Alberta Law Review Research Articles

Dale Gibson: Scholar, Teacher, Lawyer, and Man of Principle

When I was invited to speak at the March 2020 Alberta Law Review Annual Reception, I decided to talk about Dale Gibson, my friend, mentor, and former colleague. I wanted to do so because I believe his contributions to the law have sometimes been overlooked. I was delighted that Dale and his spouse, Sandra Anderson, would be able to attend the Reception so that I could celebrate Dale in person. Then, the event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So everything was rescheduled for March 2021. This gave me time to further develop my remarks and turn them into this article. Then the 2021 Reception was also cancelled because of the pandemic. Dale’s health was deteriorating so I gave him a draft of the article for review and comment. This resulted in a lovely visit with me, my spouse Robert, and Dale and Sandra where we shared many memories. And, of course with Dale, to still receive some insightful comments on the draft despite his health. Dale passed away at the age of 88 in January 2022. So, while he never got to hear me pay tribute to him, he did get to read a draft of the article. In this article I have attempted to provide an overview of some the qualities that infused Dale’s work, and in that way introduce readers to some the areas of his legal scholarship and practice. In the two appendices I also include two selected lists: his professional contributions and his publications. However, I realized in writing this abstract after Dale’s death that the article does not introduce you to the decent, kind, humble, generous, curious, and joyful person that was Dale. To learn more you will have to attend the Alberta Law Review Annual Reception in 2023 (since the 2022 one was also cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic). I am so grateful that I got to know Dale. I met him while an articling student at a large private law firm in Edmonton, and worked with him there. After he left to start his own boutique constitutional law firm, he asked me to join him. Joining Dale was the hardest and best decision of my career. I would not be where I am today, had I not done so. The following does not do Dale justice, but it is a beginning.

Constitutional Change Without Constitutional Amendment - A Review of Constitutional Pariah: Reference Re Senate Reform and The Future of Parliament, Emmett Macfarlane (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2021)

If there is a better book on the challenges of constitutional change in Canada, I have yet to see it. Emmett Macfarlane’s masterwork on the constitutional politics of Senate renewal — Constitutional Pariah: Reference re Senate Reform and the Future of Parliament — exposes the great paradox of constitutional reform in Canada: the Canadian Constitution is today virtually unamendable, but it evolves constantly in both its form and content.1 Here is the puzzle: how can our constitution be simultaneously frozen and ever-changing? This outstanding book illustrates the complex and fascinating dynamics behind an essential feature of Canadian constitutionalism: the political reality of constitutional change without constitutional amendment. In this review essay prepared at the invitation of the Alberta Law Review, I identify several of Macfarlane’s major contributions in this book and then situate the importance of his study to our understanding of the Canadian Constitution and the theory of constitutional amendment. What results, I hope, is not only a strong endorsement of this excellent book but moreover an invitation to law and political science scholars in Canada to join the theoretically rich discussion of real-time practical relevance that Macfarlane has initiated to the enormous benefit of the field of public law.

You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone: The Rule of Law in Canada — Part II

This article is the second part of an article that was printed in the Alberta Law Review, Volume 52, Issue 3 at 689. In this part, the article explores how the rule of law has found expression in Canada. It defines the major elements and characteristics of the rule of law. It then goes on to explore how the different branches of government are affected and constrained by the rule of law. The role of the courts in upholding the rule of law is emphasized, as well as the importance of judicial independence.

The Last Case [Reprint — (1978) 16:1 Alta. L. Rev. 1

This is an exact reprint of an article published in 1978 in Volume 16 of the Alberta Law Review. It is the story of the last appeal to go from Canada to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, as told by the late Justice Morrow of the Supreme Court of Alberta Appellate Division. This article not only describes the background to a historically significant case that went through the Appellate Division, but also provides the unique perspective of one of its former members. As noted in the original abstract, “[t]he material contained in the reported decisions is interesting but it is hoped the reader will find that the story back of the reports is even more interesting.”

Introduction

This issue of the Alberta Law Review is devoted to insurance law.

