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Material Contribution To Justice - Toxic Causation After Resurfice Corp. V. Hanke, Lynda M. Collins, Heather Mcleod-Kilmurray
Material Contribution To Justice - Toxic Causation After Resurfice Corp. V. Hanke, Lynda M. Collins, Heather Mcleod-Kilmurray
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The vast universe of chemicals in the Canadian environment is presently understood only poorly by science. For many thousands of chemicals, important data regarding chronic toxicity are lacking. As a result, the requirement that the plaintiff in a negligence action prove causation of illness on a but-for standard has frequently been unattainable. In Resurfice Corp. v. Hanke, the Supreme Court of Canada articulated an important exception to the but-for test. In circumstances where but-for causation is unprovable due to limits in scientific knowledge, proof that a defendant materially contributed to the plaintiff's risk of incurring the type of injury that …
Chasing Reputation: The Argument For Differential Treatment Of Public Figures In Canadian Defamation Law, Bob Tarantino
Chasing Reputation: The Argument For Differential Treatment Of Public Figures In Canadian Defamation Law, Bob Tarantino
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
When comparing the seminal Supreme Court of Canada defamation decisions of the 1990s and 2000s, it is apparent that the Court's view on the importance of protecting reputation has changed. Recent decisions hail the importance of using freedom of expression as a countervailing interest against the oft-criticized strictures of the common law of defamation. Fundamental alterations in the nature of mass and interactive media and in the nature of reputation are two phenomena informing this change. Increased attention to the theorizing of "reputation," the interest whose protection animates the entire tort of defamation, reveals that reputation is itself a highly …