The Judicious
Sasquatch

The aviation law report, no. 2

July & August 2023 MANDATORY RETIREMENT FOR COMMERCIAL PILOTS Adam P. Strömbergsson-DeNora CASE LAW June 22, 2023–Roberts v Flair Airlines LTD–2023 BCCRT 525 June 22, 2023–Thomas v Aeolus Air Charter, Inc.– 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128213 June 29, 2023–Air Canada v Canadian Union of Public Employees–2023 CanLII 58239 (CA LA) July 6, 2023–Warbird Adventures, Inc....

Claim against Transport Canada

A.P.Strom and Associates has issued a claim against Transport Canada on behalf of Mr. Shaun Curtis Davis, a helicopter pilot with some 9,000 hours of flying time. Mr. Davis was accused of suffering from Alcohol Use Disorder–alcoholism–that rendered him unable to safely pilot helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. He has been without a Canadian medical certification...

The aviation law report

JUNE 2023 When are expanded air passenger rights perhaps the wrong approach? REBECCA JAREMKO BROMWICH A significantly bolstered regime for air passenger rights in Canada may sound like a good idea, but it’s perhaps not such a great suggestion when Canadians want to fly anywhere. Tabled in Canada’s federal Budget Implementation Act in March 2023,...

A leap of faith: airlines’ liability for human rights abuses in international air travel

This note discusses preclusion of actions under the Montreal Convention. A close reading of the Convention shows that intentionally negligent or reckless acts by airline staff are not protected by the Convention.

Poor application tends toward the rule of law

This note criticizes the court’s application of Vavilov tout court. Vavilov lays down a useful statement about appellate courts’ jurisdictions when they are granted a statutory appeal. That case does not pretend to make private-law rules, and courts must be wary of mistaking application for analogy.

Business research in small firms

Business research is often viewed as a wish-list item. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Business research is akin to performing preventive maintenance on a car while inventing new technology for the vehicle. It can save a business’ bacon and increase its productivity. There is little talk about business research as an organized activity....

Criminal contempt of court: Carpagate?

This note gives practitioners (and interested members of the public) a sense of the law surrounding criminal contempt of court. It describes some of the cases and then applies the cases to the facts described by Chief Justice Joyal. 

A sliding scale between creed and religion

This commentary proposes a sliding scale between religion as a word denoting spiritual belief and practise in community and creed, a word that captures a broader swath of collective and individual conduct.

Patron v. Client: the modern lawyer’s relationships

Lawyers often refer to those who pay for services as ‘clients’, yet in the same breath frame their efforts in their service recipient’s interest. Use of the word ‘client’, though widespread in English, is inexact–and indeed may invert the relationship. The proper term does relate to the patron-client relationship, but lawyers are in fact the...

Stressing the bar: an open letter to the Attorney General of Ontario

I have the privilege to request your intervention in the Law Society of Ontario’s current conduct of its licensing examinations. Your intervention is requested pursuant to sub-section 5(c) of the Ministry of the General Act and sub-section 13(1) of the Law Society Act.

Subtle discrimination: Canada’s Civil Aviation Medicine

Transport Canada's Civil Aviation Medicine program has continued a discriminatory policy against subjects with mental health conditions.

A broader honour for our Crown?

This piece is released as part of a broader book project currently soliciting funds via Kickstarter. Aequitas sequitur legem: equity follows the law, which concept expresses the victory of common law over its equitable counterpart. There is good reason for this win, for the ancient law of equity was administered by the Lord Chancellor, a...