Does Penner Overrule Figliola? What's the Canadian law on Issue Estoppel?

Doubtless you have been waiting with bated breath for my promised discussion of whether the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Penner v. Niagara (Regional Police Services Board), 2013 SCC 19 is consistent with another recent decision, British Columbia (Workers' Compensation Board) v. Figliola, 2011 SCC 52. I think it is.

Administrative Decision-makers and the Ordinary Courts

What happens when administrative decisions, or decision-making processes, come into contact with the ordinary civil process? I will discuss two important recent Canadian decisions in this post: Penner v. Niagara (Regional Police Services Board), 2013 SCC 19 (Supreme Court of Canada), and Guay c. Gesca ltée, 2013 QCCA 343 (Quebec Court of Appeal). In a separate post I will address whether Penner is inconsistent -- as the dissenters in that case allege -- with a previous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, British Columbia (Workers' Compensation Board) v. Figliola, 2011 SCC 52.