Yael Bienenstock

The appellants, several local governments, appealed the dismissal of their application for declarations and injunctions against Canadian National Railway Company (CN) regarding the construction of an intermodal hub.

The appellants sought to compel CN to comply with over 65 provincial and municipal laws.

The application judge dismissed the application, finding that the majority of the claims lacked a factual foundation and were premature, and that the three specific bylaws at issue impaired the core of the federal railway undertaking under the doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision, confirming that the construction and operation of the intermodal hub is a vital part of a federal railway undertaking and that the municipal bylaws requiring official plan amendments impaired this core federal power.

The appeal and the application for leave to appeal costs were dismissed.

The respondent requested a correction to a costs endorsement, noting the judge had mistakenly written the fee total instead of the all-inclusive total of fees, taxes, and disbursements.

The applicants objected, arguing the endorsement was clear and the issue should be raised on cross-appeal since an appeal had already been commenced.

The court corrected the transposition error, amending the costs award to the intended all-inclusive amount of $2,288,314.57, noting the Court of Appeal would prefer the corrected outcome over a cross-appeal about a typo.

A federal Crown corporation applied for a declaration that a municipal by-law regulating the placement of community mailboxes and imposing a permit requirement and moratorium was invalid.

The court held the by-law was void for vagueness because it provided no intelligible standards guiding the director’s discretion over permit approvals.

The by-law also conflicted with federal legislation and regulations governing postal services, frustrating the federal purpose of enabling efficient mail delivery.

Applying constitutional doctrines including paramountcy, interjurisdictional immunity, and federal Crown immunity, the court found the municipality had impermissibly intruded into the federal jurisdiction over postal services.

The by-law was therefore inoperative and of no force or effect in relation to community mailboxes.