DOCSLIB.ORG

Comprehensive • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Comprehensive • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE Lexis Advance® Quicklaw® Simple Search. Superior Insight. Comprehensive • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE Powerful Benefits of Lexis Advance Quicklaw Discover More Simpler search and streamlined navigation get even better results from our renowned collection of trusted and comprehensive content. Deliver Better Results Build your case efficiently by searching with keywords, case citations, full Boolean syntax, or an easy-to-use natural language search phrase such as “principles of restorative justice.” You save time and clicks while getting more relevant results faster than ever. Have Greater Impact Lexis Advance Quicklaw gives you powerful new data visualization tools, exclusive search filters, and productivity-enhancing workflow collaboration tools. Your search for legal information and insight has never been easier or more flexible, letting you spend more of your valuable time on the matter at hand. • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE Exciting New Features With Lexis Advance Quicklaw you can: • Search simply, with straightforward natural-language terms • Get more relevant results faster with pre- & post-search filters • Promote team collaboration by saving and sharing your results in customizable folders • Easily verify that an authority is “good law” with our powerful QuickCITE Citator • Save time by visually reviewing , adjusting, and re-using your search history with our new Research Map • Be confident that you are getting the same reliable information with the authoritative Quicklaw content that you know and trust • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE Comprehensive Providing coverage across all areas of practice, gain full access to the best collections of insights, commentary and summaries along with the largest collection of case law, legislation and full-text tribunal decisions. All Halsbury’s Laws of Canada, providing definitive legal information across all practice areas with 117 topics that includes: • Administrative Law • Elections • Agriculture • Environment • Athletics • Evidence • Banking and Finance • Insurance • Civil Procedure • Landlord and Tenant • Betting, Gaming and Lotteries • Oil and Gas • Communications • Pensions • Copyright • Taxation • Debtor and Creditor • Torts • Education • Youth Justice A complete collection of Quantums, Citators, Solicitor Forms & Precedents, Litigator Forms & Precedents that include: Quantums Forms & Precedents • Wrongful Dismissal • Banking & Finance • Personal Injury • Wills & Estates • Spousal Support • Licensing • Sentencing • Intellectual Property Forms • Medical Negligence • Municipal • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE A thorough compilation of titles that include expert commentary, information and insight across all practice areas such as: • Administrative Law in Canada (Blake) • Castel & Walker: Canadian Conflict of • Annotated Ontario Building Code Act Laws • Annotated Youth Criminal Justice Act, • Class Actions Law and Practice Second Edition • Construction Dispute Resolution • Aviation Liability Law Handbook (Silver, Furlong) • Bidding and Tendering - What is the • Construction Law in Canada (Ricchetti, Law? (Sandori, Piggott) Murphy) • British Columbia Family Law Practice • Drafting Trusts & Will Trusts in Canada (Huddart, Brown) (Kessler and Hunter) • Canadian Civil Procedure Law • Employment Law in Canada (Abrams, McGuinness) • Employment Litigation Manual • Canadian Collective Bargaining Law • Executive Employment Law (Rayner) • Family Mediation, Arbitration and • Canadian Construction Labour and Collaborative Practice (Landau, Employment Law Wolfson, Laudau) • Canadian Construction Law Dictionary • Federal Limitations Manual (Kirsh, Ivanoff) • Feeney’s Canadian Law of Wills • Canadian Contract Law (Swan) • General Principles of Canadian • Canadian Environmental Law Insurance Law (Billingsley) • Canadian Extradition Law Practice • Halsbury’s Laws of Canada - (Botting) Immigration and Citizenship • Canadian Federal Courts Practice (Waldman) (Hughes, Bédard, Renaud and Horne) • Hughes and Woodley on Patents • Canadian Federal Courts Practice • Hughes on Copyright and Industrial (Hughes, Renaud and Horne) Design • Canadian Immigration & Refugee Law • Hughes on Trade Marks Practice (Waldman) • IFC Performance Standards on • Canadian Mining Law Environmental & Social Sustainability • Canadian Oil and Gas (Torrance) • Canadian Patent Law (Perry, Currier) • Impaired Driving in Canada (Kenkel) • Canadian Tort Law (Linden, • Insurance Bad Faith (Hilliker) Feldthusen) • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE • Insurance Companies Act - Legislation • Palmer & Snyder: Collective Agreement and Commentary Arbitration in Canada (Snyder, et al.) • Kirsh and Alter: A Guide to • Procedural Strategies for Litigators in Construction Liens in Ontario Alberta • Labour Arbitration Xpress Search • Procedural Strategies for Litigators in • LexisNexis® Labour Law NetletterTM - British Columbia (Bennett, Goulden) Issues (Orig) • Ramsay on Technology Transfers • Liability Insurance Law in Canada • Sack Goldblatt Mitchell Labour and (Hilliker) Employment Law NetLetter(TM) - • Manual of Oil and Gas Terms (Williams Issues (Orig) & Meyers) • Sentencing (Ruby, Chan, Hasan) • Ontario Court Forms: Williston & Rolls • Sopinka, Lederman & Bryant: The (Forms) Law of Evidence in Canada (Bryant, • Ontario Courtroom Procedure Lederman, Fuerst) (Ferguson) (Orig) • The Canadian Brownfields Manual • Ontario Energy Law: Electricity (Clark, • The Doctrine of Res Judicata (Lang) Stoll, Cass) • The Law of Limitations (Mew) • Ontario Family Law Practice (Steinberg, • The Law of Search and Seizure in Perkins, Lenkinski and James) Canada (Fontana and Keeshan) • Ontario Insurance Law and • The Oil and Gas Lease in Canada Commentary (Teitelbaum) (Ballem) • Ontario Limitations Manual • The Practitioner’s Criminal Code • Ontario Motor Vehicle Insurance (Gold) Practice Manual • The Practitioner’s Criminal Precedents • Ontario Superior Court Practice (Gold) (Archibald, Killeen, Morton) • Wilson on Children and the Law • Palmer & Snyder: Collective Agreement • Wrongful Dismissal Practice Manual Arbitration in Canada (Bendel, et al.) • LEXIS ADVANCE QUICKLAW | COMPREHENSIVE Other Lexis Advance Quicklaw Packages Available Now Essentials An Essentials package provides in-depth coverage of a specific area of practice. In addition to our full collection of legislation, case law and tribunal decisions, an Essentials package provides an extensive collection of enhanced primary content and secondary sources including quantums, textbooks and treatises that are relevant to a specific area of practice. Because you get all the power and sophistication of the new Lexis Advance Quicklaw combined with only the specialist analytical content relevant to you, an Essentials package provides unparalleled value for the specialized practitioner. Fundamentals The Fundamentals package provides coverage of ALL areas of practice. The Fundamentals package provides all of LexisNexis’s content in primary law, quantums, Halsbury’s Laws of Canada, case digests, summaries, and citators, and, coming soon, dictionaries and current awareness tools. The Fundamentals package gives the growing firm everything it needs to support a complex or diverse practice portfolio. Plus, this package offers the opportunity to invest in… • Collections: A collection is a set of premium secondary content relevant to a specific area of practice. You can add one or more Collection to your Fundamentals package. A Collection includes textbooks, treatises and, where relevant, litigator forms and precedents. Collections enrich a Fundamentals package in the areas of practice most critical to you and your firm. Get started with Lexis Advance Quicklaw today! www.lexisnexis.ca | 1-800-836-1257 LexisNexis, Lexis, Lexis Advance and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks and My Lexis is a trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under license. Quicklaw and QuickCITE are registered trademarks of LexisNexis Canada Inc. Other products or services may be trademarks of their respective companies. © 2015 LexisNexis Canada. All rights reserved. LexisAdvanceQuicklaw-Comprehensive-10/15.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Factor to Wrongful Convictions,"3 and Argued That a Negligence Action
    Negligent Investigation: A New Remedy for the Wrongly Accused 1089 Negligent Investigation: A New Remedy for the Wrongly Accused: Hill v. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board Erika Chamberlain* I. Introduction In Hill v. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board,1 the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that the tort of "negligent investigation" exists in Canada/ Chief Justice McLachlin, for the majority, noted that negligent police conduct is "a significant contributing factor to wrongful convictions,"3 and argued that a negligence action was necessary to round out the available remedies for the wrongly accused (previously limited to malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and misfeasance in a public office). Given the media and public support offered to the wrongly convicted in recent years, the decision in Hill will be generally welcomed. Few would oppose the expansion of compensation for those who have suffered a miscarriage of justice. However, the deferential standard adopted by the Court leaves room for doubt as to the efficacy of the new tort as a remedy for the wrongfully accused. Although the majority paid lip service to the cause of justice for the wrongly convicted, it is not clear that Hill will provoke a noticeable change in police practices or increase the probability of recovery for plaintiffs. Thus, while it is a step forward in the pursuit of police accountability, it is not the magic solution that society seeks. If anything, it points to the inadequacy of tort law as a means of addressing wrongs within the justice system. II. The Decision The plaintiff, Mr. Hill, was tried and convicted of robbery in the mid-1990s.
