Alberta Queens' Bench spanks the fed re: S74 jurisdiction

[45ACPKING]

progress in a positive direction....... thankyou to those involved.

[TV-PressPass]

Hawt Dawg.

[kivas]

tag for later

[Suther]

Very interesting.

Can the crown appeal this to the Supreme Court of Canada? If they have to weigh in on it, that would make it binding across the country, no?

[sulisa]

Very interesting.

Can the crown appeal this to the Supreme Court of Canada? If they have to weigh in on it, that would make it binding across the country, no?

That's what I'm hoping for - something that would pave the way for a hearing in the other Provinces. Maybe Ian Runkle will have a video out about this in the coming days.

[infideleggwelder]

That certainly reads better than my decision.

[Cameron SS]

Oh boy! Am I reading that right? Does that mean that now every single person affected can go ahead and file an s74 and none of the OIC can take place until all have gone through meaning a a suspension of the OIC needs to take place immediately? Hopefully somebody with a lot more learned legalese can explain a little clearer what we just read?

Lets break this down.

Does that mean that now every single person affected can go ahead and file an s74 ...?

Any person can file any S 74 at any time. What happens next...depends. Normally you have 30 days from the date of revocation to file a S74 application, however the legislation states that a judge can accept late decisions. As anyone filing now will be past the 30 days, they will have to convince a judge to exercise their discretion to allow the late application.

You will have to be prepared to make an argument along the lines of "up until the Queens Bench ruling, the nature of the revocation was ambiguous and not clear. As the Court has clarified that it is a revocation, I am bringing the application".

If you want to go this route, it would be a good idea to file it immediately, and at least within 30 days of this ruling.

none of the OIC can take place ...

This ruling does not in any way affect the validity of the OiC. The OiC is still valid law, until struck down by the federal court.
This ruling does not affect the ability of any person, including government, cabinet, or the Canadian Firearms Program to do anything that the law authorizes them to do in relation to the OiC.

all have gone through meaning a a suspension of the OIC needs to take place immediately?

Not really clear what you mean by this, but no, the government is under no obligation, legal or practical, to do anything about the OiC as a result of this ruling.

Hopefully the judge presiding over the case in St Albert is paying attention. We're still waiting on her decision.

YOu need to send this ruling to your judge immediately. And ask for an opportunity to speak to it.

Can someone translate this from legalese to english?

Sure. I'll try.

BACKGROUND
In May 2020, the government prescribed certain types of firearms to be prohibited.
Afterwards, and ongoing to this day, the Registrar and her staff have been busy trying to determine which specific firearms that were previously restricted and are registered in the Canadian Firearms Registry are captured under the OiC.
The majority of these firearms were identified in May of 2020, however to this day every few weeks they find a few more that they seem to have missed.
In July 2020, The Registrar sent letters to 69,000 License holders advising them that their registration certificates for certain firearms, which are now determined to be Prohibited, are no longer valid.
Several hundred Canadian gun owners filed S74 hearings under the understanding that these notices were revocation notices, and that the revocations were improper.

Legal History
At provincial court, the government argued that these weren't revocations, the registrar was compelled to act by operation of law, and that she was right to do so, and the court doesn't even have jurisdiction to hear these cases in the first place.

Most judges across the country, and judges in NFLD, NS, QC, ON, MB, AB and BC have all agreed with the Governments nonsense, and dismissed applications for want of Jurisdiction.

A few Judges, Most notably in Calgary, disagreed. Specifically, The Learned Justice Fradsham in Calgary found he did have jurisdiction, and that this was a revocation. The government appealed. This decision released today is the result of that appeal.

In short, the Judge made four major findings.

First, the July 2020 'automatic nullification' letters, are most definitely revocation letters.
Second, The provincial courts most definitely have jurisdiction to conduct a hearing to review these revocations.
Third, the Registrars attempt to effect this revocation because the law required her to, is fatally flawed.
Fourth, it is not open to the registrar to avoid judicial scrutiny by refusing to call things by their proper names.

