You’d think that after years of fighting the Government on the IRP scheme we would become desensitized to the crazy and obstinate things that Government does. But every once in a while they do something absurd that shocks us yet again.
Last week was another example of shocking Government action.
If the Government can just ignore the rulings of the court that it doesn’t like, then the courts become powerless as a check on the exercise or failure to exercise Government discretion.
Remember the decision in Stenner? That allowed the BC Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to reopen the hearing on the basis of fresh evidence? It was a huge victory and was something that might help many innocent people prove their innocence after being wrongly issued Immediate Roadside Prohibitions.
Well, after the decision we wrote to RoadSafetyBC asking that hearings be reopened on the basis of fresh evidence. And last week, we finally got a decision in the matter. In two and a half short pages, the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles himself determined that the BC Supreme Court is not binding on him, and refused to reopen the hearing or find that he had discretion to do so.
Absurdity abounds
We almost saw this coming. It was similar to what they did with the Wilson and Richardson cases. But in Richardson, the Court clearly ruled that they were bound by decisions of the higher court and couldn’t just refuse to follow them. Even though the Court of Appeal dismissed the Richardson case, they specifically stated in the penultimate paragraph that they were not commenting on the administrative law questions (like whether a decision is binding or not). And so that aspect of the Richardson case remains good law.
What this really smacks of is a complete lack of good faith from our Government. If the Government can just ignore the rulings of the court that it doesn’t like, then the courts become powerless as a check on the exercise or failure to exercise Government discretion. This is wrong. In a free and democratic society, we deserve better.
Frankly, it’s offensive.
How the BC Government views the Courts and your rights
But how the Government has handled the rights of citizens with respect to IRPs has been offensive from the outset. How the Government has truncated the process, and provided no reasonable mechanism to demonstrate one’s innocence has been offensive since day one. And it’s not getting any less offensive, what with the recent restrictions on obtaining disclosure, asking for an extension of the seven days, or making submissions after the hearing has closed.
The truth is that the Government doesn’t want you to succeed in your IRP dispute. But we do, and we continue to fight each and every restriction they impose until the bitter end.
In the last week we have prepared another leave application on an important case to the Supreme Court of Canada. We are also (obviously) appealing this ridiculous decision from last week. And there have been other interesting developments that we can’t reveal just yet.
The Government seems to be waiting for us to give up. Which makes us think that they haven’t learned much over the last five years.