As many health professionals provide services in private rooms, complaints of inappropriate touching or other sexual misconduct can be difficult to assess; a complainant and a registrant are often the only parties present, resulting in a classic “he said, she…
Administrative tribunals are not bound by strict rules of evidence. This does not mean however that tribunals should be admitting hearsay. If they do, they should understand its weaknesses. The Supreme Court of Canada recently listed the main reasons why…
Procedural fairness requires an impartial decision-maker, but that partiality may come into question where a decision-maker heavily incorporates one party’s submissions into reasons for judgment. The Supreme Court of Canada examined the question of when one should infer a lack…
A professional may be responsible for “unprofessional conduct” in his private life, such as where the professional engages in a loud, verbal exchange with other parents at a school concert, in the presence of children. This is illustrated in Rathe…
The “private” or “personal” conduct of professionals can still be “unprofessional conduct” involving significant consequences. A reminder of this principle arises from the recent decision of Erdmann v. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta, 2013 ABCA 147. Ms. E, a…