ARCTIC OBITER

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10 | <strong>ARCTIC</strong> <strong>OBITER</strong> NWT DECISION DIGEST SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN ADDITION TO THE CASES REFERRED TO BELOW, THREE CASES WERE DECIDED BY THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. THOSE CASES ARE SUBJECT TO PUBLICATION BANS AND ARE NOT REPORTED. CHAMBERS Camillus Engineering Consultants Ltd. v. Fort Simpson (Village) 2009 NWTSC 71 (CanLII) | November 13, 2009 Presiding: Justice J. E. Richard Counsel: W. D. Goodfellow, Q.C. Counsel: R. A. Kasting Counsel: D. Hagg, Q.C. Counsel: S. M. MacPherson Application that one of the major trial issues is res judicata as a result of the Court's ruling in 2004 in the mechanics lien litigation. Application dismissed. The earlier finding pursuant to the Mechanics' Lien Act did not determine the substantive issue in the dispute, namely, the actual value of the work done to date. CASES REFERRED TO: Angle v. Minister of National Revenue, [1975] 2 S.C.R. 248. room near the accused's restaurant at the Yellowknife airport. No previous criminal record. Key factors in this sentence are deterrence and denunciation. Sentence: incarceration of two and a half years. CASES REFERRED TO: R. v. Mudaliar 2007 [no citation] R. v. Desjarlais [no citation] R. v. Turner [2006] [N.W.T.J. No. 76] R. v. Gosselin [no citation] TERRITORIAL COURT R. v. MacNearney 2009 NWTTC 17 Presiding: Chief Judge R. D. Gorin Counsel ( Crown): D. Vaillancourt Counsel (Defence): J. Bran Counsel (Defence): N. Homberg Application by defence for adjournment of the preliminary inquiry. Application denied. The application was made at the eleventh hour and was for the defence to ensure that certain witnesses gave evidence. The defence ought to have subpoenaed the witnesses. Diamond Placement v. Erasmus et al 2009 NWTTC 18 (CanLII) | November 26, 2009 Presiding: Judge B. E. Schmaltz Plaintiff: self-represented Defendant: no appearance The Plaintiff sought default judgment in six cases. The Plaintiff had loaned money to each defendant through a promissory note. The promissory notes were characterized by high interest rates, up to 689% per annum. The learned Justice dismissed all of the Plaintiff's claims on the basis that the interest rates were well in excess of 60% per annum and as such were illegal. SENTENCING R. v. Baker 2009 NWTSC 75 (CanLII) | November 30, 2009 Presiding: Justice L. A. Charbonneau Counsel (Crown): G. Boyd Counsel (Defence): J. Stuffco The accused pled guilty to one charge of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Facts: In return for the promise of payment of $5,000, the accused hid 1,016 grams of cocaine in the ceiling of the stage
DECEMBER 2009 | 11 CASE REFERRED TO: Diamond Placement and Financial Services v. Biggs et al (2009 NWTTC 15). R. v. Henry Zoe 2009 NWTTC 19 (CanLII) | November 9, 2009 Presiding: Judge C. Gagnon Counsel (Applicant, Crown): D. Vaillancourt Counsel (Respondent): C. Wawzonek Application by the Crown to prove the voluntariness of a statement of the accused and for permission to crossexamine the accused on that statement. Application denied. The Crown had stated at the outset that she would not hold a voir dire to determine the voluntariness of a statement given by the accused, and that she would neither tender the statement as part of the Crown's case, nor use it to cross-examine the accused. The accused took the stand after the Crown declared its case closed. The Crown started to crossexamine the accused and moved to hold a voir dire to determine the voluntariness of the statement given by the accused because the Crown alleged that the accused testified in a manner inconsistent with the prior statement. This would be unfair because the accused decided on the basis of the position taken by the Crown that he would forego his right to remain silent. CASES CITED: R. v. Cote, 1985 B.C.J. No. 817 R. v. Pereira, 2008 B.C.J. 2779 R. v. Dakins, 2000 O.J. No 5338 R. v. Corbett, 1988 1 S.C.R. 670 R. v. Underwood, 1998 1 S.C.R. 77 [plus 13 others] MATERIALS CITED: McWilliams, P.K., Canadian Criminal Evidence, 4th ed., Canada Law Books Paciocco, David and Stuesser, Lee, The Law of Evidence, 5th ed., Irwin Law 2008, at p. 452 Ratushny, E. J. Statements of an Accused: Some Loose Strands (Part 1) 1971 - 1972 14 CLQ 306 Watt's Manual of Criminal Evidence, Thomson Carswell, 2007 Cox's Criminal Evidence Handbook, Canad Law Books 2009 - 2010 Mirfield, P., "The Early Jurisprudence of Judicial Disrepute," (1987-88), 30 Crim. L.Q. 434, at pp. 444 and 452 by Mark Aitken, Director of Legislation Division, GNWT Justice SPECIES AT RISK ACT The Species at Risk (NWT) Act, S.N.W.T. 2009, c. 16 comes into force on February 1, 2010 by virtue of a commencement order registered December 8, 2009 as SI-009-2009. TLICHO COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT ACT Four new regulations were made on November 30, 2009: Authorized Lenders (Tlicho Community Government) Regulations (R-141-2009), Debt (Tlicho Community Government) Regulations (R -142-2009), Forms (Tlicho Community Government) Regulations (R-143-2009), and Investment (Tlicho Community Government) Regulations (R-144-2009). NWT LEGISLATIVE NEWS WASTE REDUCTION AND RECOVERY ACT The Single-Use Retail Bag Regulations were made on December 7, 2009, requiring grocery stores - effective January 15, 2010 - to charge a $0.25 fee for “take away” plastic or paper shopping bags. WILDLIFE ACT The following regulations were amended on December 16, 2009, to prohibit - effective January 1, 2010 - almost all hunting of the Bathurst caribou herd and to increase certain quotas for the hunting of wood bison: Big Game Hunting Regulations (R-155-2009), Sale of IT’S ALL ONLINE! Find Certified Bills, Consolidations of Acts, Regulations and Court Rules, and the Northwest Territories Gazette at the GNWT website: http://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/ Legislation/SearchLeg&Reg.shtml Wildlife Regulations (R-156-2009), Wildlife Management Barren-Ground Caribou Areas Regulations (R-157-2009), Wildlife Management Wood Bison Areas Regulations (R-158-2009). NOTE: The NWT Legislative News is not a comprehensive report of legislative enactments. Only items considered to be of interest to the Bar are listed.
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