** HIGHLIGHTS **
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has refused to overturn decisions of the British Columbia Supreme Court, and the British Columbia Labour Relations Board, which concluded that state immunity did not prevent the British Columbia Labour Relations Board from hearing evidence from former employees at Mexico's Vancouver Consular office, with respect to whether Mexico had improperly interfered with a decertification application with respect to Mexican workers who worked at a B.C. nursery pursuant to the Federal Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. The Court of Appeal observed that Mexico was not a party to the decertification application. The decision of the Board did not affect Mexico's legal interests. The Court refused to expand the concept of state immunity to include "indirect impleading" so as to prevent the Board from considering this evidence. (United Mexican States v. British Columbia (Labour Relations Board), CALN/2015-003, [2015] B.C.J. No. 144, British Columbia Court of Appeal)
A Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has concluded that a decision of Inspectors acting under the Nova Scotia Animal Protection Act to seize and remove cattle was unlawful, because the Inspectors failed to take steps to obtain the owner's cooperation to relieve the distress of the cattle. The Court also found that the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, who has the authority to hear appeals from Inspector's decisions, must conduct an independent review of all the facts before deciding whether or not a decision to remove seized animals can be upheld, rather than restricting the appeal to an assessment of the report submitted by the Inspector. (Millett v. Nova Scotia (Minister of Agriculture), CALN/2015-004, [2015] N.S.J. No. 29, Nova Scotia Supreme Court)
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