Unique Public Duties of Care: Judicial Activism in the Supreme Court of Canada

Authors

  • Bruce Feldthusen Bruce Feldthusen, BA (Queen’s), LLB (Western), LLM, SJD (Michigan) is a Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa where he also served as dean from 2000-2013.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/alr440

Abstract

Typically, government liability in tort depends on whether the government in question,

through legislation, has consented to be held liable for its otherwise tortious acts. However,

the Supreme Court of Canada has behaved in an activist manner by ignoring or eviscerating

this legislation, altering and expanding what governments can be held liable for. This article

explains how this process has occurred, providing five specific examples where unique

public duties of care were created. An open discussion is needed about whether the Supreme

Court ought to continue doing this and, if so, on what basis. This article starts that

discussion.

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Published

2016-09-24

Issue

Vol 53, No 4: Special Issue: Tort Law

Section

Articles

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