Ghost Dancing with Colonialism: Decolonization and Indigenous Rights at the Supreme Court of Canada, Grace Li Xiu Woo (Vancouver: UBS Press 2011)

I write this review at the request of the Alberta Law Review. I assume they asked me for a couple of reasons. First, I sat as a judge for over thirty years, presiding over most of the cases arising on the Stoney Indian Reserve at Morley, Alberta. Second, I have written a book, based on that experience, entitled Bad Medicine: A Judge’s Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community.

Introduction

This special issue of the Alberta Law Review is devoted to administrative and regulatorylaw.

Introduction

Val Napoleon is the Coordinator for this Special Issue of the Alberta Law Review on Restorative Justice. In this issue, we present a range of articles that explore some of the many critical questions in the contested and dynamic field of restorative justice. We set out to provide a space for a deep and critical engagement with the complex questions and issues in the field and, with this issue, we have succeeded in creating just such a space where these challenging conversations can take place. This issue brings together an interesting and diverse group of nine authors who bring different perspectives, experiences, and wide-ranging approaches to both the practice and theory of restorative justice.

Fostering a Scholarly Network in International Law: An Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue of the Alberta Law Review is devoted to the discussion of current topics within the field and discipline of international law, including matters of international trade and investment law, international development, peace and security, international criminal law, and the international protection of human rights. The publication of this issue represents the culmination of an extraordinary intellectual exchange between four societies dedicated to the development and promotion of international law, which together represent five countries and attract membership from lawyers within academia, government, and private practice. The “Four Societies” initiative stems from an initial partnership in the early 1990s between the American Society of International Law (ASIL), the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL), and the Japanese Society of International Law (JSIL), which was later expanded upon during the current decade to include the Australian & New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL). Without the support of these Four Societies, this special issue, and the two-day conference at which the articles were first presented, would not have taken place.

Editors' Note

The Alberta Law Review is honoured to publish the Proceedings of the Law Society of Alberta's 100th Anniversary Conference.

The Honourable William A. Stevenson - Alberta Law Review House

The Honourable William A. Stevenson - Alberta Law Review House

More Promises to Keep: The Expansion of Contractual Liability Since 1921

As part of the Alberta Law Review's Special Edition celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the opening of the Law School in 1921, this article endeavours to trace aspects of the expansion of the enforceability of promises from 1921 to 1996. To provide a general context for subsequent analysis, the author begins by outlining the two main theories underlying contractual liability: consideration-based liability and reliance-based liability. The author goes on to discuss how the grounds for enforcing a promise have now expressly gone beyond the structures of a consideration-based liability to include, in addition, a more fact sensitive approach which looks to reasonable reliance by the promisee as a valid reason to enforce a promise. This contention is illustrated through a discussion of two relatively recent phenomena: the judicial reentrenchment of the doctrine of promissory estoppel and the extension of contractual protection to third party beneficiaries. The author concludes by offering some conclusions as to the extent to which the doctrine of consideration has been eroded.

The New Personal Property Security Regimes - Have We Gone Too Far

The following is an excerpt from the Alberta Law Review's new book An Introduction to the Personal Property Security Act of Alberta. Professor Ziegel, who has been involved with PPSA legislation since its introduction in Canada in the 1970's, considers the philosophical underpinnings of this new wave of creditor-debtor regulations. He is concerned that the benefit to the secured creditor may be gained at the expense of unsecured parties, and suggests further fine tuning may be required to better balance the respective interests of secured and unsecured creditors.

Extra-Judicial Writing: The Alberta Law Quarterly and the Alberta Law Review in Particular, and Texts and Reviews in General

This is the text of Dean Bowker's address to guests and members of the Alberta Law Reviewdelivered on the occasion of theReview's25th Anniversary banquet February 7, 1980. In order to preserve the origin.al tone and style of the address, only minor editorial changes have been made.

Statutory Limitation Periods in Alberta Statutes: 1977 Update

In the third issue of its 1974 volume the Alberta Law Review pre sented the first comprehensive compilation of limitation periods in Alberta statutes done since 1962. The materials presented in the current volume are an effort to continue this project on an annual basis. The 1974 compilation and subsequent updates were prepared by the Institute of Law Research and Reform at the request of the current editor. The 1976 and 1977 updates have been prepared by the Editorial Board of the Alberta Law Review. While every effort at thoroughness has been made, the Board does not represent the absolute accuracy or absolute coverage of the limitation periods in the 1976 or 1977 Statutes of Alberta. It should be noted that no reference has been made to the Alberta Regulations with respect to limitation periods, and the reader is advised to have regard to the provisions of the Interpretation Act, R.S.A. 1970, c. 189 with respect to the computation of time.

