When Wayne Webster's landlord refused to return his $1,900 security deposit, he turned to the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) to determine his rights, only to discover that those rights may not apply in national parks.
Webster stumbled upon the issue after he filed a complaint with Service Alberta's special investigations unit earlier this month to try and recover his deposit from his landlord in Lake Louise. He is currently pursuing legal action to try and recoup the money.
“Within about a week they sent me an email saying 'the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply in national parks, so therefore we are not able to investigate your complaint,'” said Webster.
According to the province, that's because national parks are under federal jurisdiction.
“When legislation impacts federal land, it becomes beyond the scope of our authority,” explained Shannon Greer, a spokesperson for municipal affairs and Service Alberta, in an emailed statement.
“A landlord in a federal park owns the building, but not the actual land. The land is leased from the federal government, therefore jurisdiction is subject to interpretation.”
According to Greer, Service Alberta and Parks Canada are actively reviewing the legislation to determine how and to what extent the RTA can be applied in national parks.
“While those talks continue, the courts are able to make decisions on landlord/tenant matters on federal Crown land,” said Greer.
According to Parks Canada, the agency said it is aware questions have been raised about the application of the Residential Tenancies Act in national parks in Alberta.
"We are taking steps to confirm that supplemental protection continues to apply under the Alberta Residential Tenancies Act. Landlords and tenants continue to be afforded protection under common law," said Steve Young, a communications officer for Jasper National Park, in an emailed statement.
The RTA is designed to protect both landlords and tenants. As well as providing rules around security deposits, the act also limits the grounds on which a landlord can terminate a rental agreement and how often a landlord can raise a tenant's rent. Without the act, tenants and landlords are vulnerable, said Nigel Bankes, a law professor at the University of Calgary. “If the law is held to be inapplicable, [tenants] don't have the legal protections—as limited as they are—that the Residential Tenancy Act confers on tenants.” According to Bankes, there are two things to consider when reviewing this issue: One is the validity of the legislation and the other is the applicability of the legislation. “There is no doubt about the validity of the RTA, it's clearly in the province's power to pass it. The only question is its applicability to federal lands. “If you look at the act, you would say the act applies—like any other legislation—throughout the province of Alberta, so as a matter of statutory interpretation that's the position, but then someone can raise a constitutional question and say, in so far as the province is trying to make this apply, it is inapplicable. “There is some legitimate uncertainty here. You can argue both sides of this, but I'm surprised the province is taking the nay side,” he said. Mayor Richard Ireland, who is also a lawyer, said it is comforting to know the RTA can still be upheld in court while the province and federal government review the legislation, but noted as far back as he can recall, the RTA has always applied in court and should still apply as long as there isn't a conflict between provincial law and federal ownership. Webster echoed that same message. “The Residential and Tenancies Act has always applied in Jasper and Banff and it was applied in those communities long before they even became formal municipalities,” said Webster. “The long and short of it is Jasper and Banff and other national parks are still part of the province of Alberta, they're within our provincial boundary,” he said, explaining things like health inspections and liquor licenses are the province's responsibility. “The federal government never objected to provincial jurisdiction over those types of very mundane everyday things. The last thing the federal government wants to do is get involved in landlord/tenant disputes, or issuing liquor licenses to bars in Jasper.”Paul Clarke [email protected]
