Corp. of Goulbourn v. Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 496 (1979)

Extract

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Corp. of Goulbourn v. Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 496 (1979)

Supreme Court of Canada

Corp. of Goulbourn v. Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 496

Date: 1979-10-02

The Corporation of the Township of Goulbourn, the Corporation of the Township of March, the Corporation of the Township of Nepean, the Corporation of the Township of Osgoode, the Corporation of the Township of Rideau and the Corporation of the Township of West Carleton (Plaintiffs) Appellants;

and

The Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton and

The Corporation of the Township of Cumberland and the Corporation of the City of Ottawa and

The Corporation of the Township of Gloucester, the Corporation of the Village of Rockcliffe Park and the Corporation of the City of Vanier (Defendants) Respondents.

1979: February 8, 12; 1979: October 2.

Present: Dickson, Beetz, Estey, Pratte and Mclntyre JJ.

ON APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO.

Municipal law-Creation of Regional Municipality-Vesting of assets of County on dissolution subject to an order of the Municipal Board-Power of Ontario Municipal Board-The Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Act, R.S.O. 1970, c. 407, ss. 135, 136, 137-The Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1970, c. 284, s. 14.

The Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton applied to the Divisional Court for a writ of prohibition to prevent the Municipal Board from fixing compensation to be paid by the Regional Municipality to the area municipalities for the assets of the County of Carleton which passed to the Regional Municipality pursuant to The Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Act, 1968 (Ont.). Section 135 of that Act now consolidated as R.S.O. 1970, c. 407, provided that on the dissolution of the Corporation of the County of Carleton, subject to an order of the Municipal Board, all the assets and liabilities of the County were to become the assets and liabilities of the regional corporation. Section 137 of the Act provided that the Municipal Board upon the application of inter alia any area municipality might exercise any of the powers given to it by s. 14(11)(a), (b) and (d) of The Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1970, c. 284. The interpretative difficulty arising under s. 137(1) related to how much of s. 14 of The Municipal Act was made applicable by the incorporating reference.

The issue in the Divisional Court was narrowed by consent to the jurisdiction of the Municipal Board, consequent upon the dissolution of the County of Carleton, upon an application being made under s. 137 concerning the assets and liabilities of the former County. The Divisional Court declared that the assets in question vested in the Regional Municipality, that an order of the Municipal Board was not a condition precedent to that vesting and ordered that the Municipal Board be prohibited from proceeding with any application for an order to determine the interest of any of the area municipalities in the said assets. The Court of Appeal by a majority affirmed the judgment of the Divisional Court.

Held (Pratte J. dissenting): The appeal should be allowed.

Per Dickson, Estey and Mclntyre JJ.: The referential incorporation of s. 4(11)(a), (b) and (d) is restricted entirely to the provision of subclauses (a), (b) and (d) without the qualifying or delimiting words in the introduction to subs. (11). To restrict the powers of the Board under s. 137 to those exercisable by the Board upon annexation or amalgamation applications pursuant to s. 14(2), as argued by respondents, would reduce the power...

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