Irving Oil Ltd. v. Executive Director of Assessment (N.B.), (2005) 282 N.B.R.(2d) 275 (CA)

• Judge: Turnbull, Deschênes and Robertson, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (New Brunswick)
• Case Date: March 31, 2005
• Jurisdiction: New Brunswick
• Citations: (2005), 282 N.B.R.(2d) 275 (CA);2005 NBCA 39

Irving Oil v. Assessment Director (2005), 282 N.B.R.(2d) 275 (CA);

    282 R.N.-B.(2e) 275; 738 A.P.R. 275

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2005] N.B.R.(2d) TBEd. AP.019

The Executive Director of Assessment (respondent/appellant) v. Irving Oil Ltd. (applicant/respondent)

(73/04/CA; 2005 NBCA 39)

Indexed As: Irving Oil Ltd. v. Executive Director of Assessment (N.B.)

New Brunswick Court of Appeal

Turnbull, Deschênes and Robertson, JJ.A.

March 31, 2005.

Summary:

Irving Oil Ltd. applied for a declaration that certain tanks at its oil refinery in Saint John were not assessable as taxable property under the Assessment Act (N.B.).

The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, in a decision reported 275 N.B.R.(2d) 50; 722 A.P.R. 50, allowed the application. The Executive Director of Assessment appealed.

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal, Deschênes, J.A., dissenting, allowed the appeal.

Practice - Topic 8800

Appeals - General principles - Duty of appellate court regarding findings of fact - [See Real Property Tax - Topic 1565 ].

Real Property Tax - Topic 1565

Persons and property liable to assessment - Real property - Real property defined - Irving Oil's Saint John refinery had tanks equipped with mixer/blenders and, where applicable, heaters, for the manufacture and storage, until shipping, of products made from refined components - Until shipping occurred, mixing and heating continued to prevent stratification and solidification and resulting unmarketability - There was no mixing and heating in transportation and storage off-site - An application judge ruled that the tanks were part of the manufacturing process first and accepted that the process in the tanks was vital to the completion of the end product - Hence, the tanks were machinery exempt from assessment pursuant to ss. 1(e) and 4(1) of the Assessment Act (N.B.) - The New Brunswick Court of Appeal reversed the decision - In the absence of a reason­able explanation as to why mixers and heaters were not used in the shipping process or at off-site storage facilities to prevent stratification and solidification, the application judge could not infer that blending to prevent stratification was a necessary part of the manufacturing pro­cess - One had to conclude that the tanks' primary purpose was storage and not man­ufacturing - To find otherwise was a pal­pable and overriding error - The tanks were assessable as real property - See paragraphs 1 to 51.

Real Property Tax - Topic 6376

Exemptions - Particular structures, machin­ery, etc. - Machinery and equipment - [See Real Property Tax - Topic 1565 ].

Real Property Tax - Topic 6380

Exemptions - Particular structures, machin­ery, etc. - Petroleum tanks - [See Real Property Tax - Topic 1565 ].

Cases Noticed:

Bégin (Gilles) Lumber Ltd. v. New Bruns­wick Geographic Information Corp. et al. (1995), 169 N.B.R.(2d) 29; 434 A.P.R. 29 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 4].

Minister of Municipal Affairs v. Canaport Ltd., [1976] 2 S.C.R. 599; 7 N.R. 367; 12 N.B.R.(2d) 277; 10 A.P.R. 277, reving. (1974), 8 N.B.R.(2d) 314 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 6].

Acadian Pulp & Paper Ltd. v. New Bruns­wick (Minister of Municipal Affairs) (1973), 6 N.B.R.(2d) 755 (C.A.), consd. [para. 12].

Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. v. Sault Ste. Marie (City), [1968] 1 O.R. 460 (Dist. Ct.), refd to. [para. 20].

Orchardson Forest Products Ltd. v. Asses­sor of Area No. 14 - Surrey/White Rock, [1987] B.C.J. No. 384 (S.C.), affd. [1987] B.C.J. No. 1372 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 20].

Dresser Canada Inc. v. Regional As­sessment Commissioner, Region No. 18, [1995] O.J. No. 197 (Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 20].

Warren Bituminous Paving Co. v. Otona­bee (Township), [1963] 1 O.R. 29 (H.C.), refd to. [para. 21].

Indusmin Ltd., Re, [1972] 1 O.R. 221 (H.C.), refd to. [para. 21].

Metals & Alloys Co. v. Regional As­sessment Commissioner, Region No. 11 and East York (Municipality) (1985), 7 O.A.C. 241; 49 O.R.(2d) 289 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused (1985), 60 N.R. 77; 10 O.A.C. 320; 51 O.R.(2d) 64 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 22].

