Bad Faith, Illegality And By-Laws
May 2, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik THE ISSUE You might think that a by-law which is passed with procedural illegalities would be routinely quashed in court. The law is not that simple. THE CASE In Larabie Estate v. Moonbeam (Township) the Ontario Court of Appeal upholds a Superior Court judgment dismissing an application to have […]
A Million Dollar Parking Ticket?
January 27, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik THE ISSUE No, not really a million-dollar parking ticket. Just a million dollar fine for civil contempt arising from a dispute about illegal parking. The hurt in your pocketbook would be just as painful. THE CASE In Caledon (Town) v. Darzi Holdings Ltd., the individual appellant’s construction company improperly […]
Pecuniary Interest and Patios
October 19, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik What community of interest allows a municipal councillor to participate in debate and voting on an issue in which they have interest? THE ISSUE We all expect councillors or members of local boards to act in good faith for the benefit of the community, not their own interests. Most […]
The Reason For Reasons
October 14, 2022 By Nick Melchiorre …the exercise of public power must be justified, intelligible and transparent, not in the abstract, but to the individuals subject to it.” So said the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, the 2019 case which restated the approach that courts take to a […]
Building Permit Liability Update
September 14, 2022 By Brian Babcock In September 2021 we posted an article entitled “Building Permit Liability” which focused on hidden liability risks lurking in old building permit files. It was based upon the trial decision in Breen v. The Corporation of the Township of Lake of Bays. That decision toddled off to the Ontario […]
Penalties for Municipal Conflict of Interest
August 12, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik The appropriate penalty for a municipal conflict of interest has been controversial as long as there has been a Municipal Conflict of Interest Act in Ontario. Prior to the 2017 amendments to the Act, if there was found to be a conflict of interest, the presiding judge had no […]
Municipal By-Laws and Injunctions
July 23, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik Ontario municipalities are in a special position with respect to obtaining injunctions for a breach of a bylaw. Section 440 of the Municipal Act, 2001 provides that a municipality may apply to the court for an order restraining any contravention of its bylaws in addition to any other remedies […]
How NOT to Argue About a Building Permit
July 10, 2022 By Brian Babcock The Building Code Act protects important public interests including public safety and consumer protection. Because of this, the courts ensure that the provisions of the building code and the Act are enforced. The Divisional Court reinforced these principles in a recent appeal from an application judge. THE ISSUE How […]
More Excitement About Easements
July 5, 2022 By Nick Melchiorre An easement is a document that grants specific rights of use of a part of the owner’s property to a non-owner. There are many different types of easements, some which are very common and well known but can still create excitement, such as utilities easements granted in favour of […]
When Can a Taxpayer Enforce a By-Law?
April 24, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik You might not be aware that section 440 of Ontario’s Municipal Act provides that: If any by-law of a municipality or by-law of a local board of a municipality under this or any other Act is contravened, in addition to any other remedy and to any penalty imposed by […]