The appellant Indian bands enacted property tax assessment by-laws under the Indian Act, which included appeal procedures to band-appointed tribunals.
The respondents, who owned a railway right-of-way through the reserves, sought judicial review to challenge the assessments, arguing their lands were not 'in the reserve'.
The motions judge struck the judicial review application, finding the band appeal procedures provided an adequate alternative remedy.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the bands' appeal, holding that the band tribunals lacked sufficient institutional independence (due to lack of financial security and security of tenure), and therefore did not constitute an adequate alternative remedy, allowing the judicial review to proceed.
