Barnet H. Kussner

The appellants challenged a municipal by-law amending the designated area for adult entertainment parlours, arguing that the amendment was unlawful because the substituted area was not zoned to permit the use.

The court held that while the municipality could amend its licensing by-law to abrogate existing rights, it could not do so in a manner that effectively prohibited the licensed activity throughout the municipality.

The court rejected the argument that adult entertainment was an accessory use to a restaurant and held that the availability of rezoning, or the fact that another property had been rezoned, did not cure an otherwise prohibitory by-law.

The appeal was allowed, the injunction was set aside, and the by-law was declared void to the extent it changed area designations in a prohibitory manner.

No costs were awarded here or below.

The appellants challenged a municipal resolution passed by the City of Sarnia authorizing a judicial inquiry into certain land transactions involving the former Town of Clearwater.

The appellants argued that the resolution was vague, lacked particularity, and was a colourable attempt to conduct a substitute police investigation, thereby infringing the federal criminal law power.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that the resolution was validly enacted under s. 100(1) of the Municipal Act, as it was directed at matters of municipal good governance and public business.

The Court also upheld the quashing of summonses issued to city officials, finding that the subjective intent of individual councillors was irrelevant to the validity of the resolution.