Jeff Beedell Partner


Speaks:  English

Year of Call: 1985 - Ontario


Primary office:  Ottawa




Jeff Beedell

Jeff Beedell is a partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office. His practice is focused on providing Supreme Court of Canada agency services to other Canadian lawyers, including drafting materials and strategic advice on leave applications, appeals and motions.

Jeff continues to serve on the Court/Ottawa Agents Practice and Procedures Committee with the Registrar and Supreme Court staff advising on the 2002, 2006, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2021 Rules amendments, the Court's e-filing initiatives, and the use of electronic materials at the Supreme Court. He was appointed by the CBA to serve on the Supreme Court of Canada Liaison Subcommittee effective September 1, 2022.

Jeff has also represented clients in a wide variety of commercial real estate, Aboriginal and environmental law matters.

Active in the community, Jeff has served on the Boards of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Ashbury College, Canadian Condominium Institute (Ottawa Branch), REACH Canada and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

Career & Recognition

Filter timeline:

Memberships

  • Canadian Bar Association (Ontario Environmental Law Section)
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Law Society of Ontario

Interviews

  • SCC was more divided than united on cases in 2018; dissents rose, but case intake and output fell; The Lawyer's Daily, April 2019
  • Jeff Beedell on what to expect from the SCC in 2019; CBA National, January 2019

Publications

  • Supreme Court of Canada Practice 2021, (2021: Carswell, Toronto), Watt, Beedell, et al.
  • Supreme Court of Canada Practice 2020, (2020: Carswell, Toronto), co-authored with D. Lynne Watt et al.
  • Mr. Big: Reliability and admissibility in Hart and Mack, co-authored with Matthew Estabrooks, Supreme Court of Canada Bulletin, October 2014
  • Internet and privacy: Spencer v. Her Majesty the Queen, Supreme Court of Canada Bulletin, August 2014
  • Ontario Environmental Protection Act: Supreme Court says "when in doubt, report," Environmental bulletin, 2013.
  • Supreme Court revisits conflicts of interest in CNR v. McKercher, Litigation bulletin, 2013.
  • Supreme Court weighs in on age-old question in Daishowa-Marubeni: If a tree falls in the forest and you are not around to replant it, how does it affect your taxes?, Tax bulletin, 2012.
  • Supreme Court takes public interest standing to the streets, Litigation bulletin, 2012.
  • Administrative law - Dunsmuir simplified, Litigation bulletin, 2009.
  • Law Note - Directors' Fiduciary Duty Owed Only to the Corporation, InBrief, 2009.
  • Law Note - The Business Cost of Third-Party Production Orders, InBrief, 2008.
  • Volume Down, Verbiage Up at Supreme Court in 2007, The Lawyers Weekly, 2008.

Presentations

  • uOttawa Environmental Law Career Panel, Faculty of Law, Panel Speaker on Environmental Law and the Supreme Court of Canada, 2012
  • The Law and Ethics of Supervised Injection Site Facilities: Guiding Principles from the Vancouver Insite decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada (Attorney General) v. PHS Community Services Society, 2011 SCC 44, 2012.
  • SCC and Surviving Stage Two of Anns Test, 41st Annual Law Society of Alberta Refresher Course, Lake Louise, Alberta, 2007.
  • A View On The Supreme Court of Canada, Address to The Rotary Club of Ottawa, 2007.
  • Written Advocacy, Practical Considerations for Motions and Appeal Tips from the Trenches: Motions and Appeals Seminar, presented by the CCLA, Upper Canada Law Society, Ontario Bar Association and University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law, 2003.

Representative Work

Jeff Beedell's representative work includes acting as the Ottawa Agent and advising on submissions by counsel in the following Supreme Court leave applications and/or appeals:

