Decision Date: October 31, 2002

Panel: Alan Andison

Word of Mouth Construction Ltd. filed an appeal against the decision of the Environmental Health Officer (the “EHO”) to cancel its sewage disposal permits.

The issue in this decision was whether the Health Act gives the Board jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a permit cancellation.

The Board found that it does not have such jurisdiction. In particular, the Board found that a person does not have an inherent right to appeal to the Board unless the legislature has established that right. In this case, section 8(4) of the Health Act sets out only two categories of decisions that may be appealed to the Board: the issuance or the refusal of a permit. The Board found that it could not include “cancellation” in the scope of section 8(4).

To make this finding, the Board examined other legislation that expressly includes cancellations as appealable decisions. The Board found that it should interpret the fact that the Health Act does not expressly include cancellations, as an indication that the legislature did not intend sewage disposal permit cancellations to be appealed to the Board. Further, the Board found that the Appellant’s argument that an EHO could cancel a permit to circumvent the appeal process assumed bad faith on the part of the public service. Finally, the Board found that the Appellant was not without recourse in this situation, as it could re-apply for the permits, or apply for judicial review.

Accordingly, the appeal was rejected.