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

Mr. O’Dell operated an RV campground on a lakeshore property that he owned, and had been running the business since 1965. In 2003, the New Brunswick Minister of the Environment and Local Government issued a Ministerial Order to Mr. O’Dell and his son, who also participated in the family business, ordering them to cease the campground activities that were located within 75 meters of the banks of the lake and to “stabilize” the areas that had previously been in use within the 75-meter range.

Mr. O’Dell applied for judicial review of the Ministerial Order, arguing that the relevant provisions of the Clean Water Act did not apply retroactively to activities that were being carried out long before the Act came into force. The Court held that the Clean Water Act did apply, and that the Minister’s decision had not been patently unreasonable in any respect. Mr. O’Dell’s application for judicial review was therefore dismissed.

When Mr. O’Dell appealed to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, he advanced a new argument, which was that the Minister had interpreted the Clean Water Act incorrectly when he found that the recreational trailers in Mr. O’Dell’s campground were not “dwelling places,” and therefore exempt from the relevant provisions of the Act. The Court held that the Minister had interpreted the Act correctly, and it dismissed Mr. O’Dell’s appeal.

To read about this case in the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, go to O’Dell v. Province of New Brunswick, 2004 NBQB 76 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nb/nbca/doc/2005/2005nbca58/2005nbca58.html

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