The Supreme Court Of Canada Searches For Goldilocks: Is The Jurisdiction Of The Federal Court Narrow, Broad, Or Just Right?

One of the first lessons I remember being taught as a law student about statutory interpretation was to look at both the words of the statute and the purpose Parliament intended in enacting the statute. I quickly learned that statutory interpretation can be somewhat of a headache because, sometimes, the words and the purpose of the statute are at odds with each other. What to do then?

This somewhat classic dilemma is at the front and centre of the dispute between the majority and the dissent of the Supreme Court of Canada in Windsor (City) v. Canadian Transit Co., 2016 SCC 54. The case deals with the narrow issue of whether the Federal Court has jurisdiction to decide whether the Canadian Transit Company (the "Company") must comply with orders issued by the City of Windsor (the "City") under a City by-law to repair certain houses purchased by the Company. The disagreement between the majority and the dissent on the answer to this question is grounded in their conflicting views about whether a purposive or technical interpretation of the Federal Court's jurisdiction should dominate. One side thinks jurisdiction should be narrow, and one side thinks jurisdiction should be broad; it remains to be seen whether, going forward, the result is just right.

THE FACTS OF WINDSOR (CITY) V. CANADIAN TRANSIT CO.

The Company owns and operates the Canadian half of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. It was incorporated under a special Act of Parliament, An Act to incorporate The Canadian Transit Company (the "CTC Act"), which empowers it to construct, maintain, and operate the bridge and to "purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire and hold lands for the bridge...and construct and erect and maintain buildings and other structures required for the convenient working of traffic to, from and over the said bridge." The "works and undertaking" of the company are declared to be for the general benefit of Canada, which triggers federal jurisdiction under ss. 92(1)(c) and 91(29) of the Constitution Act, 1867.

The Company purchased certain homes in Windsor located close to the bridge with the eventual intention of demolishing the buildings and using the land to facilitate maintenance and expansion of the bridge. The buildings have not been demolished to date and became the subject of considerable tension between the Company and the City of Windsor. The City eventually issued repair orders against the properties under its Property Standards By-law, Windsor By-law No. 147-2011. The Company appealed the repair orders to the Property Standards Committee with mixed success: the Committee decided that certain properties could be demolished without repairs, but deferred decision on other properties pending...