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 […]
When Will Air Rights Be Subject to an Implied Easement?
April 2, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik Implied easements are granted very rarely, and air rights are seldom the issue, so a case addressing the combination is bound to attract attention. Add a popular shopping mall battling the City of Toronto, and you have a case we need to write about, and you may want to […]
Seeing the Silver Lining in Limits to the Application of the Charter
February 27, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik Does the Supreme Court of Canada decision related to the size of Toronto’s city council, and the election of 2018, affect your municipality? Not directly, but it is an important reminder that municipalities are subject to the whims of the provincial government. This is a very significant limitation on […]
Rethinking the Meaning of Core Policy Decisions
February 13, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik What is a “core policy decision immune from negligence liability”? In Nelson (City) v. Marchi, the Supreme Court of Canada confirms that: municipalities are immune from liability for policy decisions. the onus is on the municipality to prove that an injury results from a ‘core policy’ decision, rather than […]