TORONTO: The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has been granted leave to intervene at the Supreme Court in Annapolis Group Inc v Halifax Regional Municipality.
The underlying case involves an allegation by Annapolis Group that the Halifax Regional Municipality is obstructing its attempts to develop Annapolis owned land, while simultaneously encouraging the public to use Annapolis land as a park. Annapolis alleges that this amounts to a de facto expropriation of their property by the government.
“A de facto expropriation is when the government has not taken property in name, but in every other practical sense they have taken the property. And a government cannot expropriate property without compensation,” said CCF Litigation Director, Christine Van Geyn. “We are intervening in this case because this is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to revisit the test on de facto expropriation, and we will be making argument about what we think the proper legal test should be.”
The date for the hearing at the Supreme Court has not yet been scheduled. Materials are due on November 26th, and will be posted on the CCF’s website.
“Canada’s common law tradition has a deeply embedded notion that the government cannot simply deprive a person or business of their property without compensation, unless expressly permitted by statute. This case is an opportunity to improve property rights in Canada,” concluded Van Geyn.
The CCF is represented in this case by Malcolm Lavoie of Miller Thomson.
