HALIFAX – A legal expert says cities and towns across Canada are closely watching negotiations between the Halifax Regional Municipality and the federal government over the value of Citadel Hill.
The amount of taxes the federal government owes the city for the national historic site has yet to be settled, nearly a year after Canada’s top court ruled in favour of Halifax.
Dalhousie University law professor Geoffrey Loomer says Ottawa is probably mindful of the possible repercussions the case could have for land it owns in other jurisdictions.
Halifax won the case last June after the two sides battled in the Supreme Court of Canada over the value of Citadel Hill.
Loomer says municipalities across the country with federal lands have been watching the case closely, including Cape Breton Regional Municipality, home of the Fortress of Louisbourg.
He says municipalities would still have to make their own arguments to persuade the federal government to pony up, because the decision doesn’t have an automatic bearing on them.
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