Environmental group judicial review arising from a provincially constructed dam affecting navigable waters, fisheries, and Indigenous interests.
The Supreme Court held that the federal Environmental Assessment and Review Process Guidelines Order was valid, mandatory subordinate legislation under s. 6 of the Department of the Environment Act, and constitutionally intra vires because it regulated the manner in which federal decision makers exercised federal powers.
The court further held that the Navigable Waters Protection Act bound the Crown in right of Alberta by necessary implication, and that the Minister of Transport was required to comply with the Guidelines Order when exercising approval powers under that Act.
However, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans was not subject to mandamus because the Fisheries Act did not impose the requisite affirmative regulatory duty for a decision-making responsibility under the Order.
The appeal was dismissed except to remove the mandamus order against the fisheries minister, with solicitor-client costs to the respondent.
