The Applicants were a foundation and two of its directors. The Applicants sought permission to appeal a decision of the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board of the Town of Peace River (the “Board”). The Board’s decision upheld a stop order issued by the Development Officer of the Town of Peace River relating to land leased by the Applicant.

As a preliminary issue, the Town of Peace River initially argued that the Applicant foundation could not be represented by its directors because the foundation must be represented by a lawyer. Schutz J.A. acknowledged that recent cases suggest that the Court’s traditional discretion to allow a non-lawyer agent to represent a foundation like the Applicant had been extinguished.

However, The Court noted that Rule 2.23(4) was added when the Rules were amended in March 2020. Rule 2.23(4) states that Rule 2.23 does not affect the discretion of the Court to grant a right of audience to any agent to speak on behalf of an individual or a corporation. As a result, the Town of Peace River conceded that there was extra judicial discretion to allow the directors to speak on behalf of the foundation.