Legal Update – Recent Court Decisions

District of Squamish v. Great Canadian Pumice Inc.
B.C. Court of Appeal (2000)

• a private commercial entity leasing land owned by the Provincial government is subject to local government zoning bylaws and does not come within the exemption created by s. 14(2) of the Interpretation Act
• land used by the Provincial government is exempt from local government zoning bylaws even if that land is not owned by the Provincial government

“As far as the wording of s.14(2) is concerned, the phrase “bind or affect the government in the use or development of land” must in my view be contrasted with wording referring to Crown land regardless who is the user or developer thereof. The section does not refer, for example, to an enactment that would “affect the use or development of Crown land”…Instead, the section refers to an enactment that would “bind or affect the government in the use or development” of (any) land – wording that in my view suggests the section is restricted to the government as user or developer, presumably of any land regardless or ownership. This interpretation is consistent with the notion that s.14(2) was intended to ‘reverse the reversal’ of Crown immunity, there being no evidence that prior to 1974, a private party leasing land from the Crown was also entitled to claim immunity from land use laws in the province.”