The Attorney General of Quebec and the Régie du logement appealed a decision holding that certain powers conferred on the Régie du logement by its enabling statute contravened s. 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867.
The Supreme Court of Canada applied the three-step test for s. 96 challenges and found that in Lower Canada at the time of Confederation, jurisdiction over relations between lessors and lessees was not exercised exclusively by superior courts.
Therefore, conferring this jurisdiction on the provincially appointed administrative tribunal did not violate s. 96.
The appeal was allowed and the jurisdiction of the Régie du logement was upheld.
