CLE Online

Welcome and Introduction

Frank A.V. Falzon, QC — Frank A.V. Falzon Law Corporation, Victoria
Elena F. Miller — British Columbia Labour Relations Board, Vancouver

Opening Address

The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, PC — Chief Justice of Canada, Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa

Year in Review: Recent Developments in Administrative Law

• procedural fairness—does deference have any role to play?
• participatory rights—public interest standing before regulatory agencies
• judicial review of prerogative powers and cabinet decision-making: an emerging field of inquiry?
• legitimate expectation: a free-standing basis for asserting procedural rights or just one factor in Baker procedural fairness intensity inquiry?
• Charter values: their role in judicial review of discretionary decision-making
• the snare and delusion of an all-encompassing approach to deferential reasonableness of review
• decision maker participation in statutory appeals and judicial review applications—a new paradigm?
• what count as questions of central importance to the legal system as a whole attracting correctness review?

David J. Mullan — Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston

Networking Break

Year in Review: British Columbia Case Law

• recent developments of interest in BC administrative law jurisprudence
• recent legislative amendments of interest, including to the Administrative Tribunals Act and the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act

Elena F. Miller — British Columbia Labour Relations Board, Vancouver
Karrie A. Wolfe — Ministry of Justice, Victoria

Statutory Interpretation, Deference, and the Ambiguous Concept of Ambiguity

• traditional approach to judicial review of statutory interpretation decisions
• impact of McLean v. British Columbia (Securities Commission), 2013 SCC 67
• similarity to US law: Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc. 467 US 837 (1984)
• understanding “ambiguity”
• reconciling judicial restraint and the “one clear answer” test

Frank A.V. Falzon, QC — Frank A.V. Falzon Law Corporation, Victoria

Networking Lunch

Fundamentals of FIPPA for Administrative Law Practitioners

• different ways FIPPA is relevant in judicial review and tribunal work
• structure and operation of FIPPA, including timelines both at the public body and the IPC level
• key provisions that affect judicial review, including exemptions in s. 3, key exceptions in ss.12-22, and s. 61 of the ATA
• review of key decisions

Susan E. Ross — Susan E. Ross Law Corporation, Victoria

Administrative Law Advocacy

• understanding the nature of persuasion
• focusing on the controlling idea: the methodology of judicial review, defining the record before the court, and the meaning of reasonableness
• creating “winning conditions”: drilling into the decision-maker’s reasons and mining the record
• writing to win
• exploiting the courtroom dynamic: reacting to the other side, capitalizing on questions, and reading signals from the bench
• obtaining leave to appeal and leave to intervene
• managing your client

The Honourable Justice David Stratas — Federal Court of Appeal, Ottawa

Networking Break

Debate: "Be it resolved that tribunals are entitled to deference on procedural rulings"

Moderator: Frank A.V. Falzon, QC — Frank A.V. Falzon Law Corporation, Victoria

Arguing in Favor of the Resolution

Elena F. Miller — British Columbia Labour Relations Board, Vancouver
David J. Mullan — Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston

Arguing Against the Resolution

The Honourable Justice David Stratas — Federal Court of Appeal, Ottawa
Karen A. Horsman, QC — Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Justice, Vancouver

Closing Remarks and Wrapup

Frank A.V. Falzon, QC — Frank A.V. Falzon Law Corporation, Victoria
Elena F. Miller — British Columbia Labour Relations Board, Vancouver