Regulation of Land May Result in Liability for Constructive Taking
2022-10-28Legal Updates
Annapolis Group Inc. v. Halifax Regional Municipality, 2022 SCC 36 The Supreme Court of Canada has issued a decision coming out of the province of Nova Scotia which broadens the basis upon which a local government may be held liable for “constructive taking” of private lands. Jeff LockeJeff was called to the British Columbia Bar […]
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Public Law Duties ≠ Private Law Duties of Care
2022-09-20Legal Updates
Local governments, like other public bodies and officials, are required by legislation to perform specific public duties and responsibilities. If these “public law duties” are not conducted correctly, this may be grounds for finding that the decision or action was improper, and a court may send the matter back for reconsideration. However, it does not […]
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Amendments to Sign Bylaw Leads to Constitutional Challenge and Allegations of Bad Faith
2022-09-19Legal Updates
Kaps v City of Surrey, 2022 BCSC 1191 (“Kaps“) is a recent decision of the BC Supreme Court which highlights the importance of ensuring that prohibitions in a sign bylaw are clear and concise in meaning so as to avoid infringing the constitutional protection for freedom of expression. The Kaps decision also reiterated the evidentiary […]
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2022-06-28Legal Updates
The BC Supreme Court recently added to the volume of caselaw regarding the procedural fairness requirements that are applied in reviewing decisions of municipal governments. Paige GibsonPaige was called to the BC Bar in 2009 and the Alberta Bar in 2010. She has experience in all areas of municipal law, including regulatory and contractual disputes, […]
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2022-06-28Legal Updates
SMS was pleased to attend and present at the 2022 LGMA Conference in Penticton. Please see our special edition SMS Newsletter that we prepared for the conference.
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2022-06-21Legal Updates
How should a council or board respond when one of its members has engaged in inappropriate or undesirable conduct? What sort of process is required? Controversial social media posts by the mayor, public fallout, and the disciplinary steps council attempted to take in response, are at the heart of the BC Supreme Court’s recent ruling […]
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Time Limit Imposed on “Emergencies” under the Emergency Program Act
2022-01-20Legal Updates
In the recent decision of Rosewall v. Sechelt (District of), 2022 BCSC 20, Justice Gomery of the BC Supreme Court has found the Province liable in nuisance arising from circumstances related to the exercise of statutory authority contained in the Emergency Program Act (“EPA“). In his decision, Justice Gomery concluded that the EPA contemplates an emergency as […]
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Reasonableness Review: A Case Study of Anderson v Strathcona Regional District
2021-11-16Legal Updates
The BC Supreme Court has released reasons in Anderson v Strathcona Regional District, 2021 BCSC 1800 [Anderson] which provides an excellent example of the Court applying the reasonableness standard of review, as recently re-articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada in Vavilov, to decisions of a local government.
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2021-10-29Legal Updates
This month the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its judgment in Nelson (City) v Marchi, 2021 SCC 4. The decision provides greater clarity on how to identify and assess “core policy decisions” of local governments. This is an important decision impacting on the availability of the “policy immunity defence”, of which all local governments […]
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Recent Decisions from the Court of Appeal with Respect to Restrictive Covenants
2021-10-18Legal Updates
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has issued two recent decisions which provide important insight into the ways local governments may utilize restrictive covenants to manage risk and regulate specific uses of land.
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