.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and entered an acquittal.

The Court adopted the dissenting reasons of Mayrand J.A. in the Court of Appeal of Quebec, which found that the statements did not constitute contempt and the proper procedure was not followed.