The provision of services to residents is one of the most important functions of local governments.  The term "services" broadly includes activities, works and facilities undertaken or provided by, or on behalf of, the municipality.  These can apply to the entire municipality, but may also be limited to a specific part of the municipality or, alternatively, may extend beyond municipal boundaries.  Examples of services include fire protection, sidewalks, roads, water supply, sewage disposal, libraries and recreational facilities.  In providing services to residents, many local governments have policies as to when to maintain and repair the service.

In a decision from 2012, Lennox v. New Westminster (City), 2012 BCSC 410 , the BC Supreme Court considered an unwritten municipal policy that provided an enhanced level of sidewalk service.  This policy provided that the City of New Westminster would make repairs in response to specific complaints about sidewalk faults, even when those faults were insufficient in size to trigger repairs under the City's written Sidewalk Policy.  At issue in the case was a trip and fall on a sidewalk for which complaints had allegedly been made.  The court, however, found that the City did not receive a sufficiently specific complaint about the particular sidewalk before the fall; as such, it did not act unreasonably in failing to effect repairs.

The court also considered whether the City could be found negligent if the unwritten policy had been engaged by a specific complaint before the plaintiff's fall.  It acknowledged that non-compliance with a municipal policy would be a factor in determining a negligence claim, and regard must be had to the policy, its purposes and the mischief it sought to prevent.

With specific regard to the provision of services, the court held that when a municipality takes upon itself a level of service that exceeds what would be reasonable in the circumstances, courts should be exceedingly slow to characterize the failure to discharge that enhanced level of service as negligence.  In this case, the unwritten policy went well beyond the requirements of reasonable sidewalk service.  The court noted that:

"[a]s a matter of public policy, the law should encourage steps taken by municipalities to proactively address concerns that may give rise to public safety issues in the future where those steps go beyond what is merely reasonable in the circumstances." 

On its review of the circumstances, the court concluded that the City implemented its service policy in a reasonable manner.  The Courts will generally not interfere with the broad powers given to local governments to provide services when they are exercised in a procedurally fair manner and in accordance with the applicable legislative scheme.  This decision highlights that this wide discretion is particularly applicable where local governments seek to exceed reasonable levels of service in an attempt to be responsive to their residents.

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