Administrative Law

On June 4, 2008, a Roundtable was held at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto on the Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick decision from the Supreme Court of Canada (handed down in March of 2008).  The aim of the Roundtable was to explore the implications of this decision for the development of Administrative Law, and in particular the Court's wide-ranging discussion of the standard of judicial review of administrative action, deference, and the applicability of procedural fairness to public office holders.

The background material for the Roundtable, including the Dunsmuir case, the facta filed at the Supreme Court, and some early commentaries are available for download at: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/conferences/dunsmuir.html.

Below, we have prepared a summary (in PDF format) of the themes, ideas and arguments raised during the Roundtable in the hopes that it will serve as a catalyst for further discussion and debate.  We invite comments on any aspect of the discussion which might interest readers of this blog.

• Summary of the Roundtable on Dunsmuir (PDF)

1.   Introduction

Pierre’s Lortie’s recent paper[1] seeks to discredit federal reform initiatives to create a national securities commission by making the following claims:  Canadian capital markets rank above those in other countries as various international bodies suggest; the empirical evidence does not exist to support such a reform; and, the current passport system that operates in tandem with the Canadian Securities Administrators “constitutes[s] an example of Canadian federalism at its best” and change should not be implemented without compelling reasons.[2] Lortie suggests that Canadian investors, junior issuers, and the fairness and efficiency of Canadian capital markets will not benefit under a national securities regulator. Rather, the status quo is superior as it has allowed Canada’s financial system to outperform those in other countries.