The applicant sought damages under s. 79 of the Drainage Act for alleged flooding losses to farmland and buildings said to result from the municipalities' failure to maintain the St. John's Marsh Drain.
The court held that s. 79 creates a strict-liability statutory cause of action, but damages remain subject to proof of physical injury or harm to property, but-for causation, remoteness, and the statutory notice regime.
On the evidence, the property had no de facto or legal outlet access to the drain, and the flooding was caused by natural flows from lands south of the road and insufficient outlet capacity through adjacent conservation lands, not by non-repair of the drain.
The applicant also failed to prove quantum for crop losses and advanced other claims that were too remote, constituted betterment, were unsupported, or were procedurally out of time.
The action was dismissed, with costs to be addressed by written submissions if necessary.
