Andy McBride

The appellants appealed to the Ontario Drainage Referee to quash a by-law adopting a drainage report, arguing the underlying petition was invalid.

The petition was signed by a single landowner whose property constituted the only area requiring drainage, though it was a minority of the total watershed.

The Referee dismissed the appeal, accepting the drainage engineer's professional opinion that the upstream and downstream lands did not require drainage due to topography and land use.

The Referee held that the petition met the requirements of the Drainage Act because the single signatory owned at least 60 percent of the hectarage in the specific area requiring drainage.

The appellants appealed a municipal by-law adopting a drainage report, arguing the petition for the drainage works was invalid under Section 4 of the Drainage Act because it was signed by only one landowner in a larger watershed.

The Drainage Referee dismissed the appeal, accepting the drainage engineer's professional opinion that the single petitioner's property was the only 'area requiring drainage' due to the topography and land use of the surrounding properties.

As the petitioner owned 60% of the hectarage in the specific area requiring drainage, the petition was valid.