    [Show full text]
  • TORTS and LEGAL WRITING CML 1207A (6 Credits) Professor H
    TORTS and LEGAL WRITING CML 1207A (6 credits) Professor H. McLeod-KILMURRAY SYLLABUS 2009-10 Office: Fauteux Room 356 Telephone: 562-5800 X3138 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesdays 10-11 and anytime by appointment CLASS: FALL: Monday 1:00-2:30 FTX 316 Wednesday 1:00-3:30 FTX 316 WINTER: Monday 12:30-3:00 FTX 102 * Please note: Legal Writing (LW) forms an integral part of this Torts small group course. In order to accommodate guest speakers, etc., these times will sometimes change, and there will be some flexibility in the use of the Torts and LW course times. EVALUATION Your attention is drawn to the "First Year Small Groups”, “Rules for Completing Assignments” and “For students in need of learning supports” information sheets on the next page of this syllabus. TORTS Mid-Term Exam 25% Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 1:30 p.m. Final Exam 25% Monday, April 19, 2010 9:00 a.m. LEGAL WRITING Case Brief (Pass/Fail) 1 page single spaced Sept. 23 Citation Exercises (Pass/Fail) Sept. 30 Case Synthesis (Pass/Fail) 2 pages single spaced Oct. 7 Case Comment 10% 5 pages double spaced Oct. 21 Memorandum of Law 25% 15 pages double spaced Nov. 18 MOOT 15% total Factum 10% 8 pages double spaced Appellants: Feb. 22 Respondents: March 1 Moot 5% N/A Tues. March 22 MATERIALS Required TORTS • R. W. Solomon et al. Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (7th Student edition) (Toronto: Thomson Carswell, 2007) (“SKM”) • Torts: Supplementary Readings (online) (Supp) Legal WRITING • Fitzgerald, Legal Problem Solving: Reasoning, Research and Writing (4th ed.) (Butterworths, 2007) • McGill Law Journal Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (6th ed.) (Carswell, 2006) Useful Additional References ts 1207A McLeod-KILMURRAY 2009-10 TORTS Casebooks Allen LINDEN, Lewis N.
    [Show full text]
  • The American Influence on Canadian Tort Law
    THE AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON CANADIAN TORT LAW The Honourable Mr. Justice Allen M. Linden* This Article pays tribute to Gary Schwartz and other American tort schol- ars and judges for their contribution to the development of a distinctive Cana- dian tort law. Several examples of the direct influence of American tort law on Canadianjurisprudence are described as well as some instances where Cana- dian tort law has resisted the allure of U.S. developments. INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 407 I. THE SCHOLARS WHO BROUGHT AMERICAN IDEAS TO CANADA ........... 408 I. EARLY EXAMPLES OF THE IMPACT OF U.S. TORT LAW IN CANADA ......... 414 A . Products Liability ................................................. 414 B . R escue ........................................................... 4 17 1II. SOME RECENT EXAMPLES OF THE IMPACT OF U.S. TORT LAW IN C ANA DA .......................................................... 419 A . Punitive D am ages ................................................. 419 B. Pure Econom ic Loss ............................................... 421 C . O ther C ases ...................................................... 422 CONCLUSION .............................................................. 424 INTRODUCTION The first time I met Gary Schwartz was about fifteen years ago. I had read the many learned articles he had written and had been very much im- pressed by them. On one of my visits to California, I therefore telephoned him to invite him to lunch. He graciously accepted. Our conversation
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluating Private Nuisance Liability in Ontario's Environmental
    The Weakest Link? Evaluating Private Nuisance Liability in Ontario’s Environmental Law Context by Gregory Freeman Wayne Bowley A thesis submitted in confomity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws Faculty of Law University of Toronto © Copyright by Greg Bowley (2015) The Weakest Link? Evaluating Private Nuisance Liability in Ontario’s Environmental Law Context Gregory Freeman Wayne Bowley Master of Laws Faculty of Law University of Toronto 2015 Abstract The Court of Appeal for Ontario’s decision in Smith v Inco Ltd illustrates the degree to which the law of private nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher liability has evolved over the last hundred and fifty years from strict(ish) liability tort doctrines to fault-based means of recovery. Inco also offers an opportunity to consider whether this evolution