Canadian Lawyer

RegIonal wRap-up alberta court oF appeal celebrates 100 years Continued from page 11 refusing to convict the owners of a Calgary drugstore who contravened the Lord's Day Act by selling "groceries, plastic cups, and a bicycle padlock" on a Sunday. Justice J.H. Laycraft wrote in the majority judgment "sectarian observances shall neither be enforced nor forbidden." The case, R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., went to the Supreme Court of Canada, which in 1985 upheld the Alberta high court's decision in a foundational Charter case on freedom of religion. The court's rich history will be celebrated throughout the year. In April, there is a Centennial Conference in Edmonton incorporating a national appellate judges conference and a banquet with University of Alberta graduate Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin among the speakers. A history book is in the works, as is a special issue of the Alberta Law Review, three videos, a special postage stamp, and another gala dinner in Calgary in October. The Appeal Court's Justice Jack Watson is helping organize the events. For him the legacy and the promise of the court is the Rule of Law. "[It] is a shelter for all the values that we hold dear as individuals. [It] is the main reason why we can and why we are prepared to put our money in the bank, to wait at red lights, to pay taxes, to vote in elections, to express our opinions, to let Ball Professional Corporation Excellence in Employment & Labour Law • Counsel in Leading Cases • • Author of Leading Treatise • Wrongful Dismissal Employment Law Human Rights Post Employment Competition Civil Litigation Appellate Advocacy Disability Referrals on behalf of employees and employers respected 82 Scollard Street, Toronto, Canada, M5R 1G2 Contact Stacey Ball at (416) 921-7997 ext. 225 or srball@82scollard.com web: www.staceyball.com 12 F e b r uary 2014 www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m other people teach our children, to offer help or seek help from strangers. . . ." A slightly more dispassionate view comes from the legal historian, writer, and University of Northern British Columbia professor Jonathan Swainger. He sees the court as an ever-evolving institution that has the power to influence Albertans' "notions of right and wrong, personal responsibilities, and one's obligations to and expectations of the state." As for the future, on a practical level Watson sees new technologies that will "dramatically change the whole methodology of how courts function." On a philosophical level, he foresees increasing challenges from expanding government and the inevitable tensions that will generate between the executive and the judiciary. — Ge state obliGation to act in best interests of the child I n ruling that taking newborns away from their imprisoned mothers violated both the child's and mother's human rights, the British Columbia Supreme Court decision in Inglis v. British Columbia (Minister of Public Safety) has affirmed the supremacy of the mother-child bond and the family unit. The case involves two mothers who successfully argued the cancellation of the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women's Mother Baby Program was not in the best interest of the children and infringed on the child's and parent's constitutional rights. The mothers brought forward the suit on behalf of all mothers incarcerated in the BC Corrections system. In the summary of her 190-page decision, Justice Carol J. Ross said one of the essential features of the prison's Mother Baby Program was mothers, who gave birth while incarcerated, were only allowed to keep their babies if the Ministry of Children and Family Development concluded "it would be in the best interests of the child to do so." The decision by BC Corrections to close the ACCW program between March 2006 and 2007 was made without a review and was not based on any program costs or any harm that had occurred to infants while with their mothers. The judge pointed out the correction service decided infants were not within its mandate, and it was not prepared to extend that mandate. Ross said when considering Charter rights, provisions of international human rights documents ratified by Canada should also be taken into account. Such documents reflect the societal norms raised in the case such as the family as a social unit entitled to protection by the state and there should be special

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