Following are the summaries for this week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
In Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, 2019 ONCA 393, the court upheld the constitutionality of two policies enacted by the College. Each of policies required physicians who objected to providing certain medical procedures and pharmaceuticals on the basis of religious beliefs or freedom of conscience (such as medical assistance in dying, abortion and reproductive health services) to provide the patient with an effective referral to other practitioners or clinics. The Court upheld the Divisional Court’s finding that while the policies infringed the individual doctor’s religious freedom, the policies were reasonable limits that were demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society. The Court agreed with the Divisional Court and found that the policies’ objective to facilitate equitable access for vulnerable patients to health care services was sufficiently pressing and substantial to warrant overriding individual doctors’ religious freedom. The Court found that the policies fell within a range of reasonable alternatives to address the religious objections of physicians.
Other topics covered this week included the standing of a union member to challenge the legality of clauses in the union’s constitution that limited the ability of locals to disaffiliate from the parent union, compensatory spousal support, amending pleadings in an oppression case, an appeal from a jury’s determination of damages in an MVA case, constructive dismissal of a teacher, a dispute over a right of way, extension of time to comply with an order for security for costs, and extension of time to appeal an order refusing security for costs in the bankruptcy context.
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