In short, courts and tribunals should employ appropriate rigour and
standards of reasonableness when applying the good faith requirement.
Not exact matches
When conflict occurs, it must be resolved by reference to some factors external to the categorical approach.The new, single
standard of reasonableness is similarly unworkable without reference to external factors.
I think the presumption
of reasonableness for within - Guideline sentences may go, but I have a hard time believing the Court will try to force a magic pill down appellate court's throats
when not many commentators have come up with a satisfying
standard of review.
What this means is that
when undertaking Judicial Review functions on a
reasonableness standard, the concern is centred on ``... the existence
of justification, transparency and intelligibility...», but where it can be shown that the decision, however much a party such as ATCO may not like it, still falls within a range
of possible, acceptable outcomes, Courts
of Appeal will be loathe to intervene.
Now, in this case the Court
of Appeal had clear guidance with respect to the fifth factor in the form
of a recent Supreme Court
of Canada decision — ATCO Gas and Pipelines Ltd v Alberta (Utilities Commission), 2015 SCC 45 — in which the Court found the
standard to be applied to decisions
of the Commission (
when applying its expertise to set rates and approve payment amounts) is
reasonableness.
Moreover, the Court pointed to Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v Alberta Teachers» Association, 2011 SCC 61 for confirmation that the
standard of reasonableness presumptively applies
when the Commission is interpreting its home statute.
Further, the Court's inconsistency and disagreement on the presumption
of reasonableness exist alongside the observation that, even
when the Court does consistently identify a deferential
standard, how it and other courts «do deference» in any given case varies significantly (see Shaun Fluker on this point here and Paul Daly here).
The courts below were right to apply the
reasonableness standard:
when an arbitrator interprets his or her enabling legislation to determine whether a dispute is arbitrable, applying the
reasonableness standard undermines neither the rule
of law nor the other constitutional bases
of judicial review.
The Court
of Appeal agreed with the application judge that
when these factors were applied to the arbitral tribunal in the present case, the proper
standard of review was
reasonableness.