Companionship of the Sacred Vine Inc. v. Canada (Minister of health) Et Al., 2026 FC 963
Justice Pallotta - 2026-07-17
Read full decision. Generated by GenAI:
This judicial review concerned a decision by the Director General of Health Canada revoking a section 56(1) Controlled Drugs and Substances Act exemption permitting the importation and use of ayahuasca for religious purposes. The applicant argued the revocation was unlawful, unreasonable, and procedurally unfair, asserting the Minister lacked statutory authority to revoke a granted exemption and that doctrines including functus officio and res judicata barred revisiting the decision. The respondents maintained the broad discretionary language of section 56(1) inherently includes revocation authority. Because the exemption expired by its own terms before the application was heard, the parties agreed the matter was moot. The central issue became whether the court should exercise discretion to decide the moot jurisdictional question despite mootness. The court declined to exercise that discretion and dismissed the application without ruling on whether the Minister possesses statutory authority to revoke a granted exemption.
Decision relates to:
- T-1961-25 - Companionship of the Sacred Vine Inc. v. Minister of Health of Canada et al