Date: 19980911
Docket: A-1056-96
BETWEEN:
THE NATIONAL PARTY OF CANADA
DANIEL WHETUNG, SHIRLEY DEMAINE, WAYNE HILL
JACQUES RUBACHA, GARY HOLLINGSWORTH, STEVE RANTA, AND
DIANE ULRICH
Appellants
- and -
WILLIAM STEPHENSON, BRYAN RAHN and PAUL REID
Respondents
- and -
CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER
Intervener
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Delivered from the Bench at Ottawa, Ontario
on Thursday, September 10, 1998)
NOËL J.A.
[1] This appeal is from a decision of the Trial Division which dismissed an application for judicial review of two related decisions of the Chief Electoral Officer, dated December 4, 1994, in which he declined to amend the Registry so as to recognize Daniel Whetung as interim leader of the National Party of Canada and accepted instead to vary the Registry so as to recognize Paul Reid as interim leader of the Party.
[2] This case involves a dispute among two factions of the Party as to how the Chief Electoral Officer is to act when an application is filed by a person whose authority is in question.
[3] While we do not believe that the Chief Electoral Officer had to go as far as he did in his investigation and his reasons, we can detect no reviewable error in the actual decision to register Mr. Reid as interim leader. There was ample evidence before the Chief Electoral Officer to justify this conclusion including the July 31, 1994 declaration.
[4] We are also of the view that no breach of procedural fairness has been demonstrated. It follows that the motion judge correctly refused to intervene.
[5] The appeal will therefore be dismissed with costs in favour of the respondents.
J.A.
Date: 19980911
Docket: A-1056-96
BETWEEN:
THE NATIONAL PARTY OF CANADA
DANIEL WHETUNG, SHIRLEY DEMAINE, WAYNE HILL
JACQUES RUBACHA, GARY HOLLINGSWORTH, STEVE RANTA, AND
DIANE ULRICH
Appellants
- and -
WILLIAM STEPHENSON, BRYAN RAHN and PAUL REID
Respondents
- and -
CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER
Intervener
Heard at Ottawa, Ontario, on Thursday, September 10, 1998
Judgement rendered from the Bench on Thursday, September 10, 1998
| REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY: NOËL J.A. |
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