B.C. Court of Appeal overturns $10M damage ruling against the province

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

B.C.'s highest tribunal has acceptable speech $10 cardinal successful damages that was to beryllium paid by the authorities aft a little tribunal recovered that 2 nationalist officials had acted unlawfully successful denying a company's h2o licence.

The lawsuit revolves astir an exertion from Greengen Holdings, a institution that had sought to acceptable up a hydroelectric task astatine Fries Creek adjacent Squamish, B.C., wrong the territories of the Squamish First Nation.

Greengen's connection meant it had to question onshore tenure and a h2o licence for the project, which progressive going done the past Agriculture and Lands Ministry, arsenic good arsenic the Environment Ministry.

However, the company's applications for some were denied successful August 2009, pursuing a call it had with 2 lawman ministers successful November 2008, arsenic good arsenic resolutions against the task by the Squamish First Nation.

Shortly thereafter, the institution filed a suit against the province, alleging the civil servants who denied the applications successful August 2009 had not done truthful connected the applications' merits.

The suit alleged that conduct was unlawful and harmed Greengen, and the determination to contradict the licences had been made unlawfully months before.

The B.C. Supreme Court recovered successful Greengen's favour aft a 51-day proceedings successful 2023, awarding the institution $10.125 cardinal successful damages and uncovering that the "misfeasance of authorities representatives was a ineligible origin of [Greengen's] loss."

However, the Court of Appeal has present acceptable speech those damages, uncovering that the little tribunal made errors successful saying 1 of the bureaucrats who denied the h2o licence did truthful unlawfully and was alert of it.

"British Columbia has persuaded maine that the judge's causation investigation is demonstrably flawed, and had a due investigation been conducted ... it would person invariably led to dismissal of Greengen's civilian claim," wrote the determination from Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten.

A lawyer for Greengen, Arden Beddoes, said his clients had nary further remark connected the judgement itself.

He said the adjacent steps for the institution would beryllium an entreaty to the Supreme Court of Canada, which helium said was presently being considered.

A spokesperson for B.C.'s lawyer wide was not instantly disposable for comment.

The November 2008 call

Greengen archetypal applied to acceptable up a hydroelectric task successful 2003 adjacent Fries Creek. In 2006, it secured an statement with B.C. Hydro for its plan, contingent connected obtaining onshore tenure and a h2o licence.

However, opening successful 2007, the Squamish First Nation began expressing absorption to Greengen's plan, saying the task would infringe connected culturally important sites.

On Nov. 21, 2008, Greengen was informed by 2 lawman ministers — who are elder bureaucrats wrong the B.C. government — that its onshore and h2o applications would beryllium denied, with ceremonial letters from decision-makers to follow.

Even arsenic the institution tried to hold the letters, the onshore tenure and h2o licences were formally denied by 2 antithetic bureaucrats the pursuing August.

The little tribunal ruled that those bureaucrats had not made the determination connected their own.

But the Court of Appeal recovered the little tribunal made an mistake in judgment, arsenic the civilian servant who denied the h2o licence had nary cognition of the November 2008 lawman ministers' call erstwhile she issued the denial letter.

"According to the judge's factual findings, [the civilian servant] issued an independent, and importantly, an unfettered determination successful the due workout of her regulatory role," the judgement reads.