XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, mtl.general   
   XPost: ab.politics   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   Some of you will want to keep this list as we go towards the next federal   
   election - now LESS THAN a year away.   
   ________________________________________________   
      
   CBC News Posted: Jul 04, 2014   
      
   The federal government's court-case losing streak   
      
      
   The Conservative government is once again dealing with a disappointing court   
   decision over one of its policies after the Federal Court of Canada ruled   
   Friday that cuts to health care for rejected refugee claimants were "cruel and   
   unusual."   
      
   The government has already said it will appeal the ruling to the Federal Court   
   of Appeal.   
      
   The sharply worded decision, which gave the government four months to reverse   
   the changes introduced in 2012, is just the latest in a string of key legal   
   defeats for the government. Here's a look at some other recent setbacks:   
      
   *  June: Supreme Court upholds privacy rights   
      
   The court's ruling that internet service providers must not disclose names,   
   addresses and phone numbers of their customers to law enforcement officials   
   without a warrant is expected to force the government to change bills on   
   cyberbullying (C-13) and digital privacy (S-4) currently before Parliament.   
      
   *  April: Feds can't go it alone on Senate reform   
      
   Senate reform has been one of Stephen Harper's signature political causes, one   
   that has become all the more urgent against a festering Senate expenses   
   scandal. But the government's attempt to gain some clarity about its powers to   
   change — or failing that, abolish — the upper chamber ran into a   
   constitutional   
   brick wall. The court ruled that reforms, including term limits or Senate   
   elections, or abolishing the Senate altogether, could only be done with the   
   consent of at least seven provinces representing at least half of the   
   population.   
      
   *  April: Judges have discretion on sentencing   
      
   In a unanimous ruling, the high court affirmed that offenders can receive extra   
   credit for time spent in custody before they are sentenced, a blow against the   
   government's Truth in Sentencing Act, which attempted to curb the practice by   
   allowing it only in "exceptional" circumstances. The ruling, which was   
   precedent-setting but did not strike down the law, gave judges the right to   
   apply the extra credit for time served but did not reject the government's   
   limit of a 1.5 credit.   
      
   *  March: Medical marijuana users win injunction   
      
   A Federal Court judge granted an injunction to medical marijuana users with a   
   personal production licence to allow them to continue to grow their own   
   marijuana at home until their constitutional challenge of the government's new   
   system of medical marijuana distribution can be heard. The government is   
   appealing the court's decision to the Federal Court of Appeal.   
      
   *  March: Early parole abolition repealed   
      
   Another blow to the Conservatives' law-and-order agenda came with the Supreme   
   Court ruling against the retroactive abolition of accelerated parole for   
   offenders who had already been sentenced. That violated the offenders' charter   
   rights, the court ruled in striking down section 10(1) of the Abolition of   
   Early Parole Act.   
      
   *  March: Marc Nadon rejected by Supreme Court   
      
   Perhaps the most embarrassing defeat came with the Supreme Court's rejection of   
   Harper's choice to fill a vacant seat on the court. The court ruled that   
   Justice Marc Nadon was not eligible to represent Quebec on the bench because he   
   was appointed from the Federal Court and not a Quebec court or directly from   
   the Quebec bar as dictated by the Constitution and the Supreme Court Act. The   
   government was compelled to seek a ruling from the court after a legal   
   challenge by Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati, who has since challenged another   
   judicial appointment as well as the government's new citizenship bill. The   
   Nadon decision later touched off an unprecedented public exchange of comments   
   between Harper and Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.   
      
   *  December 2013: Court strikes down prostitution laws   
      
   In a landmark unanimous decision, the court struck down Canada's 25-year-old   
   prostitution laws that prohibited brothels, living on the avails of   
   prostitution and communicating in public with clients and gave the government a   
   year to come up with a new law. The government introduced new legislation in   
   June that makes it a crime to buy sex not sell it, unless minors are present.   
      
   *  November 2013: No mandatory minimums for guns   
      
   Ontario's highest court ruled that a three-year mandatory minimum sentence for   
   possessing a loaded prohibited gun is unconstitutional, striking down a section   
   of the Conservatives' 2008 omnibus bill as "cruel and unusual punishment" for a   
   first offence. The decision came in the case of a man found taking pictures of   
   himself in his underwear holding a loaded gun to post on Facebook.   
      
   *  September 2011: Supervised injection clinic remains open   
      
   A landmark ruling from the Supreme Court ordered the federal minister of health   
   to grant a Vancouver supervised injection clinic an exemption under Canada's   
   drug laws so it can remain open. The ruling gave the minister discretion to   
   approve or deny future requests for exemptions, but required the government to   
   balance public safety and charter rights when making the decision.   
   ____________________________________________________   
      
   	http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/the-federal-government-s-court-   
   ase-losing-streak-1.2696593   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)