Supremely smart or supremely silly?

As many of you will have noticed, J and I love posting about nuances that highlight the differences between Canada and the U.S. Some days I'm delighted by the differences, other days I shake my head in dismay. Today, I have had both reactions to two separate rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada.

In one ruling, they have declared that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" have the right to two seats on an airplane. In this case, I'm decidedly pro-business - if you need two seats, you should purchase two seats.

In the other ruling, they have declared that businesses are accountable to their communities for the environmental damage they cause, even if the damage is within legal limits. This level of accountability ensures that the limits for what damages are acceptable are dynamic (rather than being slowly updated by public boards) and that corporations are directly responsible to their communities. Bravo! (Or should I say Brava! to our female Chief Justice?)

What do you think? Should obese people be entitled to two airline seats? And should companies be held to an environmental standard that is beyond the letter of the law?