So what this means, is that the appeal has been decided in the gun owners favour, and the applicants subject to this ruling (9) can now carry on with their hearings, which have been on hold for over a year, pending this appeal.

So what Could happen at the hearing?
A) The court could decide to let the revocations stand, despite the legally flawed justification of the registrar. (unlikely).
B) The court could decide to strike down the revocations as flawed, and order the Registrar to reinstate the previous registration certificates for those firearms.

[Cameron SS]

That certainly reads better than my decision.

It would be tempting, but perhaps inappropriate, to email the ruling to the court clerk you dealt with and ask court to give it to the judge who presided over your ruling. You know, for his professional development.

[silver69]

Lets break this down.



Any person can file any S 74 at any time. What happens next...depends. Normally you have 30 days from the date of revocation to file a S74 application, however the legislation states that a judge can accept late decisions. As anyone filing now will be past the 30 days, they will have to convince a judge to exercise their discretion to allow the late application.

You will have to be prepared to make an argument along the lines of "up until the Queens Bench ruling, the nature of the revocation was ambiguous and not clear. As the Court has clarified that it is a revocation, I am bringing the application".

If you want to go this route, it would be a good idea to file it immediately, and at least within 30 days of this ruling.



This ruling does not in any way affect the validity of the OiC. The OiC is still valid law, until struck down by the federal court.
This ruling does not affect the ability of any person, including government, cabinet, or the Canadian Firearms Program to do anything that the law authorizes them to do in relation to the OiC.


Not really clear what you mean by this, but no, the government is under no obligation, legal or practical, to do anything about the OiC as a result of this ruling.



YOu need to send this ruling to your judge immediately. And ask for an opportunity to speak to it.



Sure. I'll try.

BACKGROUND
In May 2020, the government prescribed certain types of firearms to be prohibited.
Afterwards, and ongoing to this day, the Registrar and her staff have been busy trying to determine which specific firearms that were previously restricted and are registered in the Canadian Firearms Registry are captured under the OiC.
The majority of these firearms were identified in May of 2020, however to this day every few weeks they find a few more that they seem to have missed.
In July 2020, The Registrar sent letters to 69,000 License holders advising them that their registration certificates for certain firearms, which are now determined to be Prohibited, are no longer valid.
Several hundred Canadian gun owners filed S74 hearings under the understanding that these notices were revocation notices, and that the revocations were improper.

Legal History
At provincial court, the government argued that these weren't revocations, the registrar was compelled to act by operation of law, and that she was right to do so, and the court doesn't even have jurisdiction to hear these cases in the first place.

Most judges across the country, and judges in NFLD, NS, QC, ON, MB, AB and BC have all agreed with the Governments nonsense, and dismissed applications for want of Jurisdiction.

A few Judges, Most notably in Calgary, disagreed. Specifically, The Learned Justice Fradsham in Calgary found he did have jurisdiction, and that this was a revocation. The government appealed. This decision released today is the result of that appeal.

In short, the Judge made four major findings.

First, the July 2020 'automatic nullification' letters, are most definitely revocation letters.
Second, The provincial courts most definitely have jurisdiction to conduct a hearing to review these revocations.
Third, the Registrars attempt to effect this revocation because the law required her to, is fatally flawed.
Fourth, it is not open to the registrar to avoid judicial scrutiny by refusing to call things by their proper names.

So what this means, is that the appeal has been decided in the gun owners favour, and the applicants subject to this ruling (9) can now carry on with their hearings, which have been on hold for over a year, pending this appeal.

So what Could happen at the hearing?
A) The court could decide to let the revocations stand, despite the legally flawed justification of the registrar. (unlikely).
B) The court could decide to strike down the revocations as flawed, and order the Registrar to reinstate the previous registration certificates for those firearms.

Thank you very much Ian. This sounds very positive.

[cmsl333]

A step in a positive direction.