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Administrative law — Permits and licences — Appeal — Hotels, restaurants and bars in Jasper National Park serving alcoholic beverages require a business licence, for which they must pay a fee based on a percentage of their annual purchases of alcohol — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in defining the relevant regulatory scheme as the use and operation of Jasper National Park, as opposed to the regulation of businesses within the Park when determining whether the annual business licence fee constituted a valid regulatory fee or tax? — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal’s approach to identification of the relevant regulatory scheme is over-broad and inconsistent with other decisions? — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal’s approach broadens the ability of government entities to impose regulatory fees that would otherwise be invalid? — Canada National Parks Act, S.C. 2000, c. 32 — National Parks of Canada Business Regulations. SOR/98-455 — Parks Agency Act, S.C. 1998, c. 31 — General Regulations for the Control and Management of National Parks, SOR/78-21.

The Applicants own all or nearly all the hotels, restaurants and bars in Jasper National Park serving alcoholic beverages. To operate these establishments they require a business licence, for which they must pay a fee. The question decided in the lower courts was whether the portion of the licence fee based on a percentage of their annual purchases of alcohol was a tax. Justice Snider held that the regulatory scheme relevant for the purpose of the Westbank First Nation v. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority [1999] 3 S.C.R. 134, test was that regulating the use of Jasper National Park, not the more limited, and ancillary, licensing scheme for the sale of alcohol in the Park. She found that the businesses benefited from the general infrastructure of the Park, and that the total amount collected from them in fees was much less than the cost of operating the Park. Accordingly, she held, there was a sufficient nexus between the licence fee and the scheme regulating the use of Jasper National Park to characterize the fee as a regulatory charge. On this basis, she upheld the impugned portion of the fee and dismissed the application for judicial review. The Federal Court of Appeal agreed and dismissed the appeal.