The applicants, the Township of Clearview and the County of Simcoe, sought a declaration that a deviation road crossing the respondent's property was a public highway and requested rectification of title.
The respondent argued that the road was never a public highway, that a 1966 tax sale transferred the land to private ownership, and that the claim was statute-barred.
The Superior Court of Justice found that the road was dedicated and accepted as a public highway in the 1800s.
The court held that the 1966 tax deed could not validly transfer a public highway, and that the municipality's claim was not barred by the Limitations Act or the doctrine of laches.
The application was granted, the road was declared a public highway, and rectification of the register was ordered.
