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ARTICLE · 23 JUNE 2016

Minister Owes No Duty To Be Fair In Administrative Decision Under CEPA

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The Federal Court recently refused to order the Minister of Environment to convene a board of review for the purpose of reconsidering the government's decision to list BENPAT as a toxic...

CanadaEnvironment
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The Federal Court recently refused to order the Minister of Environment to convene a board of review for the purpose of reconsidering the government's decision to list BENPAT as a toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act ('CEPA'). Goodyear, the largest user of BENPAT in Canada, asked the Minister to convene the board of review. The Minister refused and Goodyear brought an application for judicial review in the Federal Court, asking the court to quash the Minister's decision and require that a board of review be convened.

As a general proposition, it is very difficult to challenge a Minister's discretionary decisions. Decisions must be "unreasonable" before a court will intervene. After reviewing the record, the court concluded that the Minister's decision was reasonable.

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