Ontario Private Campground Association et al. v. Harvey (Township), (1997) 31 O.T.C. 335 (GD)

• Judge: Howden, J.
• Court: Ontario Court of Justice General Division (Canada)
• Case Date: March 26, 1997
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (1997), 31 O.T.C. 335 (GD)

Private Campground Assoc. v. Harvey (1997), 31 O.T.C. 335 (GD)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [1997] O.T.C. TBEd. MY.051

Ontario Private Campground Association and Six Foot Bay Resort Inc. (applicant) v. Corporation of the Township of Harvey (respondent)

(File No. 12066/96)

Indexed As: Ontario Private Campground Association et al. v. Harvey (Township)

Ontario Court of Justice

General Division

Howden, J.

April 30, 1997.

Summary:

Section 220.1 of the Ontario Municipal Act authorized a municipality to pass bylaws imposing fees or charges on any class of persons for services or activities provided by the municipality, for costs of services or activities provided by it and for the use of its property. Pursuant to s. 220.1, the Township of Harvey passed Bylaw No. B96-46 which imposed on operators of seasonal trailer parks and campgrounds a $50 annual levy for each occupied trailer site in an attempt to redress a perceived imbalance between the real property tax burden on a free hold cottage lot and on a trailer site within a campground or trailer park. The following issues were raised: (1) did the bylaw impose a tax not authorized by s. 220.1?; (2) did the bylaw contravene s. 220.1(3) of the Act as a fee or charge imposed by reason only of presence in the municipality?; and (3) if s. 220.1 authorized the levy in the bylaw as a tax, was it an indirect tax and therefore ultra vires of Harvey?

The Ontario Court (General Division) addressed the issues and concluded as follows: (1) s. 220.1 did not authorize, in the guise of a fee or charge for service, an omnibus taxing power supplementing the municipal property taxes or serving to alter rights to a benefit from existing municipal public services; (2) the bylaw, in imposing a tax and not a fee or charge in return for a service or use of a municipal activity or property, was not authorized by s. 220.1; (3) the bylaw did not contravene s. 220.1(3); (4) the bylaw imposed an indirect tax which was ultra vires or beyond the power of Harvey and could not be authorized by s. 220.1 as being beyond the power of the provincial legislature by reason of s. 92(2) of the Constitution Act. The court quashed the bylaw.

Constitutional Law - Topic 6822.1

Provincial jurisdiction (s. 92) - Direct taxation within the province - What constitutes indirect taxation - See paragraphs 45 to 61.

Constitutional Law - Topic 7004

Provincial jurisdiction (s. 92) - Licences - Indirect taxation through licence fees - See paragraphs 45 to 61.

Municipal Law - Topic 1483

Powers of municipalities - Particular powers - Imposition and collection of taxes or fees - See paragraphs 1 to 65.

Municipal Law - Topic 1545

Powers of municipalities - Construction of powers - Statutes restricting common law rights - See paragraphs 22 to 25.

Municipal Law - Topic 3842

Bylaws - Quashing bylaws - Grounds for judicial interference - Ultra vires - See paragraphs 45 to 61.

Municipal Law - Topic 3860

Bylaws - Quashing bylaws - Grounds for judicial interference - Unauthorized by empowering statute - See paragraphs 9 to 39.

Cases Noticed:

Brantford (City) Public Utilities Commission v. Brantford (City) (1996), 31 O.R.(3d) 465 (Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 2].

Ontario Homebuilders' Association et al. v. Board of Education of York Region et al. (1993), 62 O.A.C. 321; 13 O.R.(3d) 493 (Div. Ct.), revd. (1994), 69 O.A.C. 216 (C.A.), affd. [1996] 2 S.C.R. 929; 201 N.R. 81; 93 O.A.C. 241; 137 D.L.R.(4th) 449, refd to. [para. 20].

Cariboo College v. Kamloops (City) (1982), 18 M.P.L.R. 85 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 20].

Eurig Estate v. Ontario Court (General Division), Registrar (1997), 96 O.A.C. 352 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 20].

