British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) has won an appeal court fight against the City of Surrey.
The City of Surrey (Surrey) applied for leave to appeal a decision of the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) ordering Surrey to pay for the reconfiguration of BC Hydro’s transmission lines if Surrey wished to construct a planned highway extension. Surrey asserted primarily that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to make its order.
Application for leave to appeal was dismissed. Surrey failed to establish that the factors under Queens Plate Dev. Ltd. v. Vancouver Assessor, Area 09 (1987), 16 B.C.L.R. (2d) 104, 1987 CanLII 2626 (C.A.) were met such that leave to appeal should be granted. Given similar recent decisions of the Court, Surrey’s appeal lacked merit and did not raise questions of general importance. Surrey was also challenging findings that required deference.
Matthew Ghikas and Tariq Ahmed acted for BC Hydro.
