Top Five 2012: Richard v Time, Inc

Each year at OJEN’s Toronto Summer Law Institute, a judge from the Court of Appeal for Ontario identifies five cases that are of significance in the educational setting. This summary, based on these comments and observations, is appropriate for discussion and debate in the classroom setting.

Richard v Time, Inc., 2012 SCC 8, [2010] 2 S.C.R. 310

This decision addresses consumer protection and contract law and sets out a process for considering claims of false advertising. In claims of false or misleading advertising, a court must perform a two-step test, which considers the general impression given by representations (statements) made in the ad. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) clarified the meaning of an advertisement’s “general impression” under section 218 of the Quebec Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and held that the standard for assessing that impression is the perspective of a “credulous and inexperienced consumer.” The full decision is available here.