Conclusion: The Canadian Law of Torts in the Twenty-First Century

• Author: Philip H. Osborne
• Profession: Faculty of Law. The University of Manitoba
• Pages: 422-436

CHAP TER 9

CONCLUSION:

THE CANADIAN LAW

OF TORTS IN THE

TWENTYFIRST

CENTURY

At the beginning of the twentieth century no judge or lawyer could have

foreseen the substantia l expansion and evolution of the Canadia n law of

torts that would take place i n the following hundred years. We are not

in any better position today to predict what the next hundred years w ill

bring. Nevertheless, there are certain trends and t hemes in Canadia n

tort law that are likely to be inf‌luential in its development and evolution

in the twenty-f‌irst century. These themes include the central ity and dom-

inance of the tort of negligence, the dynamism and expa nsionary nat ure

of the tort of negligence, the incremental drift toward s a greater gener-

alization and integration of tort rules, the reform and moderni zation of

tort law, the dominance of the compensatory function of tort law, and the

rise of alternat ive and supplementary legal and non-legal compensatory

and deterrent mechanisms t hat threaten to marginali ze and diminish the

importance of tort law. Not all of these themes are discrete phenomena

and not all of them point in the same direct ion, but they each warrant

some attention in anticipating the future path of Canadian tort law.

A. THE CENTR A LITY OF THE TORT OF

NEGLIGE NCE

In the twentieth century t he tort of negligence blossomed into the dom-

inant f‌ield of tort liabilit y. Virtually all activities that car ry a risk of

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