In a recent decision striking out various parts of a petition for judicial review, Justice Donegan of the BC Supreme Court confirmed the expert role of the Environmental Appeal Board to hear appeals on a variety of environmental matters, and held that the Courts only had a limited supervisory role in reviewing decisions of the Board. Justice Donegan noted that the Provincial Legislature had specifically chosen to entrust the Board with that broad jurisdiction, and that choice, combined with the tribunal’s established expertise, meant that the courts should generally defer to the Board’s decisions, and be careful not to substitute the courts’ view of the evidence and issues for that of the Board. Underhill, Boies Parker, Gage & Latimer LLP were counsel for the Environmental Appeal Board on this application.
The decision can be found here: Lindelauf v. British Columbia, 2017 BCSC 626
