This Week At The SCC

Cases Heard

The Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments this week in two cases of interest to Canadian businesses and professions, and reserved judgment in each.

The first is an appeal from Newfoundland (Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission) v. Ryan Estate, 2011 NLCA 42.  It involves whether s. 6 of the federal Maritime Liability Act can authorize a civil action in respect of a workplace accident, even though s. 44 of the Newfoundland & Labrador Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act purports to bar such claims in favour of a no-fault compensation scheme.  The Newfoundland & Labrador Court of Appeal held that that provincial statute was constitutionally inapplicable and inoperative by virtue of the doctrines of interjurisdictional immunity and paramountcy, and thus could not preclude the plaintiffs' maritime negligence claims from proceeding under the federal enactment.  We discussed the Ryan case in a previous post.  The oral arguments