19Oct
2010

Supreme Court of Canada Finds Private Airport Zoning Regulations Inapplicable

In two cases released on October 15, 2010, Quebec v. Lacombe, 2010 SCC 38 and Quebec v. Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), 2010 SCC 39, the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed an interpretation of our Constitution that exclusively reserves regulation of the location of all airfields, no matter how small, to the federal government. They also have indicated a possible retreat from their decisions in 2007 in the cases of British Columbia v. Lafarge Canada Inc. 2007 SCC 23 and Canadian Western Bank v. Alberta 2007 SCC 22, which had appeared to usher in a greater recognition and applicability of provincial and local government enactments in previously exclusively federally related matters.

Download pdf: Supreme Court of Canada Finds Private Airport Zoning Regulations Inapplicable