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Access to Justice - Limits of the Courts. Canada v. Witchekan Lake First Nation
In Canada v. Witchekan Lake First Nation (Fed CA, 2023) the Federal Court of Appeal considered a lawsuit by Witchekan Lake First Nation (WLFN) against Canada and Saskatchewan under the 1992 'Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement' (Framework Agreement), alleging that the Framework Agreement included "an implied term requiring Saskatchewan to provide notice of any impending auction and a reasonable opportunity to purchase lands before they were put up for auction". Saskatchewan moved for summary judgment under Rule 215 of the Federal Court Rules (FCR), maintaining that the matter was essentially one of contractual interpretation. This motion was dismissed at the Federal Court level, but allowed at the Federal Court of Appeal.
In this quote the court emphasizes the limits of the publically-supported court system, and the need for efficiency in it's use:[37] It is in this spirit that this Court has noted that judges have a responsibility to ensure that the publicly funded judicial process is used to its greatest efficiency (Canada v. Olumide, 2017 FCA 42, [2018] 2 F.C.R. 328 at paras. 17-20; ViiV Healthcare at para. 24). The Court of Appeal of Alberta has made similar remarks (Stoney Tribal Council v. Canadian Pacific Railway, 2017 ABCA 432, 66 Alta. L.R. (6th) 33 at para. 77). Allowing a case to proceed to trial that could be decided by summary judgment delays the hearing of a case that does require a trial. Litigants do not have a right of access to all stages of the litigation process, nor do they presumptively have a right to a trial (Stoney Tribal Council at para. 79, citing O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. v. Serengetti Developments Ltd., 2013 ABQB 428, 91 Alta. L.R. (5th) 1 at para. 33). Judges’ responsibility in this regard, together with the call for judicial confidence in Hryniak, frames the approach to summary judgment motions. . Radosevich v. Harvey
In Radosevich v. Harvey (Div Court, 2022) the Divisional Court considered whether a family law client's remedy to an unsatisfactory separation agreement lay with the FLA processes available (which the court held) or - styled in solicitor negligence - with an action against her former lawyer. The ruling was based on abuse of process and appears to be from a line of cases that bars civil litigation in family matters:[2] The appellant, Mary Radosevich, retained the respondent solicitor, Jane Harvey, to help her negotiate a separation agreement. Unhappy with the agreement, the appellant says that the respondent was negligent in her legal representation. The appellant commenced an action against the respondent seeking to recover the amount to which she claims entitlement by way of unsought spousal support. Vella J. stayed the action as an abuse of process, ruling that the appellant must exhaust her remedies under the Family Law Act R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3 (“FLA”), before she could pursue a civil action against her solicitor.
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[4] .... In our view, Vella J. correctly held that this family dispute should be adjudicated under the terms of the FLA, the Act that governs spousal support obligations. It is also the statutory mechanism by which a party may seek to set aside a separation agreement, which is the remedy that the appellant should seek in this case before resorting to a civil action against her lawyer.
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[6] However, the support obligation is that of the appellant’s husband, not that of her lawyer. If the appellant entered into an unfair separation agreement, the situation should be rectified under the authority of the FLA, which is “a complete code for the bringing, proving and adjudicating of spousal support claims”: Conroy v. Vassel, 2019 ONSC 4147, at para. 15. The civil law system must not be used to circumvent the statutory regime governing matrimonial disputes: Cunningham v. Moran, 2011 ONCA 476, at paras. 36 and 40; Sutton v. Balinsky, 2015 ONSC 3081, at paras. 174-177. The pursuit of civil damages in lieu of matrimonial proceedings is inconsistent with the proper and orderly interests of justice. It is, as found by Vella J., an abuse of process.
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[10] In short, as held by Vella J., the appellant’s claims are justiciable under the FLA and that is where they should be tried. Contrary to the argument of the appellant, she does not have the right to choose her defendant. By commencing an action against her solicitor, the appellant chose the wrong forum and is calling the wrong party to account. We agree with the conclusion of Vella J. in para. 14:[14] For these reasons, I concluded that Ms. Radosevich must attempt to vary the separation agreement, and otherwise avail herself of whatever remedies she might have against her former husband under the relevant family law legislation first, before coming to the civil court to advance an action based on solicitor's negligence against her former lawyer. The remedies advanced by Ms. Radosevich against Ms. Harvey are, in substance, matters governed by the FLA; namely, whether retroactive spousal support ought to be paid by her husband, and whether the lump sum spousal support agreed to be paid was fair in light of her husband's true financial picture.
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