Smith Shield Moot
The Smith Shield Moot is the premiere mooting event of the academic calendar with a tradition dating back to 1927. Smith Shield competitors are chosen from the top mooters in the compulsory second-year moot.
The Case:
Ira Jane Abdalla v. The Municipality of Quinnsburg and Kildonan Developments Ltd
When a natural disaster hits, can a municipality be held liable for the destruction of property that was within its purview to zone and approve?
This year’s Smith Shield Moot case probes the line between an individual’s responsibility to protect their property from the effects of climate change and a municipality’s responsibility to warn its citizens that their homes could be in danger.
The Legal Issues:
In the fall of 2022, the most powerful and destructive hurricane that Atlantic Canada has ever experienced made landfall in Quinnsburg, a sea-side municipality on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. The resulting storm surge flooded Quinnsburg’s San Roque Peninsula, which was the site of a new housing development called Sea Ridge Heights.
In the wake of a data breach that revealed municipal councillors received information suggesting the San Roque Peninsula could be uniquely vulnerable to flooding, the Sea Ridge Heights residents – many of whom bought their homes site unseen during the COVID-19 pandemic – initiated a class action against the Municipality of Quinnsburg.
The Supreme Moot Court of Dalhousie will consider whether a municipality can rely on the doctrine of core policy immunity to shield itself from liability for a decision to approve a housing development without issuing a warning to prospective residents about the potential fallout from a natural disaster.
The Court will also consider whether a municipality can owe a positive duty of care to its citizens to warn them that their homes are vulnerable to natural disasters and whether the Municipality of Quinnsburg met the applicable standard of care in this case.
The Mooters:
- Alida Doelle
- Amelia Eaton
- Essie Mehina
- Harper Metler
- Danielle Bailey-Heelan (Alternate)
The Judges:
- Mark Scott, K.C., President, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society
- The Honourable Justice Ann E. Smith, Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
- The Honourable Chief Justice Michael J. Wood, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
Categories
Faculty Interest, Student Interest
Time
Location
W105