  • Law Society of Saskatchewan v. Abrametz, 2022 SCC 29 examining in the administrative law context of professional disciplinary proceedings the applicable standard of review and the Blencoe test for when inordinate delay amounts to abuse of process warranting a stay of proceedings.
  • Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11 upholding the constitutionality of this federal legislation setting minimum national standards for GHG price stringency to reduce GHG emissions as a matter of national concern under the peace, order and good government provision of s. 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867.
  • Canada v. Canada North Group Inc., 2021 SCC 30 determining that the super-priority priming charges ordered under court-supervised CCAA reorganizations to protect the accounts of professionals engaged to facilitate the restructuring prevail over the deemed trust priority of Her Majesty the Queen arising from certain  Income Tax Act provisions.
  • R. v. Desautel, 2021 SCC 17, interpreting the expression "aboriginal peoples of Canada" in respect of asserting Aboriginal rights under s 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 to mean the modern‑day successors of Aboriginal societies that occupied Canadian territory at the time of European contact which may include Aboriginal groups that are now outside Canada.
  • British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Provincial Court Judges' Association of British Columbia, 2020 SCC 20, allowing the appeal and quashing the order for production of a confidential Cabinet submission concerning a judicial compensation report.
  • Atlantic Lottery Corp. Inc. v. Babstock, 2020 SCC 19, setting aside the certification of a class action and striking the representative plaintiff's statement of claim for damages arising from use of video display terminals in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Supreme Court rejected 'waiver of tort' as a cause of action in Canada.
  • Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya, 2020 SCC 5, confirming that customary international law is part of Canadian common law such that the Eritrean workers' claims of being indefinitely conscripted through military service into a forced labour regime where they were subjected to violent, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment would be allowed to proceed to trial against a Canadian company that was a co-owner of the Bisha mine in Eritrea. The Supreme Court ruled that the 'act of state doctrine' is not recognized in Canada.
  • Canada Post Corp. v. Canadian Union of Postal Workers, 2019 SCC 67, restoring the determination of the Appeals officer that a federally-regulated employer's work place inspection obligation applies only to parts of work place over which that employer has control, based on a reasonableness standard of review per recent Vavilov guidance.
  • Bell Canada v. Canada (Attorney General), 2019 SCC 66, overturning the CRTC`s decision to end the 'simultaneous substitution' regime for advertisements during the Canadian broadcast of the NFL's Super Bowl which together with the NFL and Vavilov appeals comprise the landmark administrative law trilogy of the SCC`s restatement on standards of review.
  • Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Ltd., 2019 SCC 5, interpreting Alberta's Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as they apply to end-of-life obligations for plugging and capping oil wells and restoring the surface when the license holder is bankrupt.
  • Groia v Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 27, determining that the Law Society's disciplinary decision was unreasonable when its Appeal Panel held that certain in-court conduct crossed the line of incivility under the Rules of Professional Conduct.
  • Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 33, upholding the Law Society's administrative decision to not accredit TWU's proposed law school as reasonable based upon considerations of equal access to the legal profession, diversity in the bar, and preventing harm to LGBTQ law students.
  • Valard Construction Ltd. v. Bird Construction Co., 2018 SCC 18, construction law decision placing onus on trustee of a labour and materials bond to notify potential beneficiaries of the existence of the bond.
  • Green v Law Society of Manitoba, 2017 SCC 20, professional discipline case upholding authority of a Law Society to impose mandatory continuing legal education on members.
  • Ernst v Alberta Energy Regulator, 2017 SCC 1 , administrative law decision rejecting s. 24(1) Charter damages claim against a regulator.
  • R. v Lloyd, 2016 SCC 13, striking down mandatory minimum sentencing under s.12 of Charter relating to drug offence.
  • British Columbia Teachers' Federation v. British Columbia, 2016 SCC 49, holding that BC legislation unconstitutional as province did not consult in good faith with teachers contrary to s. 2(d) of Charter.
  • R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27, recognizing right to be tried within a reasonable time under s. 11(b) of the Charter and imposing presumptive ceiling of 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in superior court for criminal cases to be tried.
  • Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 5, s. 7 Charter decision on physician-assisted dying.
