Law Reform in Manitoba: Recent Recommendations

The Manitoba Law Reform Commission last week issued two reports recommending changes to legislation re: nuisance claims and commercial tenancies.

Report #126 focuses on The Nuisance Act and The Farm Practices Protection Act. These two pieces of legislation currently limit the scope of the common law tort of nuisance in Manitoba. The Commission recommends repeal of The Nuisance Act and a broad, inter-disciplinary and public review of The Farm Practices Protection Act. 

Chapter 2 of the Report contains a succinct and potentially useful summary of the common law of both public and private nuisance and points to the ongoing role of this “ancient tort” in both environmental protection and expropriation claims.

Report #127, Commercial tenancies: section 17 of The Landlord and Tenant Act and section 93 of The Real Property Act, addresses the issue of re-entry and re-taking of possession where there is a serious breach of a commercial lease. The Commission recommends repeal of ss.92 and 93 of The Real Property Act and amendment of The Landlord and Tenant Act to provide for an “… implied term allowing a landlord to re-enter leased commercial premises if rent is unpaid for a period of 15 days or if a covenant is breached continuously for a period of 15 days.”

The Law Reform Commission notes that the law relating to commercial tenancies requires legislative reform on a much wider scope and that the Uniform Law Conference of Canada is currently working at drafting a Uniform Commercial Tenancies Act.