Peter Rosenthal

The Attorney General brought a motion to stay a Superior Court judgment that declared the threshold requirements for political parties to receive quarterly allowances under the Canada Elections Act unconstitutional and read in a one-vote threshold.

The Attorney General argued the prospective payment order was automatically stayed as an order for the payment of money, or alternatively, that a stay should be granted under the tripartite test.

The Court of Appeal held the prospective order was not an order for the payment of money.

However, applying the test for a stay pending appeal, the Court found a serious issue to be tried regarding the potential politicization of the Chief Electoral Officer, irreparable harm to the public interest, and that the balance of convenience favoured maintaining the status quo.

The motion for a stay was granted.

The appellants were convicted of offences under the Safe Streets Act and the Highway Traffic Act for squeegeeing and soliciting money from drivers of stopped vehicles on roadways.

They appealed their convictions, arguing that the legislation was unconstitutional because it was ultra vires the province as criminal law, and that it violated their rights under sections 2(b), 7, and 15 of the Charter.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the legislation was a valid exercise of provincial power to regulate roadways.

While the provisions infringed freedom of expression under section 2(b), the infringement was justified under section 1.

The court also found no violations of sections 7 or 15.

The appellant, a university student, was suspended by the President of York University for alleged misconduct without a hearing.

The appellant sued the President and the University, pleading misfeasance in a public office.

The defendants successfully moved to strike the claim on the basis that the President was not a public officer.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal held that it was not plain and obvious that the tort of misfeasance in a public office is restricted to public officers subject to the Charter.

The appeal was allowed and the claim was permitted to proceed.

The applicant, a university student, sought judicial review of the university president's decision to suspend him for three years for participating in unauthorized demonstrations.

The respondents brought a motion to quash the application, arguing that a newly scheduled university discipline tribunal hearing provided an adequate alternative remedy.

The applicant brought a cross-motion to stay the tribunal hearing pending the judicial review.

The court dismissed the motion to quash, finding the tribunal was not an adequate alternative remedy due to jurisdictional questions and a reasonable apprehension of bias, as the only appeal would be to the president herself.

The court granted the cross-motion to stay the tribunal hearing, applying the RJR-Macdonald test for interlocutory injunctions.

The appellant challenged the constitutionality of the Canada Elections Act requirement that a political party must nominate candidates in at least 50 electoral districts to obtain registered party status and its associated benefits.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the 50-candidate threshold violates the right to meaningful participation in the electoral process guaranteed by section 3 of the Charter.

The Court found that the threshold diminishes the capacity of marginal or regional parties to communicate their ideas, thereby undermining the right of citizens to play a meaningful role in the electoral process.

The infringement was not justified under section 1 of the Charter, and the relevant provisions were declared unconstitutional.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario which had overturned a stay of proceedings granted by the trial judge.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, agreeing with the reasons of the Court of Appeal that the delay was not occasioned by a scarcity of judicial resources and did not warrant a stay.