Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc. v. CAW-Canada, [2001] 1 S.C.R. 644, 2001 SCC 22

The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc. Applicant

v.

The National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada) Respondent

and

The Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board Respondent

Indexed as: Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc. v. CAW-Canada

Neutral citation: 2001 SCC 22.

File No.: 28406.

2001: March 30.

Present: Binnie J.

motion seeking order directing service of application for leave to appeal

Practice – Supreme Court of Canada -- Applications for leave to appeal -- Service -- Meaning of term “party” -- Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada, SOR/83-74, rr. 1, 23(1).

Statutes and Regulations Cited

Constitutional Questions Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. C-29, s. 8(9) [rep. & sub. 1983-84, c. 31, s. 2].

Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada, SOR/83-74, rr. 1 “party”, 23(10) [rep. & sub. SOR/91-347, s. 11].

MOTION seeking order directing service of application for leave to appeal. Motion granted.

Written submissions by Thomson Irvine for the Attorney General for Saskatchewan, applicant on the motion.

Written submissions by Jeffrey W. Beedell, for the applicant the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc., respondent on the motion.

Written submissions by Richard A. Engel, for the respondent CAW-Canada.

Written submissions by Melanie Baldwin, for the respondent the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board.

The following order was delivered by

[1] Binnie J. – The Attorney General for Saskatchewan seeks an order directing the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc. to serve the Attorney General of Saskatchewan with the application for leave to appeal in this matter. Rule 23(10) provides that:

An applicant shall serve the application for leave on the parties in the courts below and shall file the application for leave with the Registrar within the time set out in paragraph 58(1)(a) and subsection 58(2) of the Act or as extended pursuant to subsection 59(1) of the Act. [Emphasis added.]

[2] Rule 1 defines a party to include “an intervener unless the text provides otherwise or unless the context does not so permit”. Section 8 of the Constitutional Questions Act, R.S.S. 1978, ch. C-29, provides in subs. (9) that where the Attorney General for Saskatchewan appears in a proceeding before a court in Saskatchewan in respect to a Constitutional Question “he is a party for the purposes of appeal from an adjudication therein respecting the validity or applicability of a law or respecting entitlement to a remedy”.

[3] There is no doubt that the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc. was required to serve the Attorney General for Saskatchewan with the leave application to this Court. Accordingly an order will go directing the applicant Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc. to serve the Attorney General for Saskatchewan with the application for leave to appeal and any other materials that the applicant may subsequently file in this matter, and permitting the Attorney General for Saskatchewan to file his response within thirty days from the date of such service.

[4] The Attorney General for Saskatchewan is entitled to his costs of this motion in any event of the cause.

Motion granted.

Solicitor for the Attorney General for Saskatchewan, applicant on the motion: The Deputy Attorney General, Regina.

Solicitors for the applicant the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc., respondent on the motion: McDougall Gauley, Saskatoon.

Solicitors for the respondent CAW-Canada: Gerrand Rath Johnson, Regina.

Solicitor for the respondent the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board: Melanie Balwin, Regina.