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JR - SOR - Reasonableness Review - Justification - Governing Legislative Scheme. Auer v. Auer
In Auer v. Auer (SCC, 2024) the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal of a JR, here challenging the Federal Child Support Guidelines as ultra vires their Governor-in-Counsel-delegated Divorce Act authority.
The court considers JR 'reasonableness review', here on the constraining factor of 'governing statutory scheme':(a) Governing Statutory Scheme
[61] “Because administrative decision makers receive their powers by statute, the governing statutory scheme is likely to be the most salient aspect of the legal context relevant to a particular decision” (Vavilov, at paras. 108‑9; Mancini, at p. 275).
[62] The language chosen by the legislature in an enabling statute describes the limits and contours of a delegate’s authority (Vavilov, at para. 110). The legislature may use precise and narrow language to delineate the power in detail, thereby tightly constraining the delegate’s authority. Alternatively, the legislature may use broad, open‑ended or highly qualitative language, thereby conferring broad authority on the delegate (ibid.; see also Keyes (2021), at pp. 195‑96). Statutory delegates must respect the legislature’s choice in this regard. They “must ultimately comply ‘with the rationale and purview’” of their enabling statutory scheme in accordance with its text, context and purpose (Vavilov, at para. 108, citing Catalyst Paper, at paras. 15 and 25‑28, and Green, at para. 44).
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