Mississauga (City) v. Ontario (Minister of Revenue) et al., (1995) 80 O.A.C. 229 (CA)

• Judge: Houlden, Arbour and Abella, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ontario)
• Case Date: April 12, 1995
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (1995), 80 O.A.C. 229 (CA)

Mississauga v. Ont. (1995), 80 O.A.C. 229 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Corporation of the City of Mississauga (applicant/respondent in appeal) v. Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Minister of Revenue, Regional Assessment Commissioner, Region No. 15, Canadian Pacific Limited and Canadian National Railways (respondents/appellants in appeal)

(C10558; C10207; C10355)

Indexed As: Mississauga (City) v. Ontario (Minister of Revenue) et al.

Ontario Court of Appeal

Houlden, Arbour and Abella, JJ.A.

April 12, 1995.

Summary:

The Ontario High Court, in a decision reported 69 O.R.(2d) 152, dismissed a mu­nic­ipality's application for a declaration that the regulations estab­lishing Class 7 real property (railway rights of way) were invalid. The municipality appealed.

The Ontario Divisional Court, in a decision reported 42 O.A.C. 182, allowed the appeal and held that the regulations establishing Class 7 were invalid, because they made impossible the adjustment of railway assess­ments in accordance with s. 29(2) of the Assessment Act. The Province of Ontario et al. appealed.

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and directed that the municipality's application be dismissed.

Real Property Tax - Topic 3916

Valuation - Particular business properties - Railway right of way - The City of Mississauga sought a declaration that the regulations establishing Class 7 real prop­erty (railway rights of way) were ultra vires and void - The Ontario Court of Appeal concluded that s. 63(3) of the Assessment Act authorized the Minister to prescribe a separate class for railway road­ways and rights of way (for the purpose of reducing or eliminating inequities within a class) - The court rejected the assertion that s. 63(3) deferred to s. 29(2), which dealt specifically with railway roadways and rights of way, and prevented the Min­ister from including railway roadways and rights of way as a separate class.

Statutes Noticed:

Assessment Act, R.S.O. 1980, c. 31, sect. 29 [para. 3]; sect. 29(2) [para. 4 et seq.]; sect. 62, sect. 63(1) [para. 9]; sect. 63(3) [para. 1 et seq.]; sect. 65(1), sect. 70 [para. 9].

Assessment Act Regulations (Ont.), Regs. 4/86, 66/86 [paras. 1, 12].

Counsel:

C. Clifford Lax, Q.C., and Richard Storrey, for the appellant, Canadian Pacific Ltd.;

Christian G. Schulze, Q.C., for the appel­lant, Her Majesty The Queen;

Jeff G. Cowan, for the appellant, Canadian National Railways;

T.G. Heintzman, Q.C., and P.L. Sanford, for the respondent, Corporation of the City of Mississauga.

This appeal was heard on October 14, 1994, before Houlden, Arbour and Abella, JJ.A., of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Abella, J.A., for the Court of Appeal, delivered the following judgment which was released on April 12, 1995.