SCC Decision: May 31, 2007

Click here to link to the full judgment.

Lafarge wanted to build a shipping facility on the Vancouver waterfront.  The project was approved in principle by the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Port Authority, a federal agency which owned the lands.  A group of ratepayers challenged this approval, arguing that the Port Authority had to obtain a permit from the City, which it did not do.  The Court upheld the Port Authority's power to approve the facility, based on the fact that shipping and navigation is a federal matter under the Constitution.