Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 45 all of whom currently have career back- grounds in government or the transpor- tation industry. Lukács does not fit that physical description personally, but he main- tained he has a public interest right to file the complaint and relied on provi- sions within the Canadian Transporta- tion Act. One of the sections gives the agency the discretion to take action with respect to an airline's practices upon receiving a complaint from "any person" if the complaint is upheld. As well, a sec- tion in the federal Air Transportation Regulations states that any international airline with services in Canada may not have practices that discriminate against any passenger. A two-member panel of the agency made of then-chairman Geoffrey Hare and vice chairman Sam Barone found that Lukács did not have standing. The panel concluded that Lukács did not meet the standard set out by the Supreme Court in its 1986 decision in Finlay v. Canada, which had to do with the right to launch a court action against the federal government over transfer payments to the provinces. In another decision released in early 2016, the agency also ruled that Lukács did not have standing in a complaint he filed against Porter Airlines over information it posted on its website related to passenger compensation for baggage delays. The phrase "any per- son" in the Act cannot mean "universal standing," the agency concluded, citing a 2012 decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal in Galganov v. Russell. That case had to do with an applicant seeking judicial review to try to quash a bylaw related to commercial signs in a com- munity east of Ottawa. The Court of Appeal concluded that the right of "any person" to challenge a bylaw in court must meet the same threshold as the common law to be granted standing. In its decision in the Delta case last fall, the Federal Court of Appeal did not agree that the bar to meet to be granted standing is the same for administrative tribunals as it is for the courts. "Administrative bodies such as the Agency are not courts. They are part of the executive branch, not the judiciary," wrote Justice Yves de Montigny, with Justices Wyman Webb and A.F. Scott concurring. "Their mandates come in all shapes and sizes, and their role is different from that of a court of law. Often, such bodies are created to pro- vide greater and more efficient access to justice through less formal procedures and specialized decision-makers that may not have legal training," the court stated. In seeking leave to appeal that deci- sion, the airline suggested that the Fed- eral Court of Appeal was "cavalierly interfering" with the agency's ability to govern its own process. Delta warned of grave consequences for administrative tribunals if standing is widely inter- preted and granted to people who are not directly affected. "The [Federal] Court of Appeal's holding strips away a fundamental gatekeeping tool from tribunals that administer complaint schemes and Connecting you to your LEGAL COMMUNITY Spiralbound • August 2017 $48* • L7798-7856 ISBN • 978-0-7798-7856-7 Multiple copy discounts available *Plus applicable taxes and shipping & handling (Prices subject to change without notice) Order your copy today. Visit www.carswell.com or call 1-800-387-5164 for a 30-day, no risk evaluation Alberta Legal Telephone Directory 2017-18 is all about your legal community connecting you to the lawyers and law offices you need in Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. Published annually, it keeps you connected with new and updated names, mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and fax numbers each year. Quickly and easily access: • Law Societies • Courts of Appeal • Federal Court of Canada • Government of Canada departments ... and more ntitled-2 1 2017-07-17 2:16 PM What do your clients need? The means to move on. Guaranteed ™ . Baxter Structures customizes personal injury settlements into tax-free annuities that can help your clients be secure for life. Need more information? Contact us at 1 800 387 1686 or baxterstructures.com Kyla A. Baxter, CSSC PRESIDENT, BAXTER STRUCTURES ntitled-5 1 2016-10-25 3:42 PM

• Cover