Article, Staff | |

Municipal Liability: The Supreme Court of Canada Seeks to Clarify the Fine Line Between Policy and Operational Decisions

On October 21, 2021, in Nelson (City) v. Marchi, the Supreme Court of Canada has lifted the fog in an attempt to provide clarity over the differences between the core policy decisions, which are immune from liability in negligence, and operational decisions, which are reviewable by the courts on a reasonableness standard.

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Publication, Staff | |

Architects, Engineers, and Builders — Oh My! The Architectural Institute of British Columbia v. Langford (City), 2020 BCSC 801

As published in Northern Construction Connection October 2020 Newsletter.

In 2016, the City of Langford’s Chief Building Inspector issued a building permit for the construction of a residential / commercial strata complex. An architect was not involved in the project – the design and drawings were completed by a designer.

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Article, Staff, Students | |

0956375 B.C. Ltd. v. Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, 2020 BCSC 743

On May 13, 2020, the Supreme Court of British Columbia considered two actions against the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (“RDOS”) regarding a downzoning of a property on Osoyoos Lake (“Property”) to correct an error.

Mr. Grelish, a sophisticated land and property developer, was the directing mind of both corporate Plaintiffs. Since 2002, Mr. Grelish had made several fruitless attempts to have the zoning of the Property changed from Large Holdings (“LH”) to RM1, to increase the Property value. In 2005, an RDOS staff member accidentally entered the zoning designation for the Property into the database as RM1…

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Article, Staff | |

The Architectural Institute of British Columbia v. Langford (City), 2020 BCSC 801

In 2016, the City of Langford’s Chief Building Inspector issued a building permit for the construction of a residential / commercial strata complex. An architect was not involved in the project – the design and drawings were completed by a designer. The Architects Act (the “Act”) required the involvement of an architect in the project as the building exceeded 470 m2 in gross area. The AIBC (the professional body that regulates the profession of architecture in British Columbia) brought a petition seeking a declaration that the decision to issue the building permit was unreasonable…

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Article, Students | |

COVID-19: Suspension of Regular Court Operations (continued)

March 26, 2020 UPDATE

On March 26, 2020, the Province ordered that, for the duration of the provincial State of Emergency, every mandatory limitation period and any other mandatory time period that is established in an enactment or law of British Columbia within which a civil or family action, proceeding, claim or appeal must be commenced in the Provincial Court, Supreme Court or Court of Appeal is suspended…..

 

 

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