Feldthusen Delivers TLRG Public Lecture

Professor Jason Neyers, Professor Bruce Feldthusen, Dean Erika Chamberlain, and Jonathan De Vries

Prof. Jason Neyers, Prof. Bruce Feldthusen, Dean Erika Chamberlain, and Jonathan De Vries

On February 13, 2020, Professor Bruce Feldthusen, Professor at the University of Ottawa School of Law (Common Law), delivered the second Tort Law Research Group (TLRG) Public Lecture of the 2019/2020 academic year to an audience of students and faculty.

In his talk, “Negligence Liability of the Government: Judicial Activism and the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019,” Professor Feldthusen contended that negligence actions against defendants who are public authorities ought to be treated in the same manner as negligence actions against private individuals. He argued that this means that governments should not be thought of as owing unique duties of care to the public, nor should these public actors enjoy judicially created immunities. Professor Feldthusen contrasted decisions of the English courts, Michael v. The Chief Constable of South Wales Police (2015, UKSC) and Robinson v. Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (2018, UKSC), which properly apply this principle, with decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, such as, Just v. British Columbia (1989, SCC) and R v. Imperial Tobacco (2011, SCC), which do not. As courts are rarely in a position to understand whether a unique public duty or immunity is “good” or “bad,” he argued that the creation of purely public duties and special immunities is better left to the legislative branch. Professor Feldthusen further argued that Ontario’s recently enacted Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019 can be understood as a logical response to these Supreme Court of Canada decisions. 

Professor Feldthusen is the former Dean and a current professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Common Law) and is most known for his book, Economic Negligence, now in its sixth edition. His analysis of pure economic loss has been adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada and provides the organizing framework for all negligence actions in that field. He is also an author of the leading text Canadian Tort Law, co-authored with Justice Linden and others and the case book, Canadian Tort Law: Cases Notes and Materials, co-authored with Justice Linden and Lewis Klar. He was one of the first legal academics in the world to study and write about civil remedies for victims of sexual assault.

The TLRG’s Public Lectures for the 2019-2020 academic year are generously sponsored by Shillingtons LLP.