Nelson (City) V Marchi, 2021 SCC 41: Cities Can Be Liable For Operational Decisions That Harm Private Citizens

Overview

Under Canadian tort law, governments can be held liable for damage caused by their negligence in the same way as private citizens. However, negligence law also accounts for the unique role public authorities play in governing society in the public interest.

Public bodies such as the government must make difficult decisions that impact the lives of many people. These decisions involve the weighing of many competing factors. When public bodies make poor decisions that harm people, the courts are faced with a difficult challenge. On the one hand, the legal system should use the tools at its disposal to hold the government accountable for decisions that harm people. On the other hand, one of the fundamental principles of Canadian democracy is the concept of the separation of powers, whereby the courts and the government both oversee specific functions and must respect the role of the other branch of power. Accountability for government decision making