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                                                                                                                                  Date: 20010131

                                                                                                                              Docket: A-669-98

CORAM:        DESJARDINS J.A.

DÉCARY J.A.

LÉTOURNEAU J.A.

BETWEEN:

                                                    MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

                                                                                                                                            Appellant

                                                                        - AND -

                                          AVIATION QUÉBEC LABRADOR LTÉE

                                                                                                                                        Respondent

Hearing held at Québec, Quebec on Wednesday, January 31, 2001.

Judgment from the bench at Québec, Quebec on Wednesday, January 31, 2001.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY:                                 LÉTOURNEAU J.A.


                                                                                                                                  Date: 20010131

                                                                                                                              Docket: A-669-98

CORAM:        DESJARDINS J.A.

DÉCARY J.A.

LÉTOURNEAU J.A.

BETWEEN:

                                                    MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

                                                                                                                                            Appellant

                                                                        - AND -

                                          AVIATION QUÉBEC LABRADOR LTÉE

                                                                                                                                        Respondent

                                                    REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

                                           (Delivered from the bench at Québec, Quebec

                                                    on Wednesday, January 31, 2001)

LÉTOURNEAU J.A.

[1]         We are satisfied that the respondent could not claim vested rights in certain of the specifications mentioned in its air operator certificate issued pursuant to the Aeronautics Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. A-2 ("the Act"). These specifications which the respondent sought to retain were in fact in the nature of a privilege and constituted departures from the general rules which the government has revised for reasons of air safety in the carriage of passengers.


[2]         As regards the notice given to the respondent by the Minister of Transport, even assuming that it was required by s. 7.1(1) of the Act, we are persuaded that it was sufficient in the case at bar since it stated that the regulations on which the operator's certificate were based had been repealed and replaced by new regulations.

[3]         The appeal will accordingly be allowed, the trial judgment quashed and the application for judicial review dismissed.

                        Gilles Létourneau

                                  J.A.

Québec, Quebec

January 31, 2001

Certified true translation

Suzanne M. Gauthier, LL.L. Trad. a.


                    FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

                                                                      Date: 20010131

                                                                  Docket: A-669-98

Between:

                      MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

                                                                                Appellant

                                          - AND -

            AVIATION QUÉBEC LABRADOR LTÉE

                                                                            Respondent

                      REASONS FOR JUDGMENT


                                              FEDERAL COURT APPEAL DIVISION

                              NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD

COURT FILE No.:                                                           A-669-98

STYLE OF CAUSE:                                                        MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

                                                                                                                                              Appellant

AND:

AVIATION QUÉBEC LABRADOR LTÉE

                                                                                                                                          Respondent

PLACE OF HEARING:                                                   Québec, Quebec

DATE OF HEARING:                                      January 31, 2001

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY: Létourneau J.A.

DATED:                                                                           January 31, 2001

APPEARANCES:

Claude Morisette                                                              for the appellant

Jean-Paul O'Connor                                                         for the respondent

SOLICITORS OF RECORD:

Morris Rosenberg                                                             for the appellant

Deputy Attorney General of Canada

Aviation Québec Labrador Ltée                                        for the respondent

Sept-Îles, Quebec

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