Bruce Ellis

The applicants, who recently took over the operation of a convenience store, sought judicial review of a Minister's decision applying a tobacco sales prohibition order to them.

The prohibition was issued under section 16 of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act because employees of the prior, unrelated operator had been twice convicted of selling tobacco to minors.

The Divisional Court allowed the application, holding that on a purposive interpretation of the Act, the prohibition can only be applied to a person who has committed at least one tobacco sales offence.

Since the applicants had never been convicted of such an offence, the Minister lacked jurisdiction to apply the prohibition to them.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Social Benefits Tribunal which held that the definition of disability under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act (ODSPA) was not discriminatory and did not conflict with the Human Rights Code.

The appellant argued that because he met the broader definition of disability under the Code, denying him benefits under the narrower ODSPA definition was discriminatory.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding that the ODSPA is a special program designed to ameliorate the conditions of a disadvantaged group under s. 14(1) of the Code.

The government is not required to extend benefits to every conceivable member of a broad class, and providing benefits to the most disadvantaged is not discriminatory.

The appellants, representing children with autism and their families, appealed a motion judge's decision striking several causes of action from their proposed class proceeding against Ontario and several school boards.

The claims challenged the provision of autism and education services, alleging negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and Charter violations.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part.

It struck the age-based discrimination claim without leave to amend, citing stare decisis from the Wynberg decision.

The disability discrimination claim and the claim for Charter damages were struck with leave to amend due to a lack of precision in the pleadings.

The court also granted leave to amend the negligence claim against the school boards regarding operational aspects of the programs, but otherwise dismissed the appeal and cross-appeal.

The applicants sought to quash the Minister's decision to close the Land Registry Office in Welland, a designated area under the French Language Services Act, and relocate its services to St. Catharines.

They argued the decision violated the Act and the constitutional principle of respect for and protection of minorities.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the Act requires the provision of services to a designated area but does not prohibit relocating the office outside the area, provided the services remain available.

The court also dismissed as premature a related application by a seniors' residence seeking to administer its own waiting list for subsidized housing to preserve its francophone character.