In Toronto (City) v. Craft Kingsmen Rail Corp. (Div Court, 2023) the Divisional Court considers the role of common law in statutory interpretation (presumption of consistency):
[42] Another principle of statutory interpretation that is relevant to the analysis in this case is the presumption against changing the common law unless three is a clear expression of legislative intent to the contrary. This principle was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in Owners, Strata Plan LMS 3905 v. Crystal Square Parking Corp., 2020 SCC 29, 450 D.L.R. (4th) 105, at para. 39:
The common law forms part of the context in which a legislature enacts statutes, and the legislature is presumed not to have intended to alter or extinguish common law rules in doing so ... In addition, when the legislature uses a term that has an established legal meaning, it is presumed to have given the term that meaning in the statute in question. [Citations omitted.]
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