Shane Rayman and Conner Harris successful in Appeal to Divisional Court

Shane Rayman and Conner Harris successfully appealed a decision of the Surveyor General to the Divisional Court in Duarte v. Ontario; Carson v. Ontario, 2018 ONSC 2612. Rayman Beitchman represented a group of property owners whose properties front on Georgian Bay in Tiny Township in an application before the Surveyor General by the Township to have a municipal survey approved. The Township was successful in that application.As a result of the decision of the Surveyor General, Rayman Beitchman’s clients would have seen their waterfront access cut off due to the imposition of a new municipal road allowance along the beach at the front of the properties. The Divisional Court agreed with the Appellants that the Surveyor General’s decision was inconsistent with the provisions of the Surveys Act and would unfairly deprive the Appellants of waterfront ownership when their property had always been treated as waterfront properties. The appeal raised complex issues of administrative law, estoppel, riparian rights and statutory interpretation. The Divisional Court remitted the matter to the Surveyor General for redetermination in accordance with its decision.Read more