Paul Daly
pauldalyesq.bsky.social
Paul Daly
@pauldalyesq.bsky.social

Professor of Administrative Law & Governance, University of Ottawa

Law 46%
Political science 19%

Reposted by Paul Daly

I have never felt older or more out-of-touch than after reading this story. www.theverge.com/2024/11/26/2...
The influencer lawsuit that could change the industry
Behind the scenes of a court battle for the “clean girl” look.
www.theverge.com

Reposted by Paul Daly

TBH, surprised Liberals haven’t jused their newly discovered magic Canada Labor Code Section 107 power to end Canada Post strike.

They’ve already used it several times, including for Westjet strike, which is FAR less disruptive than postal strike.

My summary of s 107:

lawofwork.ca/the-mysterio...
The All-Powerful Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code: A Liberal Love Story – The Law of Work
lawofwork.ca

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I find it a bit disappointing that they’re going after the “ginger” part and not the “Canada” part

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This passage also highlights the absurdity of pretending that the standard of review for error of law is different from the standard of review for error of constitutional law. Canadian administrative law is bonkers.

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Hard agree on this.

As a tribunal member (albeit one with a very modest annual workload) I benefit enormously from support services provided by the ATSSC. It makes my job much easier. Many superior court judges do not have comparable resources. It makes their jobs much harder.
There is a larger resources (fed + prov) problem to fix, including court staffing, judicial resources (clerks?), rules of court, unnecessary procedures, technological frictions and sometimes even substantive law.

We need a holistic approach.
Great anecdote here from former FT editor Richard Lambert on the time Manmohan Singh came to the FT to talk with him and Martin Wolf. H/T @andymukherjee70.bsky.social

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Reposted by Paul Daly

New from me at @cba-nationalmag.bsky.social: Are there limits to the prime minister’s power to prorogue Parliament? #cdnlaw #cdnpoli
With thanks to @plagasse.bsky.social and @pauldalyesq.bsky.social
Are there limits to the prime minister’s power to prorogue Parliament?
Federal Court fast-tracks legal challenge of decision to hit pause until March, which brings novel questions
nationalmagazine.ca

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I see we're dispensing with standing analysis in two sentences now.

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Green Party disqualified from leaders debate, commission rules. www.debates-debats.ca/en/news/2025...
Leaders’ Debates Commission issues decision on the Green Party of Canada | Leaders' Debates Commission
www.debates-debats.ca

Scent off a Woman

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The case involves a judicial review to a decision of the Ethics Commissioner and in particular (a) whether political oversight is an adequate alternative remedy to judicial review and (b) whether a partial privative clause (and, by extension, a full privative clause) is constitutionally permissible.

Delighted that the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal in Democracy Watch this morning.

decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/news...

I am looking forward to representing Democracy Watch on the appeal along with Sujit Choudhry!
Judgments on Leave Applications - SCC Cases
decisions.scc-csc.ca

Will they be fillable?

Some thoughts here on whether the Commission’s decision is legally defensible. It certainly considered the effect on Charter rights but perhaps could and should have said more:

www.administrativelawmatters.com/blog/2025/04...

An interesting day at the office beckons for the Federal Court duty judge…

This is all undoubtedly true but the Americans also rely on doctrines like mootness and prematurity much more than courts in (eg) England, Australia, Canada. They also have a surprising amount of technicalities and unresolved questions about federal court jurisdiction. Many traps for the unwary.

I appreciate there are legitimate concerns in the US about forum shopping and the availability of different types of remedy against executive action, but if so those concerns should be addressed head on, rather than have the apex court resolve big questions on the fly

I can only think of one Canadian example, where the SCC granted a stay of the destruction of data after an appellate court implausibly refused the stay. Otherwise it’s full briefing and oral argument.

Is there any other jurisdiction where issues like this are decided in a matter of days without oral argument on the so-called shadow docket?

Even if the Trump administration has respectable arguments in some of these cases, the process is surely ill-suited to the resolution of complex legal issues
I see we're dispensing with standing analysis in two sentences now.

My blog output should be back to once or twice a week fairly soon — it always takes a hit around February, March and April due to teaching (and the Champions League…)

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Against the backdrop of a tariff war with the US, Canadian courts have been asked to consider whether proroguing Parliament at such a critical period was lawful.

In my view, the courts will not intervene on this occasion, grave and all as it is:

www.administrativelawmatters.com/blog/2025/02...
Some Thoughts on the Prorogation Case, MacKinnon v. Canada
In previous posts, I mused about the possibility of a challenge to Prime Minister Trudeau’s advice to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament from January 6 to March 24 of this year. There is now ...
www.administrativelawmatters.com