  • Tervita Corp. v. Canada (Commissioner of Competition), 2015 SCC 3, competition law decision on proper test for anti-competitive effects of merger.
  • R. v. Fearon, 2014 SCC 77, Charter decision on police powers to search incident to arrest an accused's cell phone.
  • United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 503 v. Wal Mart Canada Corp., 2014 SCC 45, labour relations decision re employer right to close a business in context of a union certification process.
  • Amaratunga v. North Atlantic Fisheries Organization, 2013 SCC 66, upholding immunity of an international organization under the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (NAFO Immunity Order) to a wrongful termination action by a managerial employee.
  • CNR v McKercher LLP, 2013 SCC 39, conflicts of interest and whether a law firm can bring a lawsuit against a current client in an unrelated matter.
  • Sun Indalex Finance, LLC v. United Steelworkers, 2013 SCC 6, priority of pension plan wind-up deficiencies versus DIP lenders in CCAA proceedings.
  • Catalyst Paper Corp. v. North Cowichan (District), 2013 SCC 2, clarifying the deference standard of review for municipal bylaws.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador v. AbitibiBowater Inc., 2012 SCC 67, examining the priority of environmental remediation orders relative to other claims in a CCAA proceeding.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union v. Newfoundland and Labrador (Treasury Board), 2011 SCC 62, in right of NFLD and Labrador refining Dunsmuir analysis for judicial review of adequacy of labour arbitrator's reasons for award.
  • Canada (Attorney General) v. PHS Community Services Society, 2011 SCC 44, [2011] 3 S.C.R. 134, Charter and division of powers challenge to Minister's refusal to extend exemption for Vancouver Safe Injection Site (Insite).
  • Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. Alberta Teachers' Association, 2011 SCC 61, jurisdiction of tribunal statutory timelines in own procedure.
  • Lax Kw'alaams Indian Band v. Canada (Attorney General), 2011 SCC 56, constitutional claim for Aboriginal fishing rights along northwest coast of British Columbia.
  • Fullowka v. Pinkerton's of Canada Ltd., 2010 SCC 5, known as the "Giant Mine" case examining various tort duties of care in the context of security service, territorial government health & safety regulation, and union strike activity where 9 miners were killed underground by a planted explosive device.
  • R. v. Morelli, 2010 SCC 8, acquitting accused as police search of a home computer breached accused's rights under s. 8 of Charter.
  • BCE Inc. v 1976 Debentureholders, 2008 SCC 69, interpretation of board of director duties to stakeholders in "going private" reorganization and sale.
  • Honda Canada Inc, v Keays, 2008 SCC 39, setting aside of aggravated and punitive damages in employment termination case.
  • R. v. Kapp, 2008 SCC 41, s. 15(2) Charter validity of commercial fishing license privileges to Aboriginal people in pilot program on Fraser River.
  • Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Blood Tribe Department of Health, 2008 SCC 44, upholding of solicitor-client confidentiality over powers of Commissioner, to compel production for investigation of privacy complaint.
  • Saulnier v. Royal Bank of Canada, 2008 SCC 58, recognition of Bank's security interest in debtor's fishing licenses as "personal property" under PPSA and as "property" under BIA.
  • R. v. Bryan, 2007 SCC 12, media intervention in s.2(b) Charter challenge to strike publication bans of closed poll results on federal election day.
  • Citadel General Assurance Co. v. Vytlingam, 2007 SCC 46, limits of insurance coverage relating to use of an automobile.
  • Health Services and Support-Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v, British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27, s.2(d) Charter protection against arbitrary roll-back of collective agreement provisions.
  • Hill v Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Service Board, 2007 SCC 41, recognition of new duty of care in tort of negligent police investigation.
  • Resurfice Corp. v. Hanke, 2007 SCC 7, clarification of "but for" test to determine causation in negligence cases.
  • GMAC Commercial Credit Corporation-Canada v. T.C.T. Logistics Inc., 2006 SCC 35, bankruptcy judge lacking jurisdiction to bar successor employer application under LRA.
  • Canada v. Marlene Cloud, dismissal of Canada's leave application to appeal certification of class action in Residential Schools litigation.
  • Reference re Same-Sex Marriage, 2004 SCC 79, federal question to SCC on Charter compliance of proposed same-sex marriage statute.
  • Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem, 2004 SCC 47, Quebec and Canadian Charter freedoms of conscience and religion over private use restrictions in a condominium.
  • Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), 2004 SCC 73, duty to consult Haida Nation by a private company under a Crown forestry license.
  • Bell ExpressVu Limited Partnership v. Rex, 2002 SCC 42, interpretation of Canadian broadcasting legislation governing DTH satellite service.
  • Berendsen v. Ontario, 2001 SCC 55, Canadian Environmental Law, Association's challenge to limitations period under the Public Authorities Protection Act where historic environmental Contamination.