Statutory Limitation Periods in Alberta Statutes: 1976 Update

In the third issue of its 1974 volume the Alberta Law Review presented the first comprehensive compilation of limitation periods in Alberta statutes done since 1962. The materials presented in the current volume are an effort to continue this project on an annual basis. As was the case with the 1974 compilation, these materials were prepared by the Institute of Law Research and Reform at the request of the current editor of the Alberta Law Review. While every effort at thoroughness has been made, the Institute of Law Research and Reform does not represent the absolute accuracy or absolute coverage of the limitation periods in the 1975 Statutes of Alberta. Again, it should be noted that no reference has been made to the Alberta Regulations with respect to limitation periods, and the reader is advised tohave regard to the provisions of the Interpretation Act, R.S.A. 1970, c. 189 with respecttothe computation of time.

Statutory Limitation Periods in Alberta Statutes: 1975 Update

In the third issue of its 1974 volume the Alberta Law Review presented the first comprehensive compilation of limitation periods in Alberta statutes done since 1962. The materials presented in the current volume are an effort to continue this project on an annual basis. As was the case with the 1974 compilation, these materials were prepared by the Institute of Law Research and Reform at the request of the current editor of the Alberta Law Review. While every effort at thoroughness has been made, the Institute of Law Research and Reform does not represent the absolute accuracy or absolute coverage of the limitation periods in the 1975 Statutes of Alberta. Again, it should be noted that no reference has been made to the Alberta Regulations with respect to limitation periods, and the reader is advised tohave regard to the provisions of the Interpretation Act, R.S.A. 1970, c. 189 with respecttothe computation of time.

Wilbur Fee Bowker: In Appreciation

talk given in shorter form with miscellaneous informal remarks since expunged, to joint dinner meeting of the Legal Forum and the Legal Circle, two discussion groups of Edmonton lawyers, held September 18, 1975, at the Mayfair Club, Edmonton, in honour of Dean W. F. Bowker, Q.C., on his retirement. The Alberta Law Review is pleased to publish this tribute to Dean Bowker, who for many years has been an invaluable supporter of the Review.

Statutory Limitation Periods in Alberta Statutes: 1974 Update

In the third issue of its 1974 volume the Alberta Law Review presented the first comprehensive compilation of limitation periods in Alberta statutes done since 1962. The materials presented in the current volume are an effort to continue this project on an annual basis. As was the case with the 1974 compilation, these materials were prepared by the Institute of Law Research and Reform at the request of the current editor of the Alberta Law Review. While every effort at thoroughness has been made, the Institute of Law Research and Reform does not represent the absolute accuracy or absolute coverage of the limitation periods in the 1975 Statutes of Alberta. Again, it should be noted that no reference has been made to the Alberta Regulations with respect to limitation periods, and the reader is advised tohave regard to the provisions of the Interpretation Act, R.S.A. 1970, c. 189 with respecttothe computation of time.

The Participatory Environment in Alberta

The compiled materials on Statutory Limitation Periods in Alberta Statutes which appear in this edition of the Alberta Law Review were prepared by the Institute of Law Research and Reform pursuant to proposal made by Mr. Gerald Masuch, the editor of the Alberta Law Review in 1973-1974. Whereas the materials gathered represent an attempt to be as thorough as possible in locating the limitation periods contained in the Revised Statutes of Alberta 1970 and the subsequent yearly volumes of the Alberta Statutes through 1973, the Institute of Law Research and Reform does not represent the absolute accuracy or absolute coverage of this material which should, in this event, not be considered as exhaustive. It is to be noted in this regard, that no perusal was made of the Alberta Regulations to determine, inter alia, the existence or otherwise of any limitation periods which might affect the viability of cause of action or the jurisdiction of an ad ministrative board or tribunal. It is hoped that this compilation of limitation periods will serve as han dy reference to members of the legal profession in the Province as well as others who may have dealings which require the strict compliance with statutory procedures. The use of such reference should not, of course, be a substitute for direct reference to the statute(s) in question.