SCC Affirms Pipeline Arbitration Committee's Discretion In Awarding Costs

In Smith v. Alliance Pipeline Ltd., the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a Pipeline Arbitration Committee (Committee)'s award of costs for the proceedings before it, as well as the costs incurred by a landowner in prior arbitration proceedings and a related Alberta Court of Queen's Bench action.

The case arose from a dispute regarding compensation to a landowner for reclamation work that he completed, but which a pipeline company was obligated to perform. The dispute, which continued for over ten years, resulted in two Pipeline Arbitration Committee proceedings and a discontinued Queen's Bench action that was commenced by the pipeline company.

The Committee determined that the costs from the other proceedings "all related to a single claim for compensation in respect of a single expropriation by a single expropriating party." The SCC held that this was a reasonable interpretation and exercise of Section 99(1) of the National Energy Board Act (NEBA), a