Miramichi Pulp & Paper Inc. v. Director of Assessment (N.B.) (1996), 172 N.B.R.(2d) 290; 439 A.P.R. 290 (C.A.), consd. [para. 25].

Workmen's Compensation Board v. Greer, [1975] 1 S.C.R. 347; 1 N.R. 599, refd to. [para. 26].

Doak v. Oulton (1976), 14 N.B.R.(2d) 232; 15 A.P.R. 232 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

Bernier and Zero Taxi Ltd. v. Thériault and U-Haul (Canada) Ltd.; Zero Taxi Ltd. v. Thériault and U-Haul (Canada) Ltd. (1982), 40 N.B.R.(2d) 136; 105 A.P.R. 136 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

New Brunswick Telephone Co. v. Maryon (John) International Ltd. et al. (1982), 43 N.B.R.(2d) 469; 113 A.P.R. 469 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

Ross v. New Brunswick Teachers' Asso­ciation et al. (2001), 238 N.B.R.(2d) 112; 617 A.P.R. 112 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

P.R.O. Holdings Ltd. et al. v. Atlantic Speedy Propane Ltd. et al. (2001), 234 N.B.R.(2d) 81; 604 A.P.R. 81 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

Toneguzzo-Norvell et al. v. Savein and Burnaby Hospital, [1994] 1 S.C.R. 114; 162 N.R. 161; 38 B.C.A.C. 193; 62 W.A.C. 193, refd to. [paras. 27, 59].

Fontaine v. Loewen Estate, [1998] 1 S.C.R. 424; 223 N.R. 161; 103 B.C.A.C. 118; 169 W.A.C. 118, refd to. [para. 27].

Beshara v. Dysart (1998), 207 N.B.R.(2d) 14; 529 A.P.R. 14 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

Young v. Moncton (City) (2002), 248 N.B.R.(2d) 360; 646 A.P.R. 360 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

Housen v. Nikolaisen et al., [2002] 2 S.C.R. 235; 286 N.R. 1; 219 Sask.R. 1; 272 W.A.C. 1, refd to. [paras. 27, 59].

H.L. v. Canada (Attorney General) et al. (2003), 238 Sask.R. 167; 305 W.A.C. 167 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

Martin v. American International As­surance Life Co. et al., [2003] 1 S.C.R. 158; 301 N.R. 127; 178 B.C.A.C. 161; 292 W.A.C. 161; 2003 SCC 16, refd to. [paras. 27, 59].

Sports Villas Resort Inc., Re (2000), 185 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 281; 562 A.P.R. 281 (Nfld. C.A.), refd to. [paras. 27, 59].

Cooper v. Cooper (2001), 198 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 1; 595 A.P.R. 1 (Nfld. C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

Farm Credit Corp. v. Valley Beef Pro­ducers Co-operative Ltd. et al. (2002), 223 Sask.R. 236; 277 W.A.C. 236 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

Gottardo Properties (Dome) Inc. et al. v. Regional Assessment Commissioner, Region No. 9 et al. (1998), 111 O.A.C. 272; 162 D.L.R.(4th) 574 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 27, 59].

Equity Waste Management of Canada et al. v. Halton Hills (Town) (1997), 103 O.A.C. 324; 35 O.R.(3d) 321 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 27, 64].

Greenmelk Co. v. Chatham (Township), [1955] O.J. No. 227 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 30].

London (City) v. John Labatt Ltd., [1953] O.R. 800 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 30].

Nabisco Brands Ltd. v. Regional Assess­ment Commissioner, Region No. 15 et al. (1988), 25 O.A.C. 195; 64 O.R.(2d) 135 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 32].

Algoma Steel Corp. v. Ontario (1988), 64 O.R.(2d) 305 (H.C.), refd to. [para. 32].

Diocese of Toronto Camps (Anglican Church of Canada) v. Municipal Property Assessment Corp., Region 16 (2004), 191 O.A.C. 278 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 62].

Ardoch Algonquin First Nation et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) (2003), 315 N.R. 76 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 62].

Waxman et al. v. Waxman et al. (2004), 186 O.A.C. 201 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 65].

Statutes Noticed:

Assessment Act, R.S.N.B. 1973, c. A-14, sect. 1(a), sect. 1(b), sect. 1(e) [para. 2].

Counsel:

C. Clyde Spinney, Q.C., for the appellant;

Robert G. Vincent, Q.C., for the respon­dent.

This appeal was heard on September 23, 2004, by Turnbull, Deschênes and Robert­son, JJ.A., of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.

The decision of the Court of Appeal was delivered in both official languages on March 31, 2005, and the following reasons were filed:

Robertson, J.A. - see paragraphs 1 to 51;

Turnbull, J.A., concurring - see para­graphs 52 and 53;

Deschênes, J.A., dissenting - see para­graphs 54 to 77.