Airport off the hook for navigation equipment expense
Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:47 am
Airport authority off the hook for navigation equipment expense
Published Friday April 4th, 2008
Appeared on page A4
The Greater Fredericton Airport Authority doesn't have to pay for an expensive piece of equipment that a federal aviation organization forced it to buy after its runway extension.
Nav Canada, the federal body that oversees aviation services nationwide, took the local airport authority to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal last fall.
It had required the airport about five years ago to pay for a new navigational aid at a cost of $223,000 after the airport authority's decision to extend its runway.
The airport felt it shouldn't be required to pay for a new aid but wrote in a letter to Nav Canada it would pay because it wouldn't let it operate the airport without it.
A Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled the airport authority wasn't contractually bound to pay for the navigational aid, which meant Nav Canada had to foot the bill.
Nav Canada appealed that decision, but the appeals court sided with the airport authority as well.
Originally, an arbitrator had ruled the airport authority was on the hook for the equipment because of the letter it wrote, noting it would pay the bill "under protest."
The authority successfully appealed that decision in the Court of Queen's Bench, leading to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal case.
Justice Joseph Robertson, writing the Court of Appeal decision on behalf of the tribunal of judges, agreed the arbitrator was out of line.
"Like the appeal judge, I respectfully conclude that the arbitrator erred in holding that the subsequent correspondence qualifies as an enforceable contract, " he wrote.
He wrote that Nav Canada's actions and decisions may be the result of institutional bullying.
"... It may well be that Nav Canada truly believed that it had no contractual obligation to pay for the cost of the navigational aid and as such was acting in good faith," he wrote.
"But it is equally plausible, as claimed by the airport authority, that Nav Canada was simply attempting to off-load its responsibility to purchase navigational equipment onto an unwilling and unrelenting 'victim.' "
The tribunal dismissed Nav Canada's appeal in a ruling earlier this month and awarded costs of $6,600 to the airport authority.
David Innes, president and CEO of the airport authority, said it incurred high legal costs during the process.
It's seeking a legal remedy to get those costs back from Nav Canada, he said.
The Court of Appeal decision is important, not only to the Fredericton airport, but to other smaller airport authorities.
"I think that it tells Nav Canada to play by the rules," he said.
He said he hopes Nav Canada won't pursue a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, and given the clear nature of the appeal decision, he doesn't expect one.
The Daily Gleaner
