Contemporary Canadian Business Law 12th Edition

Chapter 01
The Law and the Legal System
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Maxine, an accountant annoyed with her employer for telling her that her work was
substandard, created a computer virus that would erase key accounting data if Maxine's name
was removed from the payroll. This is a crime under the Criminal Code. If Maxine is caught,
she will be
A. prosecuted by the Crown because the Code is public law.
B. sued by the Crown because the Code is private law.
C. sued by her employer under the Criminal Code because it is a civil law matter.
D. sued by her employer under the Criminal Code because it is a private law matter.
E. prosecuted by the Crown for breach of the Civil Code.
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Difficulty: Easy
2. The federal government placed new legislation before Parliament regarding the regulation
of telecommunication companies. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. This proposed legislation is called a "bill."
B. This legislation must be brought before the House of Commons three times and then it will
be law if it is passed.
C. Once passed by the House of Commons, a bill is sent to the Senate for approval.
D. Once the proposed legislation has been passed by the Parliament of Canada; it must be
given royal assent and be proclaimed.
E. Once the proposed legislation has been passed by the Parliament of Canada it can be
amended by another statute.
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Difficulty: Moderate
3. The Simpson brothers have applied to the Liquor Licence Board of the province for a wine
and beer licence for their new restaurant. Which of the following is not true?
A. The board is an administrative tribunal, not a court of law.
B. The decisions of the board become part of the administrative law of the province.
C. Agencies and boards such as this one are part of the expanding government regulation of
private citizens and businesses.
D. The Simpsons will deal with civil servants rather than elected representatives while
applying for their licence.
E. The right to make its own rules and procedures is delegated to the board, but these are
subject to the approval of the provincial legislature.
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Difficulty: Challenging
4. The government of the province has introduced a bill into the legislature to make the
recycling of household garbage mandatory. Once it has passed third reading, the next step is
that it must be
A. sent to the relevant committee for clause-by-clause study.
B. given royal assent by the Lieutenant-Governor.
C. debated in principle by the members of the legislature.
D. sent to the Senate for approval.
E. amended and prepared for its final reading.
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Difficulty: Easy
5. When judges apply the principle of stare decisis in deciding a case before them they are, in
effect, applying the
A. substantive law.
B. doctrine of precedent.
C. principles of equity.
D. rules of public administrative law.
E. doctrine of precedent and substantive law.
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Difficulty: Easy
6. The Big Time Construction Company is erecting a large office tower for a major
commercial property developer. In the course of construction, a dispute arises as to the timing
of cash advances from the developer to finance the next stage of construction. The parties had
executed a contract between them which stated that each cash advance from the developer
would be provided to the builder after the work on the previous stage had been completed and
inspected by the developer. The builder now says that the developer is delaying the
inspections and that it cannot carry on to the next stage without the cash advance. The
developer says that the builder is deliberately delaying the progress of the construction by not
beginning the next stage while it waits for the inspection required to release the next cash
advance. The developer intends to take legal action against the builder.
A. The developer must use procedural law to sue the builder.
B. The dispute between the parties will be resolved by substantive law.
C. The contract which the parties made will be interpreted by private law.
D. The court will reach a decision in the case using administrative law.
E. All types of law except administrative law will apply.
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Difficulty: Challenging
7. If it were decided to amend the Constitution to make ownership of property a right, it
would be necessary to have the agreement of
i. at least two-thirds of the provinces, which together make up at least half of the population of
Canada.
ii. at least half of the provinces, which together make up at least two-thirds of the population
of Canada.
iii. more than half of the members of the federal Parliament.
iv. at least two-thirds of the members of the federal Parliament.
v. all ten provinces.
A. i.
B. ii.
C. i and iii.
D. ii and iv.
E. iii and v.
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Difficulty: Moderate
8. The provincial legislature is about to pass a piece of legislation that conflicts with one of
the following rights. It had intended to do so under s. 33(1), the notwithstanding clause, but
has just found out that s. 33 is not effective against this right. Which of the following is it?
A. The right to life, liberty and security of the person.
B. Freedom of speech.
C. Freedom of religion.
D. The right to vote.
E. Equality rights.
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Difficulty: Moderate
9. A small Ontario town passes a bylaw which says that shop signs must be only in English. A
butcher's shop which caters to the local German-speaking population is charged with
infringing the bylaw and the proprietor raises s. 2(b) of the Charter in his defence.
A. Since only political speech is protected by the Charter, he will lose.
B. Since the Charter does not apply to non-government bodies like a butcher's shop, he will
lose.
C. Since the Charter protects commercial expression because it helps individuals make
informed economic choices, he will win.
D. Since the Charter protects commercial expression, regardless of any value it may have,
simply because we must all be free to say what we choose, he will win.
E. None of the answers are correct.
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Difficulty: Challenging
10. In response to the growing number of traffic deaths resulting from alcohol-related
accidents, many provinces amended existing laws to permit their police forces to conduct
arbitrary roadside checks to try to discourage drunk driving. When this practice was
challenged in the courts as an infringement of s. 9 of the Charter,
A. counsel for the Crown would successfully argue that the practice could be continued
indefinitely because of s. 33 of the Constitution, which allows the provinces to exempt the
legislation from the application of the Charter.
B. counsel for the Crown would argue that the roadside checks are permissible on the basis of
s. 1 of the Charter.
C. the challenging party, a motorist who had been stopped and found to have excessive blood
alcohol levels, would successfully argue that the legislation violates his s. 6 mobility rights.
D. the Crown would argue s. 33 and s. 1.
E. All of the answers are correct.
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Difficulty: Moderate