A most welcome decision

NO MATTER WHERE ONE stands on future development of Dufferin County’s rail corridor, there is reason to rejoice in the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that local taxpayers should not be disenfranchised when their municipality has a pecuniary interest in an issue before an upper tier government.

The three judges were correct when they pointed out that lower-tier municipalities frequently have such interests — even to the point of their positions on upper-tier budgets.

They did acknowledge that the rail issue is an unusual situation inasmuch as the municipality with the greatest pecuniary interest has the largest number of votes by virtue of the Dufferin County Act, which sets out the voting formula on the basis of population.

But it is worth noting that the court did not award costs of the appeal to either party on the basis of the broader public interest. An implication might be that to have disallowed the appeal would have been to create chaos throughout all upper-tier governments in the province.

On the rail issue itself, there is no certainty that the prospective buyer will proceed with the purchase, even if county council indicates its willingness to sell.

Our understanding is that Highland Companies was to complete its due diligence by this year, but part of that would be the price the county will be asking for the corridor.

There has been no public information concerning the evaluation of the property. Indeed, the entire issue has been dormant pending the outcome of the appeal.