Underwood McLellan & Associates Ltd. v. Saskatchewan Association of Professional Engineers, Barschel, Ringheim and Gallinger, (1979) 1 Sask.R. 25 (CA)

• Judge: Woods, Brownridge and Bayda, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Saskatchewan)
• Case Date: September 18, 1979
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: (1979), 1 Sask.R. 25 (CA)

Underwood McLellan v. Prof. Eng. (1979), 1 Sask.R. 25 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Underwood McLellan & Associates Ltd. v. Saskatchewan Association of Professional Engineers et al.

(No. 6983)

Indexed As: Underwood McLellan & Associates Ltd. v. Saskatchewan Association of Professional Engineers, Barschel, Ringheim and Gallinger

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal

Woods, Brownridge and Bayda, JJ.A.

September 18, 1979.

Summary:

This case arose out of a charge of professional misconduct against a member of the Saskatchewan Association of professional engineers. The member against whom the charges were made applied to the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench for an order of prohibition to prohibit the Saskatchewan Association of Professional Engineers from proceeding with an inquiry into the charges against the member. The Court of Queen's Bench granted the application for an order of prohibition on the ground that the allegations of misconduct "seem to have little to do with protecting the public from incompetent engineers; but, rather, the complaints appear to be geared to disciplining a firm for taking some economic advantage of another". The Association of Professional Engineers appealed to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the order of prohibition and held that the alleged acts constituted professional misconduct even if only the standing of the association was harmed.

Constitutional Law - Topic 7297

Enumeration in s. 92 of the British North America Act - Property and civil rights, s. 92(13) - Regulation of professional associations - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal held that professional misconduct by members of a professional association was a matter of civil rights within s. 92(13) of the British North America Act - See paragraph 7 - The Court of Appeal held that the Saskatchewan Engineering Profession Act properly conferred on a professional body the power to deal with conduct occurring outside of Saskatchewan - See paragraph 7.

Professional Occupations - Topic 3266

Engineers - Discipline - What constitutes professional misconduct - A member of the Saskatchewan Association of Professional Engineers was charged with copying design engineering features and specifications prepared by another engineer - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal held that such acts constituted professional misconduct, even if only the standing of the association was harmed - See paragraph 8.

Cases Noticed:

MacCosham Storage & Distributing Co. (Saskatchewan) Ltd. v. Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers, Division No. 189, 13 D.L.R.(2d) 246, refd to. [para. 21].

Re Legault and Law Society of Upper Canada (1976), 58 D.L.R.(3d) 641, refd to. [para. 23].

Statutes Noticed:

British North America Act 1867, sect. 92(13) [para. 7].

Engineering Profession Act, R.S.S. 1965, c. 309, sect. 7, sect. 36 [para. 3].

Counsel:

N.G.A. Wilson, Q.C., for the appellant;

J.L. Robertson, Q.C., for the respondent, Underwood McLellan;

W.N. Lawton, Q.C., for the Attorney General.

This appeal was heard by WOODS, BROWNRIDGE and BAYDA, JJ.A., of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on December 5, 1978.

The judgment of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal was delivered on September 18, 1979 and the following opinions were filed:

WOODS, J.A. - see paragraphs 1 to 9;

BAYDA, J.A. - see paragraphs 10 to 25.

BROWNRIDGE, J.A., concurred with WOODS, J.A.