Municipal Matters

Case Summary: R v Greater Sudbury (City)

2023 SCC 28

A recent decision from the Supreme Court of Canada involving a tragic workplace accident has provided clarity on what the courts will assess when determining if a municipality is an “employer” under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1 (the “OHSA”).

 

Background

In . . .

Read More

September 02, 2024

Investigations in Municipal Workplaces

Municipalities, just like all employers, have an obligation to investigate complaints of workplace harassment under the Occupational Health and Safety Act as part of their duty to provide a safe workplace. Municipalities also have similar obligations pursuant to the Municipal Act. Although municipal workplaces are similar to . . .

Read More

August 20, 2024

Demystifying Legal Language: Understanding “Public Highways” under the Municipal Act

In the realm of municipal law, the term “common and public highway” takes center stage as defined by the Municipal Act, 2001. This exploration navigates through historical roots, legal precedents, and contemporary considerations to elucidate the concept of highways.

Tracing back to Roman law, the term . . .

Read More

August 06, 2024

Case Summary: Clarifying the Law of De Facto Expropriation

Halifax (Regional Municipality) v Annapolis Group Inc

The Supreme Court of Canada recently discussed the topic of de facto expropriations in Canada.

In 2017, Annapolis Group Inc. (“Annapolis”) began legal proceedings against the Halifax Regional Municipality (the “HRM”). One of the claims made against the HRM was that it had effectively taken over lands which were owned by Annapolis. . . .

Read More

November 23, 2023

A Prosecutor's Obligations

Originally presented at the OBA’s Ontario Legal Conference: Municipal, Planning and Environmental Law - Feb 9-10, 2023

Introduction

There are important distinctions between the role played by municipal prosecutors and the other, various roles that lawyers employed or retained by municipalities have. This paper reviews the . . .

Read More

September 20, 2023

The process of having land expropriated

an overview for property owners

Expropriation, in its simplest form, is the taking of privately owned land by a government body for public purposes. Expropriation often occurs when extensive infrastructure projects need to be completed, such as building roads or schools in areas where land has already been developed and purchased. When land is being expropriated, approval . . .

Read More

July 22, 2022

RIP LPAT, ERT & BON; HI OLT

The LPAT has now merged with four other tribunals to form the Ontario Land Tribunal; apologies in advance for all the acronyms

It seems like just yesterday we were writing RIP OMB; HI LPAT when the Ontario Municipal Board (“OMB”) was replaced by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT”) on April 3, 2018.

As of today, June 1, 2021, the LPAT, Environmental Review Tribunal (“ERT”) and Board of Negotiation (“BON”) have merged with the Conservation Review Board . . .

Read More

June 01, 2021

Archive

This update link alerts you to new Silvrback admin blog posts. A green bubble beside the link indicates a new post. Click the link to the admin blog and the bubble disappears.

Got It!