Is there a duty of procedural fairness for an elected body that requires it to follow a particular process?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Comox Valley Citizens v. School District No. 71 (Comox Valley), 2008 BCSC 1071 (CanLII):

A duty of procedural fairness may arise, however, if the elected body has adopted policies that require it to follow a particular process: in that event, the body may make itself subject to legitimate expectations. See, for examples Sunshine Coast at para. 20, and Czerwinski v. Mulaner, 2007 ABQB 536 at paras 29-32.

The petitioner points to Pursell v. Coast Mountains School District No. 82, 2005 BCSC 365 as an example where a duty of procedural fairness attached to a school district decision to change from a 5 day instruction week to a 4 day week. In that case, as in previous litigation between the same parties (Pursell v. Coast Mountains School District No. 82, 2004 BCSC 269), the duty was found to attach as a matter of interpretation of a section of the School Act and regulations made pursuant to it, and the scope and content of the duty was extrapolated from school closure cases.

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