OTTAWA, June 16 (Reuters) - Canada's top court ruled on
Thursday that a Quebec municipality did not have the right to
prevent wireless provider Rogers Communications from building a
cell phone tower on municipal land.
The Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the
notice of reserve the city of Chateauguay had given Rogers was
beyond the scope of Chateauguay's power. Canada's parliament
holds jurisdiction over radiocommunication.
In 2008, Rogers RCIb.TO told Chateauguay, a suburb of
Montreal, that it intended to build a telecommunications tower
to fill in gaps in its wireless coverage on a site the company
had been renting since December 2007.
While the city initially opposed the project, it eventually
issued a construction permit but after a public outcry,
Chateauguay proposed an alternative site.
However, the second site required the city expropriate the
owner and Rogers decided to go ahead with the first site. The
city then issued a notice of land reserve, essentially blocking
the project.
Rogers argued that the city had acted in bad faith, but a
Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that the city had acted with
legitimate municipal purpose to protect the welfare of its
residents.