Nuisance and Neighbourhood in Late Nineteenth-Century Montreal: Drysdale v Dugas in its Contexts

• Author: Eric H. Reiter
• Pages: 35-69

ﾇﾉ

Nuisance and Neighbourhood in Late

NineteenthCenturyMontreal

DrysdalevDugas in its Contexts

EricHReiter

Introduction

Npersonal dimension that can bel ie the often relatively

modestlegalst akesinvolvedPiing neighbouragai nstneighbour andin

volving perceived invasion of the homes, workplaces, or senses of the par

ties, nuisance complaints tend to elicit vehement reactions on both sides.

One such aair is Drysdale v Dugas, which reached the Supreme Court of

Canada in  Centring on a dispute between neighbours in Montreal,

the case pits Drysdale, who built and ran a stable in a residential neigh

bourhood, against Dugas, who complained of the horses’ unpleasant odours,

foulliquids and incessant noiseIt alsoh ighlights diculti ssuesof prop

erty powers and duties, fault and liability, precedent and public policy, and

remediesMoreoverast heSupremeCourt srstmajorpronouncement on

nuisance in Canada, Drysd alesinuencehasextendedbeyonditsorigins in

thecivillawofQuebecRece ntlyitsrelevancewasrearmedwhentheSu

preme Court endorsed its view of liability for nuisance in StLawrenceCement

vBarreeof

Like all nuisance cases, D rysdale sits at the intersection of t he law of prop

erty and civil liabi lity, and it reveals lawyers and judges alike seeking co

herentoratleastworkablerulesandconceptsi namurkyeldoflaw

Like all Quebec nuisance ca ses, Drysdale also st raddles the civil law and the

common law, with French and English principles and precedents mingling

ﾇﾊEricHReiter

sometimes in concert, sometimes i n tension. Finally, like all legal cases of

whatever kind, Drysdalehas astory behindit onethatbothlls outandat

times challenges t he rather lifeless published reports of the cas e. In this

article, I use Drysdale a nd its stories to explore the intersections of doctri nal

legal principles and lived social ordering in a ti me of changing urban la nd

scapes and neighbourly relationships.

Dramatis Personae: Dugas and Drysdale

N   concept. The smells, noises, smoke, vibrations, and

other physical irritants behind t he legal idea of nuisance become problem

aticwhenindividualsliveincloseproximitytooneanotheranddierences

inpersonalitiessensibilitiesandlevelsoftolerancegiverisetoconictover

the irritants. It is also, of course, a legal concept, and the pri nciples, inter

pretations and precedents of the legal system aect the so cial aspects of

nuisance as the social aspec ts aect the legal Behind bot ha re people

neighbours, lawyers, and judges — who come to litigation with previous

historieswhichprovideanotherlevelofinuenceonthecourseofthecas e

CalixteAiméDugastheplaintiinDrysda lewasaprominentandwell

connected member of the Montreal legal commun ity. Though it was no se

cret at the time, it appears nowhere in the reported judgments that Dugas

was himself a judge of the Montreal Court of Sessions, t he lower criminal

courtBornininStRéminearMontrealDugasstudiedlawwithboth

afut ureQ uebecc hiefju sticeAADorion anda futu repri memi nister of

Canada JJCAbboAfter admission tot hebar in h isfort unatecon

nections continued: he practised law with a f uture Supreme Court justice

DésiréGirouardand inma rriedSuza nneHarki nacousi nofLew is

Drummond, justice of the Quebec Court of Q ueen’s Bench. Dugas served

br ie y in mu n ic ip al go ve rn me nt an di n  r an u ns uc ce s sf ul l yf or th ep ro v

incial Liberals. Soon after h is defeat he was rewarded with an appointment

as judge of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, serving also a s extra

dition commissioner. A proponent of military training, Dugas belonged to

thethBaalionMountRoyalRiesandsawactivedutyasaMajorlater

promotedtoLieutenantColonelduring theNorthWestRebellion of

Dugas was also a member of several prestigious Montreal clubs, mingli ng

with the francophone elite at the Club Canadien and the a nglophone elite at

the Metropolitan Club.

NuisanceandNeighbourhoodinLateNineteenthCenturyMontrealﾇﾋ

Besides his position as judge and his general knowledge of the law,

two other aspects of Dugas’s personal history factor into this l itigation: his

litigiousness and a speculat ive streak. Like many legal professionals with

knowledge of their rights and a drive to vindicate them, Dugas was involved

inanumberoflegalac tionsovertheyearsAl readyinthesasayoung

lawyerhepart icipatedin awellpublicized fracas overhis having hitched

his horse to a gatepost, as a result of which he was arrested for allegedly

assaulting a constable. Tellingly, he not only defended himself again st the

charge but launched a  suit against the constable and the City of

Montreal for false arrest and violation of his rights.I ni nanothe rcause

célèbre, Dugas successful ly brought private criminal l ibel charges against Ed

mundSheppardow nerof thes ensationalist anda ntiFrenchTorontoEv en-

ing News, over articles al leging cowardice, looting, and desert ion by Dugas’s

regiment during the Rebell ion. Dugas also appears in various cases con

nected to his business deali ngs, such as a breach of contract suit arising from

plans to form a company to exploit an invention to turn garbage into fuel.

JudgeDugasMontrealQCbyWilliamNotma nSonDecemberThis

photograph of Dugas, like the pho to of Drysdale below, is by Montreal’s premier society

photographerWilliamNotma nMcCordMuseumIIReproducedwithpermiss ion