Aquila Holdings Ltd. et al. v. Edenwold No. 158 (Rural Municipality), 2016 SKCA 88

• Judge: Jackson, J.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Saskatchewan)
• Case Date: June 27, 2016
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2016 SKCA 88;(2016), 484 Sask.R. 67 (CA)

Aquila Holdings v. Edenwold (2016), 484 Sask.R. 67 (CA);

    674 W.A.C. 67

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2016] Sask.R. TBEd. JL.034

Aquila Holdings Ltd. and 101211085 Saskatchewan Ltd. (prospective appellants/appellants) v. Rural Municipality of Edenwold No. 158 (prospective respondent/respondent)

(CACV2903; 2016 SKCA 88)

Indexed As: Aquila Holdings Ltd. et al. v. Edenwold No. 158 (Rural Municipality)

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal

Jackson, J.A.

July 15, 2016.

Summary:

The proposed appellants applied pursuant to s. 33.1 of the Municipal Board Act for leave to appeal a decision of the Assessment Appeals Committee of the Saskatchewan Municipal Board on the following grounds: (a) The Committee erred in law and in jurisdiction in concluding it did not have the power under the Municipalities Act to determine whether the subject property of the proposed appellants was exempt from taxation under such Act; (b) The Committee erred in law and in jurisdiction in finding that its power to correct errors for assessed taxes upon exempt property was restricted only to instances where the exemption arose by statutory means as opposed to an exemption arising by agreement pursuant to s. 295 of the Municipalities Act; (c) The Committee erred in law and in jurisdiction in declining to exercise its jurisdiction to grant relief to the proposed appellants' request for enforcement of its tax exemption upon their property and in referring the matter of such tax exemption to a court of law contrary to ss. 296 and 246 of the Municipalities Act. The proposed respondent agreed that these grounds of appeal raised the following question of jurisdiction: whether the Committee's jurisdiction on an appeal against the taxable status of the subject property was limited to an exemption provided under ss. 292 to 294 of the Municipalities Act and not to an exemption provided by a tax exemption agreement authorized by s. 295.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, per Jackson, J.A., granted the proposed appellants leave to appeal. The question of jurisdiction raised by the proposed appellants' grounds of appeal surmounted the twin hurdles of sufficient merit and importance.

Real Property Tax - Topic 7167

Assessment appeals (incl. complaints) - Applications or appeals to the courts - Leave to appeal - Section 33.1 of the Municipal Board Act permitted any person affected by a decision of the Assessment Appeals Committee of the Saskatchewan Municipal Board to appeal to the Court of Appeal on a question of law or on a question concerning the jurisdiction of the Committee with leave of a judge of the Court - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, per Jackson, J.A., stated that "a proposed appellant seeking leave under s. 33.1 of The Municipal Board Act must apply for leave in relation to its grounds of appeal and include a draft order. A proposed appellant must demonstrate that the grounds of appeal show a question of law or jurisdiction of sufficient importance and merit for leave to be granted. The Chambers judge determines whether the grounds reveal questions of law or jurisdiction, and may reframe them or ask counsel to perform this task. It is not necessary for the Chambers judge to set out questions of law or jurisdiction, but it may be helpful to do so. The draft order of the Court should be cast in terms of leave being granted in relation to the specific grounds and indicate the relief being sought. If counsel applies for leave under s. 33.1 of The Municipal Board Act in relation to 'questions of law or jurisdiction' rather than 'grounds of appeal', clearly that is not fatal to the application. There is a fine line between an appropriately drafted ground of appeal and a question of law or jurisdiction. The exercise of drafting grounds of appeal under s. 33.1, in terms of law or jurisdiction, should be as rigorous as crafting questions" - See paragraphs 16 to 25.

Real Property Tax - Topic 7167

Assessment appeals (incl. complaints) - Applications or appeals to the courts - Leave to appeal - The proposed appellants applied pursuant to s. 33.1 of the Municipal Board Act for leave to appeal a decision of the Assessment Appeals Committee of the Saskatchewan Municipal Board - If the court were to grant the proposed appellants leave to appeal, the proposed respondent submitted that leave should be granted in relation to the grounds that it put forward to sustain the Committee's result - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, per Jackson, J.A., stated that granting leave or requiring that the proposed respondent take any further steps would serve to increase costs only and was not required - The proposed respondent could make these arguments to sustain the Committee's decision without leave being granted - See paragraphs 26 to 30.

Counsel:

Fred C. Zinkhan, for the appellants;

Neil Robertson, Q.C., for the respondent.

This application was heard on June 27, 2016, before Jackson, J.A., of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, who delivered the following decision on July 15, 2016.