Weilers LLP

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 […]

New Limits on Planning Appeals Treated Seriously

December 29, 2021 By Brian Babcock The Ontario legislature has struggled for years for ways to streamline and simplify the planning process, including appeals, in a way that respects public interest but does not prevent orderly development. Various techniques have been tried: introducing provincial policy statements (PPS) to guide local decision making making compliance mandatory […]

Answering the Right Question

November 13, 2021 By Brian Babcock An administrative decision maker must form a reasonable opinion, but that opinion must also answer the correct question under the governing statute and regulations. A court conducting judicial review will not decide the question fresh and substitute its own view as to what is the correct answer. That is […]

When the Contract is Silent about the Ending

October 31, 2021 By Brian Babcock When do your obligations under a contract end? Most contracts provide a specific date as a deadline for performance. Others end when the outcome – the service or delivery of goods – is finished. Occasionally, however, we encounter a contract that does not provide clearly for the obligations to […]