Sand, Surf and Sea Ltd. v. Nova Scotia (Minister of Transportation and Public Works), 2005 NSSC 278

• Judge: Murphy, J.
• Court: Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Canada)
• Case Date: September 12, 2005
• Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia
• Citations: 2005 NSSC 278;(2005), 237 N.S.R.(2d) 295 (SC)

Sand, Surf & Sea Ltd. v. N.S. (2005), 237 N.S.R.(2d) 295 (SC);

    754 A.P.R. 295

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2005] N.S.R.(2d) TBEd. OC.028

Sand, Surf and Sea Limited (applicant) v.

The Minister of the Department of Transportation and Public Works for the Province of Nova Scotia (respondent)

(SH 224279; 2005 NSSC 278)

Indexed As: Sand, Surf and Sea Ltd. v. Nova Scotia (Minister of Transportation and Public Works)

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Murphy, J.

September 12, 2005.

Summary:

The applicant applied for an order of mandamus directing that the Minister of Transportation and Public Works provide consent under s. 42 of the Public Highways Act to the construction of a building within 100 metres of the centre line of a public highway. In the alternative, the applicant requested a declaration that it was unlawful for the Minister to refuse to provide that consent.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at 236 N.S.R.(2d) 201; 749 A.P.R. 201, dismissed the application. The Minister sought costs and disbursements totalling over $11,000.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, in the decision reported below, awarded the Minister a lump sum of $4,000 plus disbursements of over $5,000.

Practice - Topic 7035

Costs - Party and party costs - Entitlement - The Crown or governmental bodies - The applicant applied for an order of mandamus directing that the Minister of Transportation and Public Works provide consent under s. 42 of the Public Highways Act to the construction of a building within 100 metres of the centre line of a public highway - In the alternative, the applicant requested a declaration that it was unlawful for the Minister to refuse to provide that consent - The applications judge dismissed the application - The Minister sought costs and disbursements - The Nova Scotia Supreme Court awarded the Minister a lump sum of $4,000 plus disbursements of over $5,000 - The court noted that the Minister was completely successful, there were no special circumstances suggesting that the court should deviate from the general rule that costs should follow the event and the court had jurisdiction to award costs in favour of the Crown as any ordinary litigant.

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Statutes Noticed:

Civil Procedure Rules (N.S.), rule 63.03(1) [para. 3].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Orkin, Mark M., Law of Costs (2nd Ed.), p. 2-34, s. 205.1 [para. 3].

Counsel:

Charles J. Ford, for the applicant;

Catherine Jean Lunn, for the respondent.

This application was heard at Halifax, Nova Scotia, before Murphy, J., of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, who delivered the following supplemental reasons respecting costs on September 12, 2005.