The Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band (the “Band”) brought an application seeking to set aside a permit issued by the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management and a declaration that the Minister owed a duty to the Band to consult with them prior to granting such a permit. The court found that the Minister had an obligation to consult and accommodate the Band with respect to the permit but dismissed the Petition on the basis that there was no evidence that such consultation and accommodation had not occurred in this instance.

27. August 2002 0
Administrative law – Logging permits – Aboriginal issues – Government’s duty to consult – Procedural requirements – Natural justice Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band v. British Columbia (Minister of Sustainable Resource Management), [2002] B.C.J. No. 1699, British Columbia Supreme Court, July 19, 2002, Maczko J. On April 30, 2002, the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management (the ...

The Petitioner sought leave under section 31 of the Commercial Arbitration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.55 to appeal the decision of an Arbitrator in a motor vehicle case who awarded court order interest to the Respondent motorist (“Lopatka”) after the initial award for damages had been made. The court refused to grant leave, holding that the merits of the appeal did not have sufficient substance to warrant leave and it was important that the principle of finality in arbitrations be maintained.

27. August 2002 0
Administrative law – Motor vehicle accidents – Arbitration and award – Arbitrators – Jurisdiction – Appeals – Leave to appeal – Test Maruna v. Lopatka, [2002] B.C.J. No. 1706, British Columbia Supreme Court, July 19, 2002, Brooke J. Lopatka was involved in four motor vehicle accidents. Pursuant to section 148 of the Regulations to the Insurance ...

Workers Compensation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 492 provisions granting spousal benefits for life to widowed parents 40 years of age or older when their children cease dependency but denying pension benefits to widowed parents under 40 years of age when their children cease dependency are discriminatory on the basis of age and therefore contrary to section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

27. August 2002 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Benefits – Charter of Rights – Discrimination – Equality rights Burnett v. British Columbia (Worker’s Compensation Board), [2002] B.C.J. No. 1738, British Columbia Supreme Court, July 25, 2002, Holmes J. The Petitioner’s spouse was killed in a work-related accident when she was 32 years old with one dependent child aged ...

Dufault, a teacher and Human Resources Superintendent for a school district, was unsuccessful in overturning a decision by an investigative subcommittee of the British Columbia College of Teachers to issue a citation against him with respect to his involvement in hiring a teacher without certification from the College

28. May 2002 0
Administrative law – Teachers – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming of member – Investigative bodies – Jurisdiction Dufault v. British Columbia College of Teachers, [2002] B.C.J. No. 864, British Columbia Supreme Court, April 25, 2002, Ross J. Dufault was the Associate Superintendent of Human Resources for the School District of Abbotsford. He was ...

O’Hara’s application for a judicial review of a decision of the B.C. Human Rights Commission dismissing his complaint was itself dismissed as the Court held that O’Hara could not establish that the Commission’s decision was patently unreasonable or that the investigative process was procedurally unfair

28. May 2002 0
Administrative law – Human rights complaints – Disability – Judicial review application – Boards and Tribunals – Breach of procedural fairness – Patently unreasonable decision – Continuing contravention – Definition O’Hara v. British Columbia (Human Rights Commission), [2002] B.C.J. No. 887, British Columbia Supreme Court, April 16, 2002, Quijano J. O’Hara described himself as disabled from a ...

Higgins failed in her application to overturn the decision of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles upholding a notice of driving prohibition. The court held that the notice of driving prohibition was not a nullity merely because the issuing police officer had checked both the box with respect to the offence of having a blood alcohol concentration over the limit and the box for the offence of failing to provide a breath sample. The court referred the matter back to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles with a direction that both offences could be considered.

23. April 2002 0
Administrative law – Motor vehicles – Suspension of driver’s licence – Judicial review application – Procedural requirements Higgins v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [2002] B.C.J. No. 545, British Columbia Supreme Court, March 14, 2002, E.R.A. Edwards J. Higgins was served with a Notice of Driving Prohibition by a police officer on April 7, 2001 and completed ...

The Appellant’s, a retired teacher, allegations of defamation, negligence, malice and arbitrary treatment against other employees of the school district were dismissed on the grounds that the Court did not have jurisdiction to deal with them. The Court does not have jurisdiction to hear disputes whose “essential character” arises from the interpretation, application, administration, or violation of a collective agreement”. In such cases, the dispute must be dealt with by the dispute resolution process provided in the collective agreement and labour relations statutes and not by litigation in the Courts.

26. March 2002 0
Administrative law – Labour law – Collective agreements – Jurisdiction of court – Defamation – Qualified privilege Haight-Smith v. Neden, [2002] B.C.J. No. 375, British Columbia Court of Appeal, February 27, 2002, Esson, Ryan and Levine JJ.A. If the “essential character” of the dispute arises from the interpretation, application, administration or violation of the collective ...

An employer’s application for stay of proceedings of a human rights complaint was dismissed. Delay of 83 months since the first allegation and 56 months since the complaint was made was not sufficiently egregious to meet the high threshold necessary to support a remedy of a stay of proceedings

26. March 2002 0
Administrative law – Human rights complaints – Judicial review – Boards and tribunals – Bias – Breach of procedural fairness – Delay Crown Packaging Ltd. v. Ghinis, [2002] B.C.J. No. 489, British Columbia Court of Appeal, March 7, 2002, Prowse, Hall and Mackenzie JJ.A. The events alleged as the grounds of the complaint arose in November ...

The Appellant, a retired marine engineer applied for judicial review of a decision of the Workers Compensation Board (“WCB”). The appeal was dismissed. The BC Court of Appeal held that a decision of the Workers Compensation Review board was a recommendation rather than a directive and that the WCB’s procedure on re-examining the case was fair.

26. March 2002 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Procedural fairness – Privative clauses Clouston v. British Columbia (Workers Compensation Board), [2002] B.J.C. No. 353, British Columbia Court of Appeal, February 21, 2002, Rowles, Ryan and Donald, JJ.A. The Appellant worked for many years as a marine engineer with the Canadian Coast Guard. During his employment with the ...