Territoires du Nord-Ouest (Procureur général) et al. v. Association des Parents ayant droit de Yellowknife et al., (2013) 566 A.R. 6

• Judge: Hunt, J.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Northwest Territories)
• Case Date: August 13, 2013
• Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories
• Citations: (2013), 566 A.R. 6

Territoires du Nord-Ouest (P.g.) v. Assoc. des Parents (2013), 566 A.R. 6; 597 W.A.C. 6 (NWTCA)

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Temp. Cite: [2013] A.R. TBEd. SE.076

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)

(A1AP 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)

(A1AP 2012-000012; 2013 NWTCA 5; 2013 CATN-O 5)

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.

August 21, 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 (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 (see 2012 CSTN-O 43 and 2012 CSTN-O 44). The appellants appealed. The Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones (Fédération nationale), the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (Conseil) and the Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique (Fédération) applied for intervener status in both appeals with respect to the protection of rights under s. 23 of the Charter.

The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, per Hunt, J.A., dismissed the applications.

Editor's Note: for a decision on an application for a stay of execution, see (2013), 561 A.R. 1; 594 W.A.C. 1 (N.W.T.C.A.).

Practice - Topic 685

Parties - Adding or substituting parties - Intervenors - On appeal - 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 - In two decisions, 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 - The Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique and the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique applied for intervener status in the Yellowknife decision with respect to the status of preschool programs in the management rights guaranteed by s. 23 - The applicants contended that this appeal brought a new question, i.e., the constitutional status of preschool programs - The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, per Hunt, J.A., dismissed the application - The applicants' interests were not directly affected - Their interest in the proceedings was simply academic - The respondents could aptly present and argue the same arguments as proposed by the applicants - Finally, the addition of the applicants to the proceedings would cause harmful delays - See paragraphs 8 to 24.

Practice - Topic 685

Parties - Adding or substituting parties - Intervenors - On appeal - 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 - In two decisions, 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 - The Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones applied for intervener status in the Hay River appeal with respect to the right of a school district board to manage the admissions criteria of children of parents that were not specifically listed as having rights under s. 23 - The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, per Hunt, J.A., dismissed the application - The court was not convinced that the Fédération had a direct interest in the proceedings - Further, the addition of the Fédération to the proceedings would cause harmful delays - See paragraphs 25 to 33.

Cases Noticed:

Yellowknife Public Denominational District Education Authority et al. v. Euchner (2008), 425 A.R. 254; 418 W.A.C. 254; 2008 NWTCA 1, refd to. [para. 2].

Commission Scolaire Francophone du Yukon No. 23 v. Yukon (Procureure Générale), 2011 YKCA 11, refd to. [para. 3].

R. v. Morgentaler, [1993] 1 S.C.R. 462; 157 N.R. 97; 125 N.S.R.(2d) 81; 349 A.P.R. 81, refd to. [para. 4].

Lameman et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) (2005), 380 A.R. 301; 363 W.A.C. 301; 2005 ABCA 320, refd to. [para. 5].

PHS Community Services Society et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) (2010), 281 B.C.A.C. 161; 475 W.A.C. 161; 100 B.C.L.R.(4th) 269; 2010 BCCA 15, refd to. [para. 16].

Counsel:

M. Baril and G. Régimbald, procureurs des appelants;

R.J.P. Lepage, procureurs des intimés;

P. Ravon and D.A. Archi, procureurs des intervenants.

These applications were heard on August 13, 2013, by Hunt, J.A., of the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, who delivered the following judgment on August 21, 2013.