Territoires du Nord-Ouest (Procureur général) et al. v. Association des parents ayant droit de Yellowknife et al., (2013) 561 A.R. 1

• Judge: Hunt, J.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Northwest Territories)
• Case Date: July 03, 2013
• Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories
• Citations: (2013), 561 A.R. 1

N.W.T. (P.g.) v. Assoc. des parents (2013), 561 A.R. 1; 594 W.A.C. 1 (NWTCA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2013] A.R. TBEd. JL.030

Procureur Général des Territoires du Nord-Ouest et Commissaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (appelants/défendeurs) v. Association des Parents ayant droit de Yellowknife, Le Garderie Plein Soleil, Yvonne Careen, Claude St. Pierre et Fedération Franco-Ténoise (intimés/demandeurs)

(AIAP 2012-000011)

Procureur Général des Territoires du Nord-Ouest et Commissaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (appelants/défendeurs) v. Commission Scolaire Francophone, Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Catherine Boulanger et Christian Girard (intimés/demandeurs)

(AIAP 2012-000012; 2013 CATN-O 3; 2013 NWTCA 3)

Indexed As: Territoires du Nord-Ouest (Procureur général) et al. v. Association des parents ayant droit de Yellowknife et al.

Northwest Territories Court of Appeal

Hunt, J.A.

July 3, 2013.

Summary:

The Northwest Territories Supreme Court held that the Attorney General of Northwest Territories and Northwest Territories Commissary (collectively, the appellants) violated s. 23 of the Charter. The court ordered (1) the construction of new schools at Hay River and Yellowknife before September 2015; (2) solicitor and client costs; and (3) struck the Minister's directive giving the Commission Scolaire Francophone, Territoires du Nord-Ouest a discretionary power with respect to the determination of admission criteria to French schools (see 2012 CSTN-O 43 and 2012 CSTN-O 44). The appellants appealed and applied for a stay of execution of the decisions pending the appeal.

The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, per Hunt, J.A., allowed the application in part.

Practice - Topic 8952

Appeals - Stay of proceedings pending appeal - When appellant entitled to stay - The Northwest Territories Supreme Court held that the Attorney General of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Commissary (collectively, the appellants) violated s. 23 of the Charter - The court (1) ordered the construction of new schools at Hay River and Yellowknife before September 2015; (2) ordered solicitor and client costs; and (3) struck the Minister's directive giving the Commission Scolaire Francophone, Territoires du Nord-Ouest, a discretionary power with respect to the determination of admission criteria to French schools - The appellants appealed and applied for a stay of execution of the decisions pending the appeal - The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, per Hunt, J.A., allowed the application in part - First, the appeals raised serious issues to be tried - The third ground of appeal related to the determination of admission criteria, which established the rights to instruction in French, a serious constitutional question - Second, the appellants would suffer irreparable harm - Without a stay of execution, the appellants would build new schools, which possibly, would not be necessary or priorities in the budget - The evidence established that there would be no other use for these schools - Further, the admission of students that were not entitled under s. 23 would have important financial consequences on the appellants - Third, the balance of convenience favoured the appellants.

Practice - Topic 8954

Appeals - Stay of proceedings pending appeal - What constitutes "irreparable harm" - [See Practice - Topic 8952 ].

Practice - Topic 8955.1

Appeals - Stay of proceedings pending appeal - Test for "merit of the appeal", "arguable issues", etc. - [See Practice - Topic 8952 ].

Practice - Topic 8958

Appeals - Stay of proceedings pending appeal - Balance of convenience and justice - [See Practice - Topic 8952 ].

Cases Noticed:

RJR-MacDonald Inc. et Imperial Tobacco Ltd. v. Canada (Procureur général), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311; 164 N.R. 1; 60 Q.A.C. 241, refd to. [para. 4].

Commission Scolaire Francophone et al. v. Territoires du Nord-Ouest (Procureur général) et al., [2008] Northwest Terr. Cases Uned. 66; 2008 CSTNO 65, refd to. [para. 11].

Arsenault-Cameron et al. v. Prince Edward Island, [2000] 1 S.C.R. 3; 249 N.R. 140; 184 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 44; 559 A.P.R. 44; 2000 SCC 1, refd to. [para. 14].

Marchand v. Simcoe County (Board of Education) (1986), 55 O.R.(2d) 638 (H.C.), refd to. [para. 14].

Conseil des écoles séparées catholiques romaines de Dufferin et Peel et al. v. Ontario (Ministre de l'Éducation et de la formation) (1996), 92 O.A.C. 315; 30 O.R.(3d) 686 (C.A.), dist. [para. 20].

Mahe, Martel, Dubé and Association d'Ecole Georges et Julia Bugnet v. Alberta, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 342; 105 N.R. 321; 106 A.R. 321, refd to. [para. 24].

Commission Scolaire Francophone du Yukon No. 23 v. Yukon (Procureur général) (2011), 317 B.C.A.C. 1; 540 W.A.C. 1; 2011 YKCA 10, refd to. [para. 28].

Procureure générale du Québec v. Solski, [2001] Q.J. No. 138, dist. [para. 51].

Counsel:

M. Faille and G. Régimbald, for the appellants;

R.J.P. Lepage and F. Poulin, for the respondents.

This application was heard on June 6 and 7, 2013, by Hunt, J.A., of the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, who delivered the following judgment orally on July 3, 2013.