List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Laskin Court)

This is a chronological list of notable cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada from the appointment of Bora Laskin in 1973 as Chief Justice to his death in office in 1984. Laskin was the first Chief Justice to hear cases under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms implemented in 1982.

1973 – 1974

Case name	Citation	Date	Subject
December 27, 1973 – Bora Laskin is appointed as Chief Justice of Canada
Calder v British Columbia (AG)	[1973] SCR 313	January 31, 1973	Aboriginal rights
Jordan House Hotel Ltd v Menow	[1974] SCR 239		commercial host liability
Canadian Aero Service Ltd v O'Malley	[1974] SCR 592	June 29, 1973	corporate director's fiduciary duties
Canada (AG) v Lavell	[1974] SCR 1349	August 27, 1973	equality, Bill of Rights
Moran v Pyle National (Canada) Ltd	[1975] 1 SCR 393		Conflict of laws
Murdoch v Murdoch	[1975] 1 SCR 423		Division of matrimonial property

1975 – 1979

Case name	Citation	Date	Subject
Kienapple v R	[1975] 1 SCR 729		the "kienapple" principle of multiple criminal charges
Jones v New Brunswick (AG)	[1975] 2 SCR 182		validity of Official Languages Act
Interprovincial Cooperatives Ltd v R	(1975), [1976] 1 SCR 477		constitutional extraterritoriality
Morgentaler v R	[1976] 1 SCR 616	March 26, 1975	abortion
Harrison v Carswell	[1976] 2 SCR 200		pre-Charter right to protest
Morgan v Prince Edward Island (AG)	[1976] 2 SCR 349		limiting right to own land
Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act	[1976] 2 SCR 373	July 12, 1976	peace, order and good government power
MacDonald v Vapor Canada Ltd	[1977] 2 SCR 134		constitutionality of the Trade-marks Act
Amax Potash Ltd v Saskatchewan	[1977] 2 SCR 576	October 5, 1976	Ability of government to protect itself from unfavourable findings on federalism issues.
Miller v R	[1977] 2 SCR 680		Bill of Rights; Cruel and unusual punishment
R v Leary	[1978] 1 SCR 29	March 8, 1977	intoxication defence
Kruger v R	[1978] 1 SCR 104	May 31, 1977	Indian Act and provincial gaming laws
Smithers v R	[1978] 1 SCR 506	May 17, 1977	criminal causation test
Capital Cities Communications Inc v Canadian Radio-Television Commission	[1978] 2 SCR 141	November 30, 1977	federal works and undertakings
Quebec (AG) v Kellogg's Co of Canada	[1978] 2 SCR 211	January 19, 1978	freedom of expression
Arnold v Teno	[1978] 2 SCR 287	January 19, 1978	duty of care; unforeseeable plaintiff
Nova Scotia (Board of Censors) v McNeil	[1978] 2 SCR 662	January 19, 1978	federalism; provincial power to censor
Canada (AG) v Montreal (City of)	[1978] 2 SCR 770	January 19, 1978	Federalism and municipal power to create preventative by-laws
Reference Re Agricultural Products Marketing Act	[1978] 2 SCR 1198
R v Sault Ste-Marie (City of)	[1978] 2 SCR 1299	May 1, 1978	strict liability offences
Manitoba Fisheries Ltd v R	[1979] 1 SCR 101	October 3, 1978	expropriation; regulatory taking
Bliss v Canada (AG)	[1979] 1 SCR 183	October 31, 1978	Canadian Bill of Rights
R v Hauser	[1979] 1 SCR 984	May 1, 1979	federalism; peace, order and good government
Cherneskey v Armadale Publishers Ltd	[1979] 1 SCR 1067	November 21, 1978	defamation
Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 963 v New Brunswick Liquor Corp	[1979] 2 SCR 227		judicial review
Dunlop v R	[1979] 2 SCR 881	May 31, 1979	aiding and abetting
Lewis v R	[1979] 2 SCR 821	June 14, 1979	Murder; motive
Quebec (AG) v Blaikie (No 1)	[1979] 2 SCR 1016	December 13, 1979	language rights

1980 – 1984

Case name	Citation	Date	Subject
Solosky v R	[1980] 1 SCR 821	December 21, 1979	solicitor-client privilege
Labatt Breweries of Canada Ltd v Canada (AG)	[1980] 1 SCR 914		federal legislative power
Pappajohn v R	[1980] 2 SCR 120	May 20, 1980	rape defence
Pettkus v Becker	[1980] 2 SCR 834	December 18, 1980	unjust enrichment
Reibl v Hughes	[1980] 2 SCR 880	October 7, 1980	duty to disclose
R v Ron Engineering and Construction (Eastern) Ltd	[1981] 1 SCR 111	January 27, 1981	offer and acceptance
Re Residential Tenancies Act, 1979	[1981] 1 SCR 714	May 28, 1981	jurisdiction of courts
Seneca College v Bhadauria	[1981] 2 S.C.R. 181	June 22, 1981	Human rights, tort, discrimination
Patriation Reference	[1981] 1 SCR 753	September 28, 1981	patriation of the Constitution of Canada
Canada (Minister of Justice) v Borowski	[1981] 2 SCR 575	December 1, 1981	public interest standing
Ontario (Human Rights Commission) v Etobicoke (Borough of)	[1982] 1 SCR 202	February 9, 1982	age discrimination
April 17, 1982 - The Constitution Act, 1982, which includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, enters into effect
Vetrovec v R	[1982] 1 SCR 811	May 31, 1982	evidence
Descôteaux v Mierzwinski	[1982] 1 SCR 860	June 23, 1982	privilege
Multiple Access Ltd v McCutcheon	[1982] 2 SCR 161	August 9, 1982	overlapping federal and provincial laws
Shell Oil Co v Canada (Commissioner of Patents)	[1982] 2 SCR 536	November 2, 1982	patents
Quebec Veto Reference	[1982] 2 SCR 793	December 6, 1982	Quebec veto
Graat v R	[1982] 2 SCR 819	December 21, 1982	opinion evidence
Westendorp v R	[1983] 1 SCR 43	January 25, 1983	division of powers
Canada (Labour Relations Board) v Paul L'Anglais Inc	[1983] 1 SCR 147	February 8, 1983	jurisdiction of courts
R v Saskatchewan Wheat Pool	[1983] 1 SCR 205	February 8, 1983	tort of breach of statutory duty
R v Perka	[1984] 2 SCR 232	October 11, 1984	defence of necessity
Re Upper Churchill Water Rights Reversion Act	[1984] 1 SCR 297	May 3, 1984	provincial legislative power
March 26, 1984 – death of Chief Justice Bora Laskin

See also

• List of Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases
• List of notable Canadian Courts of Appeals cases