By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Peaks of Grassi Development in Canmore: Procedural Fairness and Municipal Bylaws?

Case Commented On: Gruman v Canmore (Town), 2018 ABQB 507 (CanLII)

Municipal governance in the Town of Canmore is undoubtedly a challenging proposition. Canmore is a four-season tourism and recreation destination, which attracts a large range of visitors and inhabitants with diverse interests. The town is also situated at the mouth of the Bow Valley; it must be a constant struggle to achieve development goals while not spoiling the environmental riches which make Canmore the attractive destination that it is. This diverse range of interests and concerns results in relatively frequent municipal disputes in the town. The dispute in question here concerns a proposed new residential development in the Peaks of Grassi – a subdivision located on the west side of Canmore along the lower slopes of Ha Ling Peak. In 2015 Canmore council amended a bylaw to allow for residential development in what is currently an urban environmental reserve located in the Peaks of Grassi subdivision. The bylaw amendment was challenged in a judicial review application heard in March 2017, and in July 2018 Justice Gates allowed the application and quashed the bylaw amendment on procedural fairness grounds (see here for media coverage on this decision).  Continue reading →

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Procedural Fairness in the Issuance of a Ministerial Order to Dismiss a Municipal Councilor under Section 574 of the Municipal Government Act

Case Commented On: Buryn v Alberta (Minister of Municipal Affairs), 2017 ABQB 613 (CanLII)

Municipalities in Alberta are creatures of statute and thus subject to both the oversight of the Minister of Municipal Affairs (Minister) and Alberta courts. When the affairs in a municipality go offside, the Municipal Government Act, RSA 2000, c M-26 (MGA) provides mechanisms for bringing matters back into line. Municipal affairs in Thorhild County seem to have taken a turn for the worse several years ago, and led to the submission of a petition by electors asking the Minister to inquire into the conduct of the Thorhild municipal council and its chief administrative officer. The MGA provides the Minister with authority to conduct an inquiry into the affairs of a municipality or the conduct of municipal councilors. These powers are exercised on a fairly regular basis, with 33 entries listed on the government website since December 2009. The inspection into the affairs at Thorhild culminated in a Ministerial Order dismissing three members of the Thorhild council. On the eve of the recent municipal election, in Buryn v Alberta (Minister of Municipal Affairs) Madam Justice Dawn Pentelechuk quashed the Ministerial Order as unlawful for failing to afford the councilors procedural fairness.

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By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: A Closer Look at Leave to Appeal Requirements Under the Municipal Government Act (Alberta)

Case Commented On: Arctos & Bird Management Ltd v Banff (Town), 2017 ABCA 300 (CanLII)

This is a decision by Justice Barbara Veldhuis to deny the applicant leave to appeal an approval for development of lands in the Town of Banff. Statutory leave to appeal decisions such as this rarely attract legal commentary because no substantive law is decided. These decisions result from an application before a justice in chambers from a person who seeks permission to proceed with a substantive appeal of an administrative decision. Nonetheless, I have been studying these leave to appeal decisions to better understand the basis upon which superior courts decide whether to hear an appeal from an administrative decision. Arctos & Bird Management provides me with an opportunity to add to the findings Drew Yewchuk and I previously disseminated on ABlawg in “Seeking Leave to Appeal a Statutory Tribunal Decision: What Principles Apply?” (“Seeking Leave”). Continue reading →