Decision Date: November 23, 1999

Panel: Toby Vigod

Keywords: Waste Management Act – s. 48; stay application

This was a stay application in an appeal against a decision of the Manager to issue an order revoking the exemptions that applied to the operation of Sumas’ special waste storage facility located on Byrne Road in Burnaby, British Columbia. Sumas requested a stay of the order pending a decision on the merits of the appeal.

The Board cited its decision in North Fraser Harbour Commission et al. v. Deputy Director of Waste Management (Appeal No. 97-WAS-05(a), June 5, 1997) in finding that the test for stay applications set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in RJR-MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General)(1994) applies to applications for stays before the Board. This test requires an applicant for a stay to demonstrate that there is a serious question to be tried, that irreparable harm will result if the relief sought is not granted, and that the balance of convenience favours granting a stay.

The Panel found that Sumas raised serious issues and that, if a stay were not granted, it would suffer some irreparable harm in that it could not be remedied if Sumas were successful in its appeal. In examining the question of the balance of convenience, the Panel noted that it appeared that a number of the issues that had been of concern to the Ministry when it issued the order had already been resolved to the Ministry’s satisfaction. The Panel found that the balance of convenience weighed in favour of granting a stay. The stay was granted pending the decision on the merits of the appeal.