Back to SearchDIEPPE, NB — On September 12, the City of Dieppe filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Dieppe requests permission to appeal the judgment of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal rendered on June 13, 2019, in the case against Noron Inc., the owner of a prefabricated mini-home park.
Dieppe's appeal to the Supreme Court addresses two findings of the Court of Appeal. First, Dieppe asserts that the Court of Appeal erred in law and exceeded its vested powers by re-writing, on its own initiative, a municipal bylaw validly adopted by the elected municipal council of the City of Dieppe in accordance with the Local Governance Act (formerly the Municipalities Act) of New Brunswick.
The bylaw in question (No. 78-5) concerns the rate of user charges for water and sewer services. This bylaw provides that user charges for water and sewer services are billed at a fixed rate of one unit per house, as is the case in several other municipalities across Canada.
The Court of Appeal held that the rate imposed on Noron Inc. since 1997 was too high and reduced it, despite the fact that it found that Dieppe was acting within the municipal powers conferred upon it by law.
The City of Dieppe also maintains that the Court of Appeal not only erred by rewriting the municipal bylaw, but acted outside the bounds of law by ordering Dieppe to reimburse Noron Inc. 1.5 million dollars plus interest at 18%, or 3.2 million dollars, for the rates it would have paid in accordance with the bylaw validly adopted by elected officials. Dieppe also emphasizes that the Court of Appeal ignored the principles of law by imposing this reimbursement retroactively from 1997 to 2018.
This confusion in jurisdiction calls into question the degree of deference due to municipal governments as democratic institutions, and risks encouraging courts to venture further into the political arena.
It will therefore fall to the highest court in this country to settle the issues and to clarify that the decision of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal is not in accordance with Canadian law.
This decision is unprecedented; it causes uncertainty for Canadian municipal councils and creates significant financial risk for municipalities nationwide.