Procedural Fairness in Public Procurement

Public procurement is governed by a plurality of legal regimes. Statutes, regulations, international law and common law all have a say. Norms are enforceable by judicial review and (somewhat more lucratively) in private actions. Given the pluralistic nature of legal regulation of public procurement, it is unsurprising that norms associated more with public law have seeped into the private law framework. A recent Canadian example is Entreprise P.S. Roy inc. c. Magog (Ville de), 2013 QCCA 617.

Keeping the Federal Government out of the Provincial Courts

In its 2010 decision in Telezone, the Supreme Court of Canada took a relatively relaxed approach to private law actions against the federal government in provincial court. The difficulty is that in some of these cases a court will have to adjudicate on the lawfulness -- as a public law matter -- of actions or decisions taken by federal authorities, but this is a matter reserved to the federal courts by the Federal Courts Act.

Duties of Fairness in the Disposal of Municipal Buildings

At first blush, the result in North End Community Health Association v. Halifax (Regional Municipality), 2012 NSSC 330 is striking. A municipality's decision to sell an old school to a property developer was held to be unlawful because it breached a duty of fairness to local non-profit organizations and because it was sold at less than market value.