Government does not have “absolute immunity”

Government can be held liable

In this video, Christine explains the decision in R v Power, a case where the federal government argued that they have absolute immunity from being sued for damages for unconstitutional laws. The federal government lost this case, and the Supreme Court found that there is some immunity but it is limited.

According the the Supreme Court of Canada’s brief, “The Supreme Court confirms that the state can be required to pay damages for making unconstitutional legislation in limited circumstances…the state may be required to pay damages for making unconstitutional legislation if it is clearly unconstitutional, or was in bad faith or an abuse of power.”