Dear Colleagues:

 

Leave to appeal has been granted by the SCC from the decision of the BBCA in Nelson (City of) v. Marchi, 2020 BCCA 1: https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2020/2020bcca1/2020bcca1.html. In short, the city plowed roads leaving snowbanks along the curb and onto the sidewalk of the main commercial street for a day and a half. Seeing no other way to get onto the sidewalk after parking her car, the plaintiff severely injured herself when she tried to cross the snowbank and her leg fell through. The trial judge dismissed the case on the basis that the City’s decisions regarding plowing activities were bona fide policy decisions, governed by factors including budgetary, social and economic factors. The BCCA allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial.  The case appears to be a vehicle for the SCC to re-examine (and perhaps jettison?) its policy and operational jurisprudence that has vexed courts and commentators for decades.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as if public nuisance was argued.

 

Stay tuned!

 

Sincerely,

 

Jason Neyers
Professor of Law
Faculty of Law
Western University
Law Building Rm 26
e. jneyers@uwo.ca
t. 519.661.2111 (x88435)