Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Appeal Tribunal
1Stone Road West, 2nd Floor NW
Tribunal d’appel de l’agriculture, de l’alimentation et des affaires rurales
1 Stone Road West, 2e étage NW
Guelph, Ontario N1G 4Y2
Tel: (519) 826-3433, Fax: (519) 826-4232
Email: AFRAAT@ontario.ca
Guelph (Ontario) N1G 4Y2
Tél.: (519) 826-3433, Téléc.: (519) 826-4232
Courriel: AFRAAT@ontario.ca
AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS APPEAL TRIBUNAL
APPEAL:
Michael Jeffray VS The Township of Howick
[Final Decision]
Metcalfe-Wright Municipal Drain
STATUTE:
Drainage Act
HEARING:
March 09, 2022
DATE OF DECISION:
March 09, 2022
001Metcalfe-Wright22
NEUTRAL CITATION:
2022 ONAFRAAT 08
FILE NO.: 001Metcalfe-Wright22
DATE: 2022/03/09
IN THE MATTER OF THE DRAINAGE ACT, R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER D.17, AS AMENDED.
AND IN THE MATTER OF an appeal to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) by Michael Jeffray under section 48 of the Drainage Act with respect to the Metcalfe-Wright Municipal Drain, located in the Township of Howick.
AND IN THE MATTER OF an electronic hearing to be held pursuant to Rule 18 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure.
BETWEEN:
Michael Jeffray
Appellant
– and –
The Township of Howick
Respondent
Self-Represented
Self-Represented
ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1On or before April 5, 2022, each party shall supply to the Tribunal the names and email addresses of all parties, counsel, persons instructing parties and witnesses participating in the hearing.
2The Zoom application will be used to conduct the video conference hearing.
3Parties are responsible for contacting their witnesses and informing them that they must join the Zoom meeting at the time directed by the Tribunal to give their evidence. If a witness does not join the meeting when instructed, the hearing will proceed without that witness.
4Parties are responsible to provide each of their witnesses with a copy of this Order prior to the hearing.
5Participants will need a device equipped with a webcam and a microphone and access to a reliable internet connection with adequate bandwidth. The device should always be plugged in to ensure that the battery does not run low.
6A smartphone shall only be used at the discretion of the panel. The use of a smartphone is discouraged due to potential disruptions (incoming calls and messages) and the risk of running out of battery.
7At the start of the proceeding you will identify any other persons present at your location. Depending on the circumstances, the Tribunal may require those other persons to leave the room during the proceeding.
8You are not permitted to record the proceeding unless given prior authorization by the Tribunal in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.
9The Tribunal may record the proceeding, in its discretion, for the use of the panel as part of their bench notes.
10During the proceeding, you must keep the video function on and you must remain on camera.
11The microphone function should be muted unless you are making an argument or submission, questioning a witness, or giving testimony.
12You have an ongoing obligation to advise the Tribunal if you are joined by anyone else during the proceeding.
13Prior to giving testimony, each witness shall certify to the Tribunal orally that he or she is alone in the room and that they are not relying on any undisclosed documents (such as notes). Witnesses are not permitted to testify with others present in the room or to use undisclosed documents such as notes without the prior approval of the Tribunal.
14Witnesses will be sworn in or affirmed, whichever binds his or her conscience, before testifying. If a witness prefers to swear an oath to tell the truth, he or she must have a Bible, holy book, or an oath-taking article (such as an eagle feather) with him or her.
15Witnesses should have all documents which they have disclosed or which have been disclosed to them before them when giving their testimony.
16In this matter all documents, save and except the Report of the Engineer (see paragraph 17), shall be served and filed in a digital format either as a PDF file or on a memory stick. All documents may be served and filed by email without the consent of the recipient of the email or by courier in the case of a memory stick. All documents to be filed with the Tribunal by email shall be sent by email or memory stick to the Clerk of the Tribunal (the Clerk of the Municipality is the Clerk of the Tribunal) and to the Tribunal Coordinator at tania.meresz@ontario.ca. No individual email may be larger than 10MB.
17The Municipality shall provide a hard copy of the Report of the Engineer, together with all maps and drawings related to the Report, to each of the other Parties and four hard copies of the same, as well as one digital copy, to the Clerk of the Tribunal who shall forward them to the Tribunal Coordinator.
18If the Appellant has procured their own Report of an Engineer, then the Appellant shall provide a hard copy of their Report of the Engineer, together with all maps and drawings related to the Report, to each of the other Parties and four hard copies of the same, as well as one digital copy, to the Tribunal Coordinator.
19Documents should be sent as individual attachments to the email, for example an affidavit and each of its exhibits should be sent as separate PDF files, each one clearly named to identify it (i.e. “Affidavit of John Doe”, “Exhibit C to the Affidavit of John Doe”) preferably with each page numbered sequentially.
20All photographs shall be submitted as individual files with each photograph numbered sequentially in the file name.
21Books of Authorities are not to be filed. Instead, parties shall, where possible, provide hyperlinks to the version of cases cited in their written submissions.
22Parties may file a Brief of Case References that includes single pages or brief portions of cited cases; where this is done, the title of the case and headnote (where applicable) should be provided for context.
23If other documents come to the attention of the parties after the dates set out in the Notice of Electronic Hearing for delivery of documents, they must be served and filed with the Tribunal by email at least five business days before the date of the hearing and their use in the proceeding will be at the discretion of the Tribunal.
24If you wish to make an objection during the proceeding, you must use the “Raise Your Hand” feature, turn your microphone on and indicate that you wish to make an objection. Wait for the Tribunal to ask for your objection and then state your objection.
25The public may view the proceedings on Zoom. Those members of the public who wish to attend should contact the Tribunal for instructions.
26If a participant in the hearing loses his or her connection, that person shall contact the Tribunal Co-ordinator immediately to receive instructions as to how to rejoin the hearing.
Released: March 9th, 2022