Tristan Joanette

The Municipalité de Casselman sought a declaratory order confirming its exclusive ownership of the Martin-Filion laneway and an order for the respondents to remove personal property and structures from it.

Two respondents, Louis Godard and Sylvie Cléroux, contested the application, asserting that a verbal agreement with the former mayor in 1986 had transferred ownership of portions of the laneway to them.

The court found no objective evidence of a binding oral contract, citing the absence of essential terms such as a clear transfer date, agreed price, and definitively identified parties.

The court also determined that the doctrine of part performance did not apply, as the respondents' actions on the laneway predated or were independent of the alleged agreement and did not constitute detrimental reliance.

Consequently, the Municipality's application was granted, confirming its ownership and ordering the removal of encroachments.

Five non-rights holder parents applied to the Minister to exercise discretion to admit their children to a French first language education program in the Northwest Territories, with the support of the francophone school board.

The Minister denied each application, finding the parents did not meet the categories established in the ministerial directive.

The SCC held that the Minister was required not only to consider s. 23 of the Charter but to conduct a proportionate balancing of the values underlying that provision — including preservation and development of the minority language community — against the government's interests.

Applying the Doré framework, the Court found the decisions unreasonable because the Minister gave disproportionate weight to consistency and cost, and insufficient weight to pedagogical requirements and the remedial purpose of s. 23.

The appeal was allowed and the Court of Appeal orders set aside.