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of Practice > Constitutional
and Administrative Law
Arvay Finlay has been involved in some of the
most important constitutional cases in Canada.
In the area of federal- provincial relations,
we have acted for:
- The Province of British Columbia
in its attempt to keep
the E&N
Railroad in operation;
- The Province of Manitoba in
challenging the federal
government’s
Canada Assistance Plan,
- The Province of Ontario when
NAFTA was first enacted
to consider a constitutional
challenge;
- The Province of British Columbia
in seeking to limit the
power of the National Energy
Board to intrude
into areas of provincial responsibility
in the Georgia Strait Crossing
matter.
We continue to be very involved in federalism
cases.
Our firm has also acted in some of the most
complex and important Charter of Rights and Freedoms
cases of the last decade. We have acted:
- In the
very first Supreme Court of
Canada case which recognized that gay and lesbians
are
protected from discrimination under
the Charter;
- For Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium
in their landmark challenge
to Canada Customs’ power
to restrict the importation
of books and magazines into Canada;
- For teachers, students and parents
in their successful challenge to
the Surrey School Board’s
attempt to ban three children’s
books on the grounds that they
positively depict
same-sex
couples;
- To try to expand the scope of the Charter
guarantees to life, liberty
and security of the person in such cases as Blencoe
v Human Rights
Commission and Malmo-Levine v the Queen;
- For EGALE in its successful challenge in
the British Columbia courts
to the common law bar against same-sex marriages;
- For the Nanaimo
Community Bingo Association
in its successful challenge to the
constitutionality of provincial gaming legislation.
Our most recent Charter case involves a major
challenge, brought by the health sector unions
of British Columbia, to provincial legislation
which voids fundamental provisions of collective
agreements.
Arvay Finlay has also acted for a number of
administrative tribunals, including the Forest
Appeals Commission, the Expropriation Compensation
Board and the Oil and Gas Commission Advisory
Committee. We represented the Conflict of Interest
Commissioner in two inquiries into the conduct
of two Premiers of the Province.
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