MacDonald v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 FC 921

• Judge: Mandamin, J.
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Case Date: May 06, 2009
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: 2009 FC 921;(2009), 364 F.T.R. 35 (FC)

MacDonald v. Can. (A.G.) (2009), 364 F.T.R. 35 (FC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2009] F.T.R. TBEd. SE.018

Allan MacDonald (applicant) v. The Attorney General of Canada (respondent)

(T-686-08; 2009 FC 921)

Indexed As: MacDonald v. Canada (Attorney General)

Federal Court

Mandamin, J.

September 16, 2009.

Summary:

An inmate was convicted of a disciplinary offence under s. 40(f) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (being disrespectful or abusive toward a staff member in a manner that could undermine a staff member's authority) in relation to a 2004 incident. A reviewing judge quashed the conviction and ordered that all records of the conviction be removed from the inmate's files: see 315 F.T.R. 237. The inmate later became aware that written reports in his files contained references to the 2004 incident. The inmate applied under s. 18(1) of the Federal Courts Act for a declaration that the institution's warden breached the reviewing judge's order.

The Federal Court allowed the application in part.

Prisons - Topic 1008

Administration - General - Rectifying prisoner's record (incl. inaccurate information) - Section 24 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (Can.) required accuracy of information about an offender and provided that an offender was entitled to request the correction of inaccurate information - In the present case, a reviewing judge quashed an inmate's conviction for a disciplinary offence relating to a 2004 incident and ordered that all records of the conviction be removed from the inmate's file - In 2008, the inmate became aware that written reports in his files contained references to the 2004 incident - The inmate sought a declaration that the institution's warden breached the reviewing judge's order - This raised the issue of the applicable standard of review - The Federal Court ruled as follows: "The standard of review when applying the statutory requirements of s. 24 ... to the facts the standard of reasonableness is appropriate" - See paragraphs 7 to 10.

Prisons - Topic 1566

Discipline - Inmates - Judicial review - Declaration - Grounds - A reviewing judge quashed an inmate's conviction for a disciplinary offence relating to a 2004 incident and ordered that all records of the conviction be removed from the inmate's file - In 2008, the inmate was charged with another disciplinary offence - He then became aware that written reports in his files contained references to the 2004 incident - Those references included an assertion that "The reliable information provided by the charging officer indicates that the incident did occur", which was coupled with the word "quashed" in relation to the earlier conviction - The Federal Court declared that the assertion was "disingenuous" and constituted a breach of the reviewing judge's order - See paragraphs 1 to 20.

Cases Noticed:

New Brunswick (Board of Management) v. Dunsmuir, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190; 372 N.R. 1; 329 N.B.R.(2d) 1; 844 A.P.R. 1; 2008 SCC 9, refd to. [para. 7].

Demaria v. Regional Classification Board (1986), 2 F.T.R. 157 (T.D.), dist. [para. 8].

McInroy v. Canada, [1985] F.C.J. No. 488, dist. [para. 8].

Brown v. Canada (Attorney General) (2006), 290 F.T.R. 143; 2006 FC 463, consd. [para. 9].

Tehrankari v. Correctional Service of Canada (2000), 188 F.T.R. 206 (T.D.), consd. [para. 9].

Counsel:

John Hill, for the applicant;

Sharon McGovern, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

John L. Hill, Coburg, Ontario, for the applicant;

John H. Sims, Q.C., Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, for the respondent.

This application was heard at Toronto, Ontario, on May 6, 2009, by Mandamin, J., of the Federal Court, who delivered the following decision at Ottawa, Ontario, on September 16, 2009.