Canadian Lawyer

UPFRONT 6 www.canadianlawyermag.com NEWS BRIEFS Family status discrimination test in Alberta needs no self-accommo- dation proof: appeal court No unified test for prima facie discrimination, with test depending on the jurisdiction THE TEST for proving prima facie discrimi- nation based on family status in Alberta should not have to include proof from the person who feels discriminated against that they looked at all available options to solve their situation, the Alberta Court of Appeal recently ruled. Gary Clarke, a partner at Stikeman Elliott, says that "there continues to be no unified test for family status discrimination in Canada, with the applicable test depending on the jurisdiction where the discriminatory conduct is alleged to have occurred." However, the appeal court's decision in United Nurses of Alberta v. Alberta Health Services affirms the applicable test in Alberta. The court found the test should be based on the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in Moore v. British Columbia, a decision already reaffirmed in an Alberta case, SMS Equipment Inc. v. CEP. In the Alberta decision, Clarke says, once prima facie discrimination is established, the burden "then shifts to the employer to justify the conduct that led to the adverse impact." An employer must show that it could not have done anything else reasonable or practical to avoid the negative impact on the employee. WEST UPDATE SPCA main beneficiary of estate worth $2 million: BC court A British Columbia Supreme Court judge decided in favour of the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and against relatives of a 99-year-old woman who left the bulk of her estate to the organization in a 2013 will. Eleena Violette Murray died in 2017, leaving specified amounts to relatives and the "rest and residue" to the SPCA. However, an unsigned note from 2017 indicates that, if valid, Murray meant to increase amounts to some family members, delete others, and reduce the gift to the SPCA to $100,000. The court wrote, "there is no evidence" that Murray appreciated the impact of not dealing with the remainder of the estate after specific amounts were bequeathed. Law Society of Alberta names Susannah Alleyne as equity counsel Family law lawyer and mediator Susannah Alleyne is the new Law Society of Alberta equity, diversity & inclusion counsel and is taking over the already-existing position of equity ombudsperson. Before her new role, she was with the Calgary firm Matkovic Allan LLP. "I think individuals, and we as a society, are having to confront the fact there are inequities, and we must not just relegate these truths to a corner because we don't want to hear about it," Alleyne says. She was called to the bar in 2014 and received her mediation qualifications two years ago. University of Calgary's road- map to foreign trained lawyer certification The University of Calgary Law School has started a new program to help foreign- trained lawyers complete the education requirements to enable them to practice law in Canada. The 12-month program allows students to complete course requirements for the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA), network with legal professionals in Calgary and across Alberta, and move closer to joining the legal marketplace in Canada. The program began in September. It includes six courses, offered in the evening, as well as professional development training, student support and mentorship, and articling and career placement assistance. Former litigator Emily Ohler new chair of B.C. Human Rights Tribunal Emily Ohler began a three-year term as chairperson of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in August. Ohler, who first joined the tribunal as a full-time member in June 2016, took over from Paul Singh, who served as the tribunal's acting chairperson during the recruitment process. She worked as a litigator in Vancouver before moving to Geneva to advise the United Nations Compensation Commission. Upon Ohler's return to Vancouver, she incorporated Broadleap Solutions Ltd. This international advisory firm seeks to implement the United Nations "Guidelines on Business and Human Rights" and provides equity and diversity policy advice. AB to open drug treatment courts in Grande Prairie and Red Deer by year end The Alberta government's four-year investment of up to $20 million will support the establishment of drug treatment courts in five new locations, including Grande Prairie and Red Deer, expected to be open by the end of 2021. Drug treatment courts were launched in Edmonton in 2005 and Calgary in 2007. New drug treatment courts opened in Lethbridge in November 2020 and Medicine Hat in January. Alberta has yet to finalize details of the fifth new court location. Expanding drug treatment courts will help more people "get their lives back on track," says Kaycee Madu, Alberta's justice minister and solicitor general.

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