has left some wronged landowners behind. This work considers the evolution of private nuisance and Rylands liability into the tort doctrine(s) they are today, and illustrates the Province of Ontario’s statutory response to that evolution in the environmental contamination context. Ontario’s common law and statutory environmental compensation regime is then evaluated in the context of four distinct measures of wrongfulness from two theoretical schools of liability. Where Ontario’s regime is found to permit wrongful loss without recovery, statutory changes to extend rights of compensation to all landowners suffering wrongful loss are proposed. ii Acknowledgments I am indebted to my faculty supervisor, Andrew Green, for the assistance and guidance he has provided in the formulation, preparation and completion of this project, and to the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto and its members for the exceptional institutional support and intellectual challenges I have enjoyed in this course of study.
    [Show full text]
  • Canada's New Tort of Privacy and Its Impact on Your Fraud Investigation
    CANADA’S NEW TORT OF PRIVACY AND ITS IMPACT ON YOUR FRAUD INVESTIGATION In a landmark decision earlier this year, the Ontario Court of Appeal recognized a new tort for breach of a right to privacy, and in the process has opened up a Pandora’s Box of potential liability for fraud examiners. Learn how to navigate the waters of this new Canadian tort and still achieve your investigative goals. DAVID B. DEBENHAM, CFE, CMA Partner McMillan LLP Ottawa, Ontario Canada David Debenham has been a practicing, commercial litigation trial lawyer for the past 23 years. He is a partner in the McMillan law firm’s Ottawa office. David’s fraud practice eventually inspired him to become a Certified Fraud Examiner, and acquire his Diploma in Investigative and Forensic Accounting from the Rotman Business School’s Graduate Program at the University of Toronto (he was Valedictorian of his class). He has published a text directed at fraud investigators and expert witnesses called The Law of Fraud and the Forensic Investigator, along with the leading articles in the United States and Canada on the subject of detecting and reporting fraud in a law firm. He has spoken at ACFE chapter meetings in Ottawa, Toronto, and Saskatoon, as well as the ACFE national convention. “Association of Certified Fraud Examiners,” “Certified Fraud Examiner,” “CFE,” “ACFE,” and the ACFE Logo are trademarks owned by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc. The contents of this paper may not be transmitted, re-published, modified, reproduced, distributed, copied, or sold without the prior consent of the author.
    [Show full text]
  • STUDIES in CANADIAN TORT LAW, Edited by Lewis Klar. Butterworths, Toronto, Canada, 1977, Pp
    1980] CANADIAN TORT LAW 337 STUDIES IN CANADIAN TORT LAW, edited by Lewis Klar. Butterworths, Toronto, Canada, 1977, pp. xxiii and 461, $50.00 The publication of a second Studies in Canadian Tort Law ap­ proximately ten years after its predecessor is welcome. The intervening years have been marked by significant developments in both the Law of Torts and in the more general area of Compensation Law. This momentum is a reflection of increasing demands upon both Courts and legislatures to refashion the law to accommodate the adverse conse­ quences of new forms of social friction, and to deal more effectively with those types of injuries which seem endemic in a complex industrial society. The years between 1968 and 1977 saw the expansion of negligence liability to embrace the defective construction of real property, the careless oversight of public authorities, and to some degree, fault in failing to protect others from their own negligence or that of third parties. The principles set down in the case of Hedley Byrne v. Heller1 relating to negligent misstatement were clarified and honed. The Law of Damages as it applies to personal injury underwent increasing analysis and rationalization by the Courts. Tort actions, some of great antiquity, were used to vindicate newer social interests such as privacy. One Com­ monwealth jurisdiction, New Zealand, introduced a comprehensive scheme of social insurance benefits for personal injury which totally replaced the preexisting tort system. All Canadian jurisdictions in­ troduced some degree of no-fault recovery in the context of automobile accidents, and Quebec moved towards a comprehensive no-fault system for highway accidents.
    [Show full text]
  • Government Tort Liability for Negligence in the Health Sector: a Critique of the Canadian Jurisprudence
    Government Tort Liability for Negligence in the Health Sector: A Critique of the Canadian Jurisprudence Lorian Hardcastle" For halfa century, provincialgovernments have had a near monopoly over most physician and hospital services. More recently, in response to growing concerns about cost and quality, they have begun to directly regulatehospital governance and patient care in some respects, and have made structural changes to the health system. This expanded role on the part of governments makes it more important to hold them accountablefor their decisions-a goal which in the author'sview will be furthered by a more receptivejudicial attitude to tort claims againstgovernment. Unlike lawsuits based on constitutionalor administrativelaw principles, tort claims can readily be based on shortcomings in quality of care, not just access to care. In reviewing government actions, courts have certain advantages, in terms of transparency, answerability to injured parties and remedial powers, over such bodies as commissions of inquiry, auditorsgeneral and ombudsmen. In the author'sview, a multifaceted approach that couples reliance on such bodies with a broader scope for tort claims will bring greater accountability. In health sector tort cases, however, courts have been reluctant to find that governments owe a duty of care to individual plaintiffs because of a tendency to assume that any such duty would conflict with statutory duties owed to the public as a whole. The authorfaults the courts for striking claims without due regardfor the novelty, complexity and importance of the issues involved in each claim. The test for a duty of care shouldfocus on the actual relationshipof the parties, taking into account any expectations, representations or reliance.
    [Show full text]
  • Product Liability in Canada: Principles and Practice North of the Border David S
    William Mitchell Law Review Volume 27 | Issue 1 Article 16 2000 Product Liability in Canada: Principles and Practice North of the Border David S. Morritt Sonia L. Bjorkquist Follow this and additional works at: http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/wmlr Recommended Citation Morritt, David S. and Bjorkquist, Sonia L. (2000) "Product Liability in Canada: Principles and Practice North of the Border ," William Mitchell Law Review: Vol. 27: Iss. 1, Article 16. Available at: http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/wmlr/vol27/iss1/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at Mitchell Hamline Open Access. It has been accepted for inclusion in William Mitchell Law Review by an authorized administrator of Mitchell Hamline Open Access. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © Mitchell Hamline School of Law Morritt and Bjorkquist: Product Liability in Canada: Principles and Practice North of the PRODUCT LIABILITY IN CANADA: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE NORTH OF THE BORDER DAVID S. MORRITT' SONIA L. BJORKQUIST"t I. INTRO DUCTIO N ...................................................................... 178 II. THE CANADIAN LEGAL SYSTEM ............................................... 179 III. THE LEGAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING PRODUCT LIABILITY IN C AN AD A .............................................................................. 180 A. ContractAnd Statute-Based Claims................................. 180 1. TraditionalContract Principles ................................. 180 2. Statutory
    [Show full text]
  • Civil Liability in a Mixed Jurisdiction: Quebec and the Network of Ratio Communis
    THE TULANE EUROPEAN AND CIVIL LAW FORUM VOLUME 28 2013 Civil Liability in a Mixed Jurisdiction: Quebec and the Network of Ratio Communis Ádám Fuglinszky* I. RATIO COMMUNIS, COMPARATIVE LAW AND MIXED LEGAL SYSTEMS ............................................................................................... 2 A. Comparative Law and the ‘Better Law’ ............................... 2 B. Mixed Legal Systems and the ‘Better Law’, Identifying Rationes Communes .......................................... 4 C. Impediments to the Research: Historical (Distorting) and Coincidental Factors ................................ 10 D. Structure of the Research—Five Groups ............................ 12 II. INFLUENCE TOWARDS RATIO COMMUNIS ......................................... 13 A. Common Law Impacts on Quebec Law ............................. 13 1. Liability ............................................................................. 13 a. Defamation ............................................................... 13 b. The Liability of Managing Directors and Officers ..................................................................... 15 c. Culpability and Fault ................................................ 17 2. Damages as the Legal Consequence of Liability ............ 19 a. Non-Pecuniary Damages ......................................... 19 b. Punitive Damages .................................................... 23 3. Quebec Law Impacts on Common Law .......................... 27 a. Misfeasance in Public Office, Roncarelli and Its Impacts................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Tort of False Imprisonment and the Law of Solitary Confinement
    The Peter A. Allard School of Law Allard Research Commons Faculty Publications Allard Faculty Publications 2018 Devalued Liberty and Undue Deference: The Tort of False Imprisonment and the Law of Solitary Confinement Efrat Arbel Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/fac_pubs Part of the Human Rights Law Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Litigation Commons, and the Torts Commons Citation Details Efrat Arbel, "Devalued Liberty and Undue Deference: The Tort of False Imprisonment and the Law of Solitary Confinement" (2018) 84 Sup Ct L Rev 43. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Allard Faculty Publications at Allard Research Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Allard Research Commons. Devalued Liberty and Undue Deference: The Tort of False Imprisonment and the Law of Solitary Confinement Efrat Arbel* I. INTRODUCTION Despite numerous calls for reform and restraint, solitary confinement continues to be both misused and overused in Canadian prisons. The practice, formally known as administrative segregation under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, confines prisoners to isolation in a cell for up to 23 hours a day.1 The nature of the confinement is harsh: prisoners are kept in hostile conditions with no meaningful human contact or support. The cells are bare and small, often “painted with the excrement, blood, and tortured writings of previous occupants.”2 The culture is predominantly one of hostility, humiliation, and abuse.3 Segregation wages war on body, mind, and soul.
    [Show full text]
  • The Law of Private Nuisance Following Wu : Emanation and Access
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington Matthew Mazenier The law of private nuisance following Wu : emanation and access. Submitted for the LLB (Honours) Degree Faculty of Law Victoria University of Wellington 2013 Table of Contents I Introduction .................................................................................................... 3 II The Law of Nuisance ....................................................................... 4 A The Traditional Law .............................................................................. 4 B A Change in Approach .......................................................................... 6 III Background to Wu ..................................................................................... 7 A The Unit Titles Act 1972 ....................................................................... 7 B The Facts of the Case and Procedural History ........................................ 8 IV The Decisions .............................................................................................. 9 A The High Court Decision ...................................................................... 9 B The Court of Appeal Decision ............................................................. 10 V Analysis ........................................................................................................ 12 A The Nature of the Nuisance ................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Municipal Liability: the Tort of Nuisance: Floods, Fires, Spills, Sewer Backups and Bad Vibrations
    MUNICIPAL LIABILITY: THE TORT OF NUISANCE: FLOODS, FIRES, SPILLS, SEWER BACKUPS AND BAD VIBRATIONS Roger J. Horst Blaney McMurtry LLP 416.593.3938 [email protected] and Jennifer Herzog Blaney McMurtry LLP 416.596.2895 [email protected] Introduction The tort of nuisance - a protection against being unlawfully annoyed, prejudiced or disturbed in the enjoyment of land 2 - is an old tort pre-dating the evolution of the tort of negligence which has grown to cover most liabilities. Nuisance continues to maintain its vigour, especially where a negligence claim is not available, or if available, not easy to prove. Floods, fires, spills, sewer backups and bad vibrations provide a steady flow of claims in nuisance. The potential number of nuisance claims in an increasingly complex society has grown, not diminished, in recent years. The attractive feature of a claim in nuisance for a plaintiff is that once the nuisance is established, defences are few and liability is close to strict. There are two causes of action in nuisance: private nuisance and public nuisance.3 A private nuisance will interfere with a person s use, enjoyment and comfort in their land, whereas a public nuisance interferes with rights and interests shared by the public. A fuel spill which closes a highway is a public nuisance. If the spill migrates to a farmer s field, then it also becomes a private nuisance. A municipality may face claims for either tort in the same action. Liability will depend on a factual inquiry into the nature and extent of the interference. In 1989, there was a valiant, but unsuccessful, attempt led by Justice La Forest in the Supreme Court of Canada to rewrite the law of nuisance by abolishing the defence of statutory authority and substituting a general test of whether it was reasonable in the circumstances to award compensation.4 The attempt failed and Justice Sopinka s opinion, which affirmed the traditional 2 Salmond, Law of Torts, 17th ed., by R.F.V.
    [Show full text]