Supreme Court Affirms A Tribunal's "Right To Be (Really, Really) Wrong"

It's tough to appeal a decision of an administrative tribunal. By way of a five-four split decision, the Supreme Court of Canada judgment issued November 4, 2016 in City of Edmonton v. Edmonton East (Capilano) Shopping Centres Ltd., made those appeals that much tougher.

Canadian courts have long recognized that tribunals have a "right to be wrong". This used to be in relation to decisions based on facts; courts were reluctant to substitute their own findings so long as a board's decision was not "patently unreasonable" and so long as there was some evidence before the board that would support its decision. After all, the judge was not there to hear the evidence and probably should not be second-guessing.