The appellant province appealed a judgment concerning the designation of First Nations bands as delivery agents under the Ontario Works Act.
The Court of Appeal resolved the dispute narrowly by declaring that, in light of the 1965 Welfare Agreement, the minister's powers under s. 38 had to be exercised with the consent of the band.
The court set aside the judgment below, established a process by which bands could indicate non-consent and obtain immediate revocation of designation, and left existing designations temporarily in place pending that choice.
The court expressly declined to determine the broader constitutional issues addressed below.
