1359629 Ontario Inc. v. Province of New Brunswick (Minister of Environment and Local Government), 2004 NBCA 27 (CanLII)

This case was heard in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.

The numbered company 1359629 Ontario Inc. applied to the Department of Environment and Local Government to operate a water bottling plant in King’s County, New Brunswick. The Minister issued a Certificate of Determination to the numbered company and waived an Environmental Impact Assessment on the conditions that the company would limit the amount of groundwater that it extracted and would only supply the bottled water produced at that facility to customers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The numbered company was displeased with the condition that limited its sales to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and after the Minister refused to retract the condition, the company applied for judicial review.

The Court held that the appropriate standard of review was the standard of patent unreasonableness. After considering the scope of the Minister’s discretion and key environmental legislation in New Brunswick, the Court held that the condition imposed by the Minister was not patently unreasonable, as it was based on an understanding that environmental wellbeing is connected to the social and economic welfare of local communities. With this in mind, the Court held that the trade restrictions imposed by the Minister’s conditions fell within the scope of the Minister’s discretion, and it dismissed the numbered company’s application.

When the numbered company appealed to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, the Court affirmed the decision of the lower court and dismissed the company’s appeal.

To read about this case in the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench, go to 1359629 Ontario Inc. v. New Brunswick (Minister of Environment and Local Government), 2003 NBQB 410 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: www.canlii.org/en/nb/nbca/doc/2004/2004nbca27/2004nbca27.html

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