Laidlaw Environmental Services Ltd. v. Moore (Township) (1993), 12 C.E.L.R.(N.S.) 279 (Ont. Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 20].

Allard Contractors Ltd. et al. v. Coquitlam (District) et al., [1993] 4 S.C.R. 371; 160 N.R. 249; 35 B.C.A.C. 241; 57 W.A.C. 241, refd to. [para. 20].

Lawson v. Interior Tree Fruit and Vegetables Committee of Direction, [1931] S.C.R. 357, refd to. [para. 20].

Halifax (City) v. Nova Scotia Car Works (1914), 18 D.L.R. 649 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 20].

Ottawa (City) v. Community General Hospital et al. (1974), 4 O.R.(2d) 380 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 20].

Brigden v. Port Elgin (Village), [1934] O.W.N. 632 (H.C.), refd to. [para. 20].

812069 Ontario Ltd. v. Bramalea (1990), 13 R.P.R.(2d) 7 (Ont. Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 21].

R. v. Churchill (1972), 29 D.L.R.(3d) 368 (B.C.S.C.), dist. [para. 21].

Leung's Investments Ltd. v. Alberta and Blackfalds (Town) (1996), 189 A.R. 13; 33 M.P.L.R.(2d) 238 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 21].

Candow (A.J.) Ltd. v. Corner Brook (City) (1982), 37 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 405; 104 A.P.R. 405; 138 D.L.R.(3d) 324 (Nfld. T.D.), affd. (1983), 42 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 259; 122 A.P.R. 259; 147 D.L.R.(3d) 165 (Nfld. C.A.), refd to. [para. 21].

Honeymoon Bay R.V. Park v. Cowichan Valley (Regional District) (1996), 32 M.P.L.R.(2d) 203 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 21].

R. v. Greenbaum (M.), [1993] 1 S.C.R. 674; 149 N.R. 114; 61 O.A.C. 241; 79 C.C.C.(3d) 158, refd to. [para. 22].

Merritt v. Toronto (City) (1895), 22 O.A.R. 205 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 23].

Stronach, Re (1928), 61 O.L.R. 636 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 23].

Canada (Attorney General) v. Registrar of Titles of Vancouver Land Registration District, [1934] 3 W.W.R. 165 (B.C.C.A.), refd to. [para. 32].

Halifax (City) v. Fairbanks Estate, [1928] A.C. 117 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 45].

Bank of Toronto v. Lambe (1887), 12 App. Cas. 575 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 47].

Esquimault & Nanaimo Railway Co. v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1950] 1 D.L.R. 305 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 49].

Renvoi relatif à la taxe de vente du Quebec, [1994] 2 S.C.R. 715; 169 N.R. 1; 62 Q.A.C. 81, refd to. [para. 56].

Reference Re Quebec Sales Tax - see Renvoi relatif à la taxe de vente du Quebec.

Statutes Noticed:

Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M-45, sect. 220.1 [para. 3].

Harvey (Township) Bylaws, Bylaw No. B96-46, sect. 2 [para. 13 et seq.].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (Ont.) (3rd Ed.), vol. 22, para. 526 [paras. 20, 37].

Concise Oxford Dictionary (8th Ed.) [paras. 25, 42].

Driedger, Elmer A., Construction of Statutes (3rd Ed. 1994), p. 408 [para. 23].

Dukelow, Daphne A., and Nuse, Betsy, Dictionary of Canadian Law, generally [para. 21].

Mill, John Stuart, Principles of Political Economy (1893), generally [para. 46].

Rogers, Ian MacFee, Law of Canadian Municipal Corporations (2nd Ed.), pp. 388 [para. 23]; 737 [para. 28].

Counsel:

T. Bermingham and L. Favreau, for the applicants;

R. Parkenham and M. John Ewart, for the respondent.

This application was heard on March 26, 1997, before Howden, J., of the Ontario Court (General Division), who delivered the following judgment on April 30, 1997.