The Appellants were gun owners who received a standard form letter from the Registrar of Firearms notifying them that their firearms were classified as prohibited pursuant to regulatory amendments. The Appellants sought to refer the decision of the Registrar to the Alberta Court of Justice by way of reference pursuant to Section 74 of the Firearms Act, SC 1995, c 39. Section 74 permits the Alberta Court of Justice to review decisions where the Registrar “revokes a… registration certificate.” The Attorney General of Canada challenged the jurisdiction of the Alberta Court of Justice to conduct the reference. Following a Summary Trial on the issue of jurisdiction, the Court held it did not have jurisdiction to conduct the reference (the “Decision”).

The Appellants filed Originating Applications with the Court of King’s Bench for a Judicial Review of the Decision pursuant to Rule 3.15. The Judicial Review Judge stayed the matter until the decision in Canada (Attorney General) v Smykot, 2023 ABCA 131 (“Smykot”), was released. In Smykot, the Alberta Court of Appeal concluded that the nullification of firearm registration certificates was achieved by the Order of Council, not by the Registrar, and therefore the Alberta Court of Justice did not have jurisdiction to hear references. Following the release of Smykot, the Judicial Review Judge held that the Court could not overrule Smykot and that to succeed, the Appellants needed to persuade the Court that there was a basis to distinguish the case. The Judicial Review Judge was not persuaded that the factual circumstances provided a basis to distinguish Smykot and the Application for Judicial Review was dismissed.

On Appeal, the Appellants argued that the Judicial Review Judge erred in law. The Court noted that Rule 14.72 prevents Appellants from arguing that Smykot was wrongly decided and that they were confined to arguing that the material facts of their cases provided a basis for distinguishing Smykot. After considering the distinguishing facts, the Court found an insufficient basis to distinguish Smykot and dismissed the Appeal.