Labatt Breweries of Canada Ltd. v. Attorney General of Canada

1 S.C.R. 914 (1980)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Labatt Breweries of Canada Ltd. v. Attorney General of Canada

Canada Supreme Court
1 S.C.R. 914 (1980)

  • Written by Nathan Herkamp, JD

Facts

The Canadian parliament enacted the Food and Drugs Act, which created recipe and alcohol-content regulations for light beer. Labatt Breweries (plaintiff) challenged the application of the statute and regulations to Labatt’s Special Lite. The attorney general of Canada (defendant) argued that marketing decisions did not change the nature of the product and the necessity that the beer be brewed as required by the regulations. Labatt argued that the Parliament had no legal authority to regulate the production of beer. The attorney general argued that the authority for Parliament to legislate could be found in Article 91 of the British North America Act, which granted Parliament the authority to legislate with respect to criminal law, trade and commerce, and peace, order, and good government. The trial court assumed the validity of the statute and ruled in favor of Labatt. The attorney general appealed to the Federal Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the attorney general. Labatt appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Estey, J.)

Dissent (Laskin, C